Surprise! Trumpet snails....do i leave them in?

[Billsgate]

Hi,

Last night i came into my room and turned on my lights and i saw this strange big snail on my piece of driftwood. It's about 1.5 inch, and then i saw 10 or so little ones on the glass, probably more elsewhere.
I looked up what it was and apparently its a trumpet snail, not sure if its malasyan (livebearing specie!).
Strange that i only see them now, since i've had this tank up and running for almost 6 months now. They probably hitched a ride on my valisneria i bought a month or so ago.

So, do i leave them in? anyone know if they really are any good?

TIA

 

[Corty]

Yay "pest" snails! I always leave the guys in, but then mine don't seem to multiply at all. The goldfish seem to think they're very tasty though.

I've heard reports of them overmultiplying and "taking over" the tank, but this is generally caused by too many nutrients; overfeeding, etc.

I find them fun to watch, pretty, and if they eat some leftover food or some algae, so be it.

 

[QTOFFER]

I generally consider snails to be part of the planted tank mini-ecosystem.
However, I do roll up my sleeves and conduct night-time search and destroy raids to keep their numbers from getting too high.

 

[TankGirl]

Sometimes they can really become a problem, so it is a tough call. They do have their own bioload to contribute to the tank, but these particular snails keep the substrate aerated and that is a good thing (almost definitely hitched a ride on plants).

Corty is absolutely right though, if you are not overfeeding and keep up with your water changes this will keep their numbers down. They have a particularly hard shell so not all snail-eating fish will be able to eat them.

 

[Billsgate]

Tnx for the replies.
Guess i'll leave them in then. I do believe i overfeed just a little bit.....none of the food touches the bottom of my tank though, but still, my fish produce more waste if i feed them too much.
Maybe i'll do a nighttime raid on the little ones. I don't want too many of them in there.

On a side note, i was in my lfs today and saw some fullgrown keyhole cichlids.......damn, i never thought they would grow that big (not extremely big or anything, i just never saw any of them fullgrown yet). My keyholes are half the size of the adults, so i'm moving them to my 30 gal once it's up and give it to them as their new home. More room, quicker growth, right?
I also thought the ones at the lfs were......how shall i put this tactfully......ugly.
Are cichlids prettier when young? Or is it possible that these were just unhealthy specimens (It was at the bad lfs i went today, not the good one. The bad one has sick fish all the time......... i saw a young keyhole there a while back in a small tank with firemouths!!!............made me mad, his fins were all ripped of by the firemouths and he looked so sad.......i didn't take him, didn't want to infect my good fish with possible bad fishie)

Sorry for getting of track again....

Tnx for help!

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

I'm not sure what you mean by "ugly" but cichlids usually become more attractive as they get older. Juveniles are generally very drab and colorless (so as not to advertise themselves as a free meal). Adult coloration with cichlids (especially the males) is often very intense and attractive. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules...

Many adult keyholes I've seen are quite attractive: a nice gold coloration with flashes of other colors. You're probably seeing some from poor stock and/or in poor health.

 

[Billsgate]

That's probably it voodoo chilli, My keyholes have nice goldish fins, breastfins blue/whiteish, the ones at the store had transparent fins, deformed mouts i believe (their upper lip was the only one u could see, and it looked a bit crooked as well). + Their black stripes through the eyes werent straight either. And some of them had their 'keyhole' deformed.
I'm definetly not buying anymore fish from this shop...........makes me sick to look at it. It's a good place for equipment, but their fishies...........no good.

ON a brigt note....i'll be setting up my 30 gal the coming weekend, so my keyholes can be moved in a week or 2-3 They'll be allot happier i believe, to have lots of space to themselves.