the benefits of malaysian trumpet snails?

[_skyla_]

So ive had these guys before when i had tanks with a sand substrate to stop it from compacting. I was wondering if they would be usefull in keeping gravel cleaner. I know id still have to gravel vac but if i add them to my sons tank i was hoping they would be able to get all the way through and eat the left over food and muck that gets stuck in it? i have the corys and they do a great job eating all the foid that gets missed by the others but they cant get right under the gravel like the snails could. Do they eliminate more waste than they create? I just want to weigh up the pros and cons off adding tjem to this tank since they are not the easiest things to get rid of and assasin snail wont be an option if i change my mind since i have other snail i dont want massacred

 

[Tetra1990]

So ive had these guys before when i had tanks with a sand substrate to stop it from compacting. I was wondering if they would be usefull in keeping gravel cleaner. I know id still have to gravel vac but if i add them to my sons tank i was hoping they would be able to get all the way through and eat the left over food and muck that gets stuck in it? i have the corys and they do a great job eating all the foid that gets missed by the others but they cant get right under the gravel like the snails could. Do they eliminate more waste than they create? I just want to weigh up the pros and cons off adding tjem to this tank since they are not the easiest things to get rid of and assasin snail wont be an option if i change my mind since i have other snail i dont want massacred

Interesting. I'm in the same boat. I have mts in my 29 gallon with sand and they move through it nicely. My 10 has gravel and I've toyed with the idea of dropping in a few. But I don't want the population to explode. As far as them moving through the actual gravel, if they are small enough, they could fit in the cracks. Im sure it couldn't hurt to add them...

 

[Rivercats]

I have Eco-complete which I would consider it the size of small gravel for comparison. I absolutely love my MTS since they are usually only seen at night. The only thing is if the gravel is too large I don't know if they could actually get down in there and move around to get to things. Plus when gravel vacuuming your going to suck up little ones I would imagine. As for waste I don't imagine what they put out has any impact on the bio load, not like they are apple snail size Personally if your sons tank is small and you gravel vac it I don't see where the MTS's would make that much difference.

 

[_skyla_]

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try them they should stay under control if I don't over feed. Well as for sucking them up with the gravel vac would it be best to just let them do the cleaning if I add them and not vac so I don't suck them ?

 

[Tetra1990]

They might be heavy enough to not get sucked up by the vacuum. It should have like a screen thing at the end of the tube.

 

[_skyla_]

They might be heavy enough to not get sucked up by the vacuum. It should have like a screen thing at the end of the tube.

No there's no screen on mine it's just an open end

 

[Rivercats]

I'll tell you alittle trick I learn with my water changer... my rummy nose school seems to think when I put the water changer in to remove water it's fun to play right at the opening so I began putting a net under the hose on the end it drains into the sink at. If you drain into a bucket cut the end of a nylon off and rubber band the closed toe end on it. You will have to go through the detris but you can pick out little ones that get sucked up. But honestly if you look at how much detris the MTS's can eat vs how much detris your gravel vac picks up and removes from the substrate, well the gravel vac is going to do way more good than the MTS's will. My tank is too heavily planted to really use a gravel vac so I don't have to worry about my MTS's.

 

[_skyla_]

thanks for the info well the tank is quite planted so i decided to try the snails instead of the gravel vac. I removed everything gravel vacd replanted and replaced everything then added them.