deliberate MTS infestation

[James_in_MN]

I've had some issues with cleanup crews in my 20g high tank. The ghost shrimp I had in there were hunted down by the inhabitants until there was only one survivor that I moved to another tank. And now, the pygmy cories that I had added to the tank seem to be slowly dying off (only 3 left).

I now decided to give MTS a try. I've heard of the benefits they bring to a tank, like burrowing into the gravel to remove air pockets. I've seen time-elapsed video of a colony of them cleaning the algae off the side of a tank, which looked impressive and seems to show them as a good overall waste/algae eater. I also know that they're the more accepted pest snail vs pond or ramshorns.

The fortunate thing is, PetCo sees them as a pest, so they're willing to give them away for free. What's amusing is, the employee ended up giving me a ton (close to 20) of them!

Should I introduce the whole lot of them to my 20g high tank, considering how easily they multiply? I don't think I could put them in my 10g tank since it has opportunistic eaters in amano and ghost shrimp, which may attack and eat them (I've seen video of ghost shrimp eating MTS on youtube). The only other tank I have is a 2.5g nano that only has a couple of bumblebee shrimp in it right now.

My 20g tank currently has:
10 black neon tetras
4 five banded barbs
2 female bettas
3-4 ottos
3 pygmy cories

I'm also wondering if I should think about rehoming the pygmy cories, or maybe even taking them to a LFS to resell. I believe they were initially dying off because they were competing with the five banded barbs for shrimp pellets I was dropping for them, and I thought the barbs might have been injuring/killing them in the fray. However, since I stopped putting the shrimp pellets in, I've still lost one of the cories.

 

[tarpon]

It sounds like you're already pretty much fully stocked. If you add 20 snails to that it would definitely be too much IMO. And if they're the kind of snails thay is a pest then they will multiply extremely fast.

 

[tarpon]

Id say just get a magfloat. Its a great brand of algae scrubber.

 

[James_in_MN]

It sounds like you're already pretty much fully stocked. If you add 20 snails to that it would definitely be too much IMO. And if they're the kind of snails thay is a pest then they will multiply extremely fast.

It's my understanding that inverts have next to no bioload. It's one of the reasons I'm thinking about replacing the pygmy cories with MTS.

I also don't think I need an algae scrubber. I don't have much algae growth in the tank, and what growth I do have seem to be handled by the ottos for the most part. MTS would only supplement that, depending on how much they pop out of the gravel.

 

[jetajockey]

MTS stay buried most of the time, and are pretty small, so I wouldn't factor their bioload in when stocking a tank. I obviously wouldn't go with hundreds of them, but a handful probably isn't going to change much imo.

 

[jetajockey]

It's my understanding that inverts have next to no bioload.

Tell that to apple snails!

If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Nerites, they have all kinds of cool patterns.

 

[mfdrookie516]

You'll have hundreds before long... and in agreement with jetajockey, I wouldn't even consider them as part of your stock. I wouldn't call them an algae eater, but they will eat any uneaten food (though you shouldn't have any if you feed right) from the substrate. I had well over 500 in a 10g at one point, though I killed a bunch accidentally when swapping substrate

 

[tarpon]

It's my understanding that inverts have next to no bioload.

Ahh. Lots of new things to learn on here

 

[jetajockey]

That's really a generalized statement, many of them don't, but there are plenty that do. Apple snails/mystery snails have a huge bioload, and stuff like crayfish are pretty nasty also (very messy eaters to boot!)

Things like dwarf shrimp and smaller snails are minimal bioload though, which is what I think he was getting at.

 

[James_in_MN]

Tell that to apple snails!

If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Nerites, they have all kinds of cool patterns.

LOL, OK, apple snails are definitely the exception to the rule.

I've put 3 nerite snails in my 10g tank over time, one toward the beginning of my stocking, and two others later on. One of the two newer ones died, and I still can't find the original one, so I haven't had much success with that type of snail. Also, it's purely an algae eater, which I already have covered (ottos). I'm looking for more of a scavenging snail I guess.

 

[James_in_MN]

You'll have hundreds before long... and in agreement with jetajockey, I wouldn't even consider them as part of your stock. I wouldn't call them an algae eater, but they will eat any uneaten food (though you shouldn't have any if you feed right) from the substrate. I had well over 500 in a 10g at one point, though I killed a bunch accidentally when swapping substrate

If I'd theoretically have hundreds over time, should I limit how many I start with, or just put the whole lot of 20 in?

I only suggested that they may also eat algae after an interesting video on youtube where a colony of them mowed through algae (time lapsed) on the wall of the tank.

YouTube - ‪Malaysian Trumpet Snail eating algae timelapse‬‏

 

[mfdrookie516]

Hmmm, I've never seen mine out in the tank during the day, though they'll be out at night almost every time I peek in the tank.

If you have 20, put 20 in... unless you have other tanks you want to put them in. They'll get established quicker with 20 and you can move them to other thanks then as another option.

 

[James_in_MN]

That's really a generalized statement, many of them don't, but there are plenty that do. Apple snails/mystery snails have a huge bioload, and stuff like crayfish are pretty nasty also (very messy eaters to boot!)

Things like dwarf shrimp and smaller snails are minimal bioload though, which is what I think he was getting at.

Yes, correct.

I know there are some inverts that do add a significant amount to the bioload of a tank, like apple/mystery snails. But a significant number of inverts are small enough to not add much of anything. Pond/ramshorn snails, MTS, amano/ghost shrimp, RCS and other neocardina, CRS and other cardina, etc.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I| say put all 20 in and even take 5 and put them in your other tank. I have MTS in with shrimp and no empty shells yet. I let them proliferate for a reason (GSP snacks) and they seem to like to clean glass, plants and of course dig in the sand.