Snails or Algae Eaters?

[Cindyk]

I have the following weird looking snails or whatever you would call the things in the following picture. I don't know where I got them, how they are reproducing, etc. but I must have 75 to a hundred of them in my 55 gallon tank. They at one point looked like clumps of crumbs on the top of my tank there were so many floating. And in the rocks they are multiplying like crazy. Any help with what these are, should I leave them alone or should I get rid of them? I am continually amazed at how fast they are populating! Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[Fresh2o]

Those are MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails). They do breed quickly but reducing the amount of food given to the fish will help prevent the population from getting out of hand. These snails are helpful in that they like to dig in the substrate.


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[Cindyk]

Thanks - so do I continue to let them go? Will they bother the rest of the fish in my tank? I have an assortment of fish - Gourami's, Guppies, Tetras, Swordtails and I a couple of platy fish. There are also 2 Chinese algae eaters and a couple of mystery snails.

 

[Fresh2o]

You can leave them alone. They will not bother the fish and they ignore plants. Whether they will control algae in your tank...probably not. They do a good job turning the substrate.
IMO the Chinese algae eaters will pose a threat to your fish as the mature and become increasingly aggressive. I would worry more about them.


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[trennamw]

Mine do eat algae, I believe. I recently added some plants to my tank and noticed after the fact some BBA I believe it was. I watched the snails go to town and it slowly disappeared. The baby MTS also really like a section of rock that gets a light dusting of some black algae. It never gets established enough to identify what it is.

They don't seem to go to the green algae.

I find them very useful for keeping the tank clean. Since you have gravel you'll appreciate their habit of living and eating under its surface. You may be alarmed by their numbers if you check the tank a few hours after lights out, but if you don't over feed they shouldn't be a huge bother.


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[Fresh2o]

I wish the MTS would eat the BBA in my tank. Yes, they leave the green stuff alone. For some reason they do not reproduce quickly in my planted tank. The shells look bad (decayed). In my shrimp tank there are many more of them. Larger with healthy shells.


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[trennamw]

I wish the MTS would eat the BBA in my tank. Yes, they leave the green stuff alone. For some reason they do not reproduce quickly in my planted tank. The shells look bad (decayed). In my shrimp tank there are many more of them. Larger with healthy shells.


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Interesting. Do you suspect a difference in the levels of minerals between the tanks?


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[Fresh2o]

Interesting. Do you suspect a difference in the levels of minerals between the tanks?


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Yes I do. In the planted tank there is a lot of light and plant growth occurring. Probably quite a bit of consumption of minerals in the process. I did add a chunk of cuttlebone in the tank a while back but not sure if it had any positive effects. Also was adding montmorillonite clay with water changes but stopped that some time back.


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[Cindyk]

We have hard water that tends to run with a high ph so I generally buy spring water or distilled water and I still tend to test with a higher ph and the water usually reads as extremely hard. I have used ph reducers and aquarium salt and my tank doesn't seem to change. The fish are not dying or in distress so I have given up on getting those down.

 

[Fintique]

Buy assassin snails if you want them gone. They will hint and eat all pest.

 

[Fresh2o]

Cindy and Trenna have polar opposite source water conditions. And mine is in the middle but something is out of whack. Interesting to see the effects on the MTS. They appear to be flourishing in your tank, Cindy. I see the same thing in my shrimp tank. Well fed, large MTS with beautiful shells. In my planted tank the shells are often dark with BBA. Yes, BBA on the shells. Oh, the shame


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[Rivers2k]

I have a major hatred for MTS. You can never get rid of them completely. I got some years ago as puffer food. Moved on from puffers and they are still around They even moved to a brand new tank when I use the filter media to cycle the new tank I can only assume there was eggs in there. Best thing I found for them is loaches like clown,botia,yoyo or zebra. Then you just have to pick out the left over shells.

 

[aqua_holic]

MTS give birth to live young, out the top of their cone, so no eggs. You likely had baby snails in there somewhere.

I wish my MTS would eat BBA as well. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

 

[Rivers2k]

MTS give birth to live young, out the top of their cone, so no eggs. You likely had baby snails in there somewhere.

I wish my MTS would eat BBA as well. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Interesting I did not know that. Yeah I was so frustrated when I had a brand new tank all except my canister filter within a week bamb there they were.

 

[fishliker]

I got a couple of assassin snails to take care of the trumpet snails and they did. I was having to take extra time each water change to pick up and remove a handful of the trumpet snails. I like the assassins.


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