Free MTS (trumpet snails), just send me a PM!

[7Enigma]

Hey everyone,

My stock of MTS in my QT and main tanks have begun to get out of hand. I recently have seen TONS of . sized MTS floating around my tank and got a great idea. I can ship these through normal mail since they are so tiny (just in a small plastic bag with a wet piece of paper towel) and so we don't have to go through all the shipping issues. I'd send 20-30 of these microscopic-sized tank cleaners, and all I'd need would be a PM with your address.

MTS are great substrate burrowers, you will only see them during the night (unless you have a ton of uneaten food in the substrate and they have nowhere else to go), they don't eat plants, and help to keep toxic gases from building up.

I'm in PA and so eastern states would be preferred for the health of the MTS (though I've heard they can survive in almost horrible conditions) but I'll send almost anywhere.

This is a great, free way to get some of these wonderful tank cleaners into your own tanks.

Let me know.

justin

EDIT: I didn't want to put this in the barter/trade forum since they are free.

 

[rich311k]

I moved this to Barter trade. That is were these free give aways go. Very nice offer you are making.

 

[7Enigma]

Got my first request. We'll see how they ship to GA (hope it doesn't get too hot on the trip, or its escargot)....

 

[7Enigma]

Got another one, will try to ship both out this afternoon when I get home from work.

 

[nycfatcow]

interested ill pm you

 

[7Enigma]

Duke33 and Atl300zx I sent your's out today. Probably about 10 or so a piece and VERY tiny. I'd recommend putting them in after lights out for fear of them being small enough that the fish might just eat them thinking they are sinking pellet food!

nycfatcow I'll try for tomorrow. The little buggers must know I'm coming for them, there seemed to be quite a bit less on the glass than normal.... They tend to come out right before dark so I'll see if I can harvest them tonight (in a container of water) and keep them until tomorrow for shipping when I get home from work. We are close enough that they should have no problem getting to you before Saturday (I would hate for them to sit in a hot car on Sunday).

This will be a test for just how bad they can withstand conditions. Apparently we are now in a heatwave for the next couple of days....

 

[nycfatcow]

thanks again, take your time... im in no rush

 

[7Enigma]

Turns out my hunch paid off. Right after I posted that last email I went back to the tank and sure enough here comes the army of tiny MTS from the substrate. I caught about 20 or so and put them in a holding container. Tomorrow I'll try to grab a bunch more and then ship them out tomorrow afternoon. Should have a good 30-40 if I can get another harvest like this evening.

 

[7Enigma]

nycfatcow,

I sent yours this morning. I was able to get probably 30 or so. I realized I wanted to put this disclaimer out just to be safe:

DISCLAIMER: Please be aware I have common pond snails in my tanks. I attempted to remove any common pond snails prior to shipping the MTS but these snails are TINY and very difficult to be sure all commons were removed. Put these in your tank at your own discretion.

 

[nycfatcow]

lol its i have pond snails already... when they over populate i just pick them out lol

 

[7Enigma]

I just wanted to make that disclaimer in case someone in 2 months gets upset that they have a pond snail (or 100) in their tanks. These guys are so small its difficult to see the swirl shell of the MTS! And while I picked through each one individually I did not do it under a magnifying glass so it's possible there is one or two.

 

[7Enigma]

Well, Duke33 informed me that he got the snails yesterday.....and they were smashed. Unfortunately it seems the shipping will require a bit more protection to make sure they arrive safely. I'm going on vacation all next week and so will not be able to do anything, but will try to figure out a better way to ship when I get back.

I'm very doubtful if the shipment to NY failed that the ones to farther of states (WV and GA) will be any better....

 

[7Enigma]

Can anyone I sent the snails to comment on if any were viable? I got a couple PM's saying they were crushed but hopefully 1 or 2 made it. When I get back from NC (OBX) I'll find a better shipping method. Trust me...there's still a ton of these guys in the tanks.

 

[nycfatcow]

hey enigma...did you ever ship mine?

 

[7Enigma]

I sent yours on Wed August 1st. You should have received them by now.

 

[nycfatcow]

hmm i never got mine!! lol

 

[7Enigma]

Hmm, send me a PM with your address again. Maybe something got mixed up (a neighbor of yours might have got them and freaked out!)

 

[nycfatcow]

haha ok sending you the pm

 

[7Enigma]

So its been crazy busy at work (that's what I get for taking a week of vacation) and so I haven't been able to work out shipping these guys. Give me another couple days and I'll see what I can come up with for safely shipping them.

 

[7Enigma]

OK everyone,

It's been a horrible 2 weeks at work but I've come to the conclusion that there is no way to ship these guys for free. Here's my thought, it will be sort of like a chain letter. I send a BUNCH of snails to the first person on the list. This person takes 1/3 of them. They then ship the snails on to the next person. And so on.....

So you're not paying for my snails, just responsible for sending them on to the next person? Let me know. I'll ship them out shortly if you're cool with this.

As a bonus in the couple weeks I've been trying to get this to work I have a TON of these guys and a lot of them are medium-sized.

justin