Should I Worry About This?

[the_lock_man]

I'm a huge fan of Assassin Snails, having rid me of a huge pond and ramshorn snail infestation. That said, they will only deal with the smaller MTS, so I suggest that you remove the larger ones by hand, and add 6 Assassins. If they themselves breed, the offspring will have some value, when they get to about 6 months, and they don't breed as wildly as pest snails.

 

[aly_starh]

WOW!

Ok, if it were my tank, i would possibly take substrate, fish, plants etc out. Then treat the tank with a copper based treatment. Although that would be killing snails, wouldnt it? Hmmmmm, tricky one that.

But assassin snails would eat them up anyways would'nt they, so i suppose its the same concept.

Good Luck!

 

[Skittle]

If you're going to kill them with a medicine or chemical, hold your nose when you open the lid...

 

[ian]

two words Lud, Assassin snail. They would have this sorted in a couple of weeks. Also assassins won't breed as fast as MTS, and when they do you can get a good price for an Assassin. I intrduced 3 Assassins a year ago into my big tank and there are now about 10 assassins. I have popped a couple in my small tank.

 

[KittyKat]

4. What useful purpose do these Trumpets have??

They dig in the substrate, that can have its benefits.

5. Any other suggestions

I find that the numbers are directly related to food. I "keep" them in all my freshwater tanks voluntarily but I have never had that many except for the one time when I left a house mate to (over)feed the fish for a couple of weeks.

 

[Squidward]

Eish. That's a lot of snails!

 

[drobbyb]

Honestly I always hear about the benefits of moving around the substrate, and that snails do a good job about it. Don't you move the substrate around enough when you do gravel vacs? I always cover my entire gravel bed when I do a water change and have never used snails to "turn" the substrate. I have not even once had a problem with gasses being trapped in the gravel.

If you perform your maintenance like you should, then you won't need snails to do it for you, and I guarantee you that your gravel syphon will do a better job at it than your snails.

If you have sand, there is a better option than snails too. Inchworm said it all here in Post 9.

 

[AmazonFTW]

Sorry but do NOT add Assassin Snails! I had 3 and within a year I now have countless amounts - I reckon at least 300. They seem good at first but no one understands how fast they actually breed, until they experience it and it's too late..

Good Luck,
AmazonFTW

 

[fishnovice]

I agree it's probably overfeeding. Why not hand pick adults and distribute among your numerous tanks, ponds etc? They do a great job of cleaning substrate. I keep MTS deliberately to clean sand and have never had a population explosion.

 

[Psingh]

Thats alot of snails LOL.

 

[KittyKat]

I always hear about the benefits of moving around the substrate, and that snails do a good job about it. Don't you move the substrate around enough when you do gravel vacs? I always cover my entire gravel bed when I do a water change and have never used snails to "turn" the substrate. I have not even once had a problem with gasses being trapped in the gravel.

Not everyone can vacuum the gravel and not all substrate can easily be vacuumed.. there are plenty of reasons why it might not go with the set-up. Vacuuming is not the "be all and end all" of substrate maintenance.

 

[drobbyb]

I feel sorry for the fish in people's tanks that don't gravel vac! All that leftover food and poop rotting produces excess ammonia. Besides, who wants to see a layer of poop when looking at a tank that hasn't had the substrate cleaned in quite a while.

I understand is certain situations deep gravel cleaning may not be the best option, like in heavily planted tanks or sand substrate, but didn't Bignose say:

Hydrogen Sulphide is highly toxic to fish but is detoxified instantly on contact with oxygenated water. One important word there -- the oxygen in the water is very important to detoxify it. The oxygen in the water is what allows it to to be converted from hydrigen sulphide H2S to just sulfuric acid H2SO4.

here in post number 12.

So you see, there is nothing to worry about and you don't need snails to do anything with your substrate. Don't get me wrong though, I like some snails, I just don't think people should use them as an excuse not to clean their substrate.