polleni-puffer Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 So whats the deal with these guys. Are they hard to find ,good for tanks ,all that other stuff ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 They are not too hard to find, they are prolific breeders. They are sought after because they will clean your tank and don't eat plants. During the day they burrow through the substrate churning it up and eating as they go, at night they come out and get the reat of the tank So they are good for the tank, and don't really become pests like other types of snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishnerd Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 I can't get rid of em' I and I'm sure some others consider them to be parasitic. Infestations get out of control and can lead to to huge waste buildup and nitrate spikes if uncontrolled. They always seem to come in off plants bought in stores at least mine did and they apread easily between tanks if not careful. I have had to buy some form of loach to keep in all my tanks to try to eradicate them. Unfortunately they escape into filtres and in my case sumps where they continue to breed and flow back into my tanks. I have even put assasin snails into my sumps to control them as I can't seem to find any snail killer chemicals in the stores. While they do make good food for some fish in small amounts. In my opinion they are sheer nuisance creatures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Infestations get out of control and can lead to to huge waste buildup and nitrate spikes if uncontrolled. Snail populations grow to the size of their food source- you can control them by not overfeeding. So... the huge waste build up can lead to nitrate spikes and snail infestations if uncontrolled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heff Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 I have MTS and for awhile there, it seemed like there were more and more every day. After I started limiting the amount of food fed each day for my fish (overfeeding is an easy habit to have I've learned), I've noticed empty shells at the bottom of the tank. I had read that when you control the food input, you control the snail population and my tank is proof. It's no longer overrun. I've also heard that clown loaches will eat smaller snails but the large shells are too much for them. I got mine from Big Al's and I said I didn't care what size I was getting, so the guy gave me about 30-50 of them for less than $2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CursiveDuck Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Hmmm they overpopulate in my tank fairly easily and I definitely am not over feeding, I only have 1 creature that is SUPPOSE to be in there, and I hand feed the axolotl so there are no left overs. That being said they do clean the substrate nicely and with one assassin snail in the tank the population seems to be fairly under control. Though in my personal opinion I'd avoid them like the plague, I'd much prefer to just scrub the algae then purposefully get Malaysian trumpet snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Get a small glass jar like a salt shaker. Remove the top. Be sure the jar is clean. Then put a small piece of lettuce, cucumber or perhaps some fish food in the jar, and fill it with aquarium water. Carefully sink it on the bottom of the aquarium. The next morning it will have lots of small snails inside! remove them and repeat the process. Also when I vacuume the substrate I place a bucket in the bath and siphon into that, sand, snails and other junk settle to the bottmn. The snails that are less dense than the sand and get sucked up, if i want to keep them I pinch off the hose and they fall out of the tube. Easy Peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Hmmm they overpopulate in my tank fairly easily and I definitely am not over feeding, I only have 1 creature that is SUPPOSE to be in there, and I hand feed the axolotl so there are no left overs. That being said they do clean the substrate nicely and with one assassin snail in the tank the population seems to be fairly under control. Though in my personal opinion I'd avoid them like the plague, I'd much prefer to just scrub the algae then purposefully get Malaysian trumpet snails. They may be living off algae, and not the food itself perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 IMO, MTS are the snails you want in a tank. If your substrate is anything more than 1", you can easily build up anaerobic pockets. With MTS in your tank, they'll keep the substrate turned and anaerobic pockets are not a worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Anybody in Calgary who wants some gratis, please pm me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CursiveDuck Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Hmmm they overpopulate in my tank fairly easily and I definitely am not over feeding, I only have 1 creature that is SUPPOSE to be in there, and I hand feed the axolotl so there are no left overs. That being said they do clean the substrate nicely and with one assassin snail in the tank the population seems to be fairly under control. Though in my personal opinion I'd avoid them like the plague, I'd much prefer to just scrub the algae then purposefully get Malaysian trumpet snails. They may be living off algae, and not the food itself perhaps? Very well could be lol. They've only become a problem since I moved the tank a little nearer a window where there may be a little more light needed. Yet needless to say watching that assassin snail wreck havoc is awesome fun lol. He's such a little ninja, I thought I had lost him till one day I saw him expose himself from underneath the sand and surprise attack a MTS. It was like a slow-mo version of an action film :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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