Bottom Dwellers

[kris-b-]

Hello peeps!

I am getting a new tank on Tuesday and I am going to be using sand as a substrate. Having looked into this and read about having the sand aerated is a good thing I am thinking about getting some Malaysian Trumpet snails but now I am having second thoughts as I don't want a huge amount of these and as they are livebearers I don't want a huge outbreak of them! Is it better to get hold of some small shrimp or go for the snails to feed off the substrate and aerate it?

Thanks

 

[dixaisy930]

From what I read, I don't think any shrimp or any other snail will actually aerate the sand. You need something that will actually burrow in the sand to aerate it. I have the trumpet snails in my tank with the sand substrate, and I really don't think I've been overpopulated by them. I don't believe I even have any fish in my tank that will eat them. If you were really worried about them getting out of control, once a week you could remove some.

 

[kris-b-]

Cheers for that.

Where did you get yours from? I have looked on ebay and found some on there but would you think it would be ok to get some from there? I just don't want to get the bad type of snail that you get when you buy plants (I'm unsure of the name) as I wouldn't know the difference between them!

Thanks

 

[prankster705]

The ones that quckly reproduce are ramshorns, and there is a big difference between them.

dixaisy930 do you thing a clown loach would eat a ramshorn?

 

[yvez9]

i'm sure you vould get a member here to give some to you as people that have some usually have more then they need. I have 2 tanks overrun by them. Every month I have to throw away hundreds.

 

[dixaisy930]

lol, that's funny you say that...I'm pretty sure that's how I got mine (from getting live plants). Quite a few of the lfs I go to have the trumpet snail in their tanks as a "pest". I'm sure they would just giving them to you. The real pest snail you're probably thinking of is the pond snail (I don't know what the fancy scientific name is). The trumpet snail looks completely different from them. It has a cone shaped shell, and the pest snail has the usual snail looking shell. I'm almost positive you can get them for free at a lfs. I wouldn't waste my money buying them. Oh, and if you're worrying about them bothering plants, don't. They won't touch them, promise.

 

[kris-b-]

Thank you for the replies! I'll ask about on here to see if anybodys throwing any away

 

[kris-b-]

Requests for snails:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113621