Trumpet Snails...

[fmervin]

Hello everyone,

I'm a newbie and currently own a 65 litre (approx 17 gal) freshwater tank. It is nicely planted and uses a sand substrate which is quite thick more than 2 inches. After reading this excellent article I learned about anaerobic pockets (newbies always learn late ). However, now it's too late for me to take off the sand since it will be too much of mess and will also cause stress to the fish (I have 3 at the moment). The article also states that malaysian trumpet snails shift the sand and eat any decaying matter. This will be just perfect for me. Now I have a few questions about keeping these snails:

1. I've heard of horror stories of tanks being overrun by snails and apparently MTS can reproduce without a partner and quite quickly at that. To sort this out I decided to keep 3 zebra loaches which will eat the snail babies. However from the googling I have done, I have learned that MTS have very hard shells, so can the zebra loaches actually eat these snail babies? My tank is too small for clown loaches

2. MTS reach a maximum size of 2 cm and I think the zebra loaches can reach a maximum size of 4cm. So can the zebra loaches eat fully grown MTS? I ideally want a dozen of fully grown MTS so that they turn over the sand and avoid these anaerobic pockets.

3. I've also been thinking of keeping 3 apple snails. Will the MTS be ok with apple snails?

4. There are people on ebay who sell snails. What are your thoughts on purchasing from ebay? How are they packaged? I'm intrigued as to how snails can be shipped. Can't they die or even catch a disease in transit? This listing http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...545683&rd=1 seems to be just what I want. What are your thoughts?

5. Do snails also require climatising? Or can I just pop them into the tank as soon as I get them home?

Sorry for so many questions guys, but I have no where else to get this kind of information from

 

[Glod]

MTS don't reproduce as quickly as the likes of pond snails. They can breed fairly quickly tho, the difference is they spend most of their time under the sand so you don't see them. You will only see them in late evening / early morning when they are out and about.

I'm not sure if zebra loaches will eat an adult MTS but they can probably handle small ones. however Zebra loaches get to about 4 inches (10cm), not 4cm. While great fish in their own right it may be conterproductive if you *want* the snails.

MTS won't bother apple snails, will apples bother MTS, the loaches on the other hand might well decide the apple is lunch.

I bought my MTS on Ebay from gogosnails. I've also heard good things about snailshop. Both are active on ebay and have a pretty decent reputation.

Best to acclimatise them, it doesn't take that long

Good luck with your snails.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The loaches will definately be able to eat the snails, young and adult alike, i believe they just sorta suck the snail out of its shell. Anaerobic pockets may form in the sand, but if you keep it clean and just swish it around once a week with your hands it will be fine (in one of my tanks i have 3inches of sand and doing this has helped prevent lots of anaerobic pockets building up in the sand) .
What is the length, width and height of your tank? Depending on such factors, zebra loaches may or may not be suitable for the tank.

 

[voo]

I'm sure if you post on the buy/sell section, you should be able to get some MTS for quite cheap. Several people on here have tanks overrun with them.


MTS do take a while to reach full size, in which time you could just pick them out of the tank if you dont want them.

 

[severum boy]

1. I've heard of horror stories of tanks being overrun by snails and apparently MTS can reproduce without a partner and quite quickly at that. To sort this out I decided to keep 3 zebra loaches which will eat the snail babies. However from the googling I have done, I have learned that MTS have very hard shells, so can the zebra loaches actually eat these snail babies? My tank is too small for clown loaches.

Yes they do reproduce fast, but not that fast. Just sell the babies via Ebay or here. The loaches will eat the adults too. I woudent bother with loaches.

2. MTS reach a maximum size of 2 cm and I think the zebra loaches can reach a maximum size of 4cm. So can the zebra loaches eat fully grown MTS? I ideally want a dozen of fully grown MTS so that they turn over the sand and avoid these anaerobic pockets.

Yes they will be eaten.

3. I've also been thinking of keeping 3 apple snails. Will the MTS be ok with apple snails?

Yep, fine. Dont keep apple snails with loaches either.

4. There are people on ebay who sell snails. What are your thoughts on purchasing from ebay? How are they packaged? I'm intrigued as to how snails can be shipped. Can't they die or even catch a disease in transit? This listing http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...545683&rd=1 seems to be just what I want. What are your thoughts?

Yep, the sellers are fine, just check that they have done it before. Snails wont catch a disease in transit, fish only catch disease after transit because they get stressed. Try snailshop.co.uk, they are a great site.

5. Do snails also require climatising? Or can I just pop them into the tank as soon as I get them home?

Not really, ive never acclimatised mine.

 

[severum boy]

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

1. I've heard of horror stories of tanks being overrun by snails and apparently MTS can reproduce without a partner and quite quickly at that. To sort this out I decided to keep 3 zebra loaches which will eat the snail babies. However from the googling I have done, I have learned that MTS have very hard shells, so can the zebra loaches actually eat these snail babies? My tank is too small for clown loaches.

Yes they do reproduce fast, but not that fast. Just sell the babies via Ebay or here. The loaches will eat the adults too. I woudent bother with loaches.

Clown loaches do not eat snails and yes your tank is too small for them. Zebra loaches will eat small aquatic snails, generally speaking MTS, pond snails, bladder snails, ramshorn/planorbid snails etc fall under the category of small snails. MTS will only reproduce out of control if you have a gravel substrate or generally don't clean your substrate enough or have algae in the tank or some other food source for them etc. If you have zebra loaches though, you will have no MTS left in the tank.

2. MTS reach a maximum size of 2 cm and I think the zebra loaches can reach a maximum size of 4cm. So can the zebra loaches eat fully grown MTS? I ideally want a dozen of fully grown MTS so that they turn over the sand and avoid these anaerobic pockets.

Yes they will be eaten.

3. I've also been thinking of keeping 3 apple snails. Will the MTS be ok with apple snails?

Yep, fine. Dont keep apple snails with loaches either.

Zebra loaches grow to 4inches not cm's, here is a good profile for them on loaches.com;

http/www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-striata


Secondly MTS will only go so deep into the sand, you cannot rely on them alone to prevent anaerobic pockets developing in the sand as the snails are unlikely to ever go as deep as over an inch into the sand.

5. Do snails also require climatising? Or can I just pop them into the tank as soon as I get them home?

Not really, ive never acclimatised mine.

I would advise acclimatising more fragile snails like apple snails, but MTS are very hardy and you may be able to get away without acclimatising them, however personally i would still acclimatise them to help give them a head start in the tank if you want to keep them.
I'm not sure if zebra loaches could eat apple snails, although i'd expecr they'd hassle them a great deal, so personally i wouldn't advise mixing the two together.