Help identifying these snails:

[Karen_2656]

I bought some live plants and there happened to be snails in them. I don't know what type of snails and I don't know any information on them. Also how do you care for snails as I have never took interest in them. Any ideas?

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[Essjay]

They are Malaysian trumpet snails, a good snail to have in a tank.

You'll find info on them about two thirds of the way down the page here http://www.fishforums.net/threads/freshwater-snail-species-in-the-hobby.424364/

 

[NickAu]

MTS are a fish-keepers best friend, especially if you have live plants.

There is a lot of bad rep that all snails have received. A lot of hobbyists tend to think that having any type of snail in their aquarium is horrible and all must be removed immediately. There are even chemicals that are solely meant for killing snails in the aquarium. I highly recommend that you never use any chemical meant to kill snails in a tank with shrimp. Snails are not bad for your aquarium. Overfeeding your tank is what causes snail outbreaks. Most snails will actually leave your plants alone and instead eat the algae off of the leaves as well as glass. Do not think that a snail is a pest, they can be extremely useful in any aquarium.

The Malaysian Trumpet Snail is actually a benefit to any aquarium for several reasons. It will not eat your plants at all. This snail also will not "muscle" your shrimp off of food meant for the shrimp. The Malaysian Trumpet Snail feeds on detritus and leftover food that is underneath the substrate. It actually burrows in the substrate and moves around throughout. You will rarely see this snail during the day. Occasionally it will emerge from the substrate. A cool thing is that sometimes you will see the substrate move and you will know that there is a Malaysian Trumpet Snail underneath doing its cleaning duties.
http://www.planetinverts.com/malaysian_trumpet_snail.html

Also how do you care for snails as I have never took interest in them.

Do nothing for them, Do not even feed them.

 

[Karen_2656]

MTS are a fish-keepers best friend, especially if you have live plants.




Do nothing for them, Do not even feed them.

Thanks a lot. I definitely won't kill them. To be fair they are pretty cute. Dunno how many there are. 6-10 I think. Whenever I look for them I always seem to find them. Either under gravel or resting. Thanks nick!


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[Karen_2656]

They are Malaysian trumpet snails, a good snail to have in a tank.

You'll find info on them about two thirds of the way down the page here http://www.fishforums.net/threads/freshwater-snail-species-in-the-hobby.424364/

Thank you so much [emoji4]


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[Essjay]

MTS are also an early warning system. If you ever see a large number of them crawling up the tank walls in daylight, test the water.

 

[Karen_2656]

MTS are also an early warning system. If you ever see a large number of them crawling up the tank walls in daylight, test the water.

Sorry I'm so confused. Like I said I don't have a clue about snails. Do I have Malaysian trumpet snails or MTS snails? Also what do you mean by 'If you ever see a large number of them crawling up the tank walls in daylight test the water.' Are MTS bad? Sorry I'm just so confused what snails I have.


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[Essjay]

MTS is the commonly used abbreviation for Malaysian trumpet snails. It just saves having to type the whole name.

Malaysian trumpet snails are usually found in the substrate when the tank lights are on. But if there is something wrong in the tank, eg an ammonia spike, the snails do not like it and try to get away from whatever it is they don't like and they do this by crawling up the tank walls even though it is light. So if you ever see lots and lots of Malaysian trumpet snails crawling up the glass when it is light, it is an indicator that something is wrong in your tank; and the first thing to do if we suspect something is wrong is to test the water.

 

[Karen_2656]

MTS is the commonly used abbreviation for Malaysian trumpet snails. It just saves having to type the whole name.

Malaysian trumpet snails are usually found in the substrate when the tank lights are on. But if there is something wrong in the tank, eg an ammonia spike, the snails do not like it and try to get away from whatever it is they don't like and they do this by crawling up the tank walls even though it is light. So if you ever see lots and lots of Malaysian trumpet snails crawling up the glass when it is light, it is an indicator that something is wrong in your tank; and the first thing to do if we suspect something is wrong is to test the water.

Ah. There was one up there yesterday but today he/she is in the gravel.
There is another one that was near the top but then went in the plants. I'll test my water now and will tell you the results ASAP.


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[Karen_2656]

MTS is the commonly used abbreviation for Malaysian trumpet snails. It just saves having to type the whole name.

Malaysian trumpet snails are usually found in the substrate when the tank lights are on. But if there is something wrong in the tank, eg an ammonia spike, the snails do not like it and try to get away from whatever it is they don't like and they do this by crawling up the tank walls even though it is light. So if you ever see lots and lots of Malaysian trumpet snails crawling up the glass when it is light, it is an indicator that something is wrong in your tank; and the first thing to do if we suspect something is wrong is to test the water.

Here is the picture of him/her yesterday:

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[Essjay]

The odd snail or two out and about is fine. It's when they all do it that you need to check.

There will be a lot of snails in the tank you haven't seen. if you have one of these snails you'll soon have more of them.

 

[Karen_2656]

The odd snail or two out and about is fine. It's when they all do it that you need to check.

There will be a lot of snails in the tank you haven't seen. if you have one of these snails you'll soon have more of them.

Checked my water. All good, wow I looked at my tank just then and there seemed to be about 20 baby snails in the gravel. I actually think snails are a beautiful addition to my tank and I have decided I want some more snails in my tank. Any ideas on snails?


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[Essjay]

I forgot to mention before that the way to keep the numbers of Malaysian trumpet snails under control is by not over feeding the fish. The more left over food there is on the bottom of the tank, the faster these snails will reproduce.

There are several snail types in the hobby.
If you live anywhere except the EU, apple snails, also called mystery snails, are one option. The EU has banned import of apple snails. The species commonly called brigs grow to about an inch across and come in several colours. Apple snails lay eggs above the water line so their numbers can be controlled by removing the egg clusters if you have both sexes.
Nerite snails do lay eggs but they can't hatch in fresh water. There a few species of nerite in different colours and patterns. I have several nerites in my main tank.
Ramshorn snails, but avoid the brown and beige striped Colombian ramshorn as it is a plant eater.
Conical snails of the Tylomelania genus - eg rabbit snails, Sulawesi snails.

You'll find info on many of these snails here http://www.planetinverts.com/snail_species.html

 

[Karen_2656]

I forgot to mention before that the way to keep the numbers of Malaysian trumpet snails under control is by not over feeding the fish. The more left over food there is on the bottom of the tank, the faster these snails will reproduce.

You'll find info on many of these snails here http://www.planetinverts.com/snail_species.html

Thanks. What do you mean by ' the more left over food there is on the bottom of the tank, the faster these snails will reproduce.'
Sorry I sound so dumb I've just never took interest in these magnificent creatures.


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[Essjay]

If you give the fish too much food, the food they don't eat will fall to the bottom of the tank where the snails will eat it. The more food snails have, the better they reproduce. So giving the fish more food than they can eat results in huge numbers of snails.
The way to stop them reproducing too much is to make sure you only feed the fish as much as they can eat in a couple of minutes so that there is no food left over to fall to the bottom of the tank.

Of course if you have fish that also feed off the bottom of the tank, you must feed them, but not so much they that can't eat it all.