trumpet snails

[wisteria]

Hi everyone
I seem to have developed a large population of trumpet snails over the last six months. You can't see them all but if I put a piece of cucumber in the tank for the catfish hundreds of them come out of the substrate. In Baensch It says they are good for the aquarium and that they are a good sign. But I'm not sure if I have too much of a good thing!

caroline

 

[CFC]

I too have heard that trumpet snails are good for aquariums,they apperently turn over the substrate in much the same way as earthworms do in soil.The problem comes in that they are a living creature and like the fish create waste,too many snails and you end up overloading your tanks filtration which can cause ammonia and nitrite spikes.My advise would be to place the cucumber in as a trap and when they swarm over it remove it with them attached and dispose of them (how is up to you but personaly i flush them down the loo) if you repeat this a few times in a row you will soon have the population down to a manageable ammount.

 

[wisteria]

Hello again
Thanks for the advice. Stix I received your message but had to log off and then when I came back online could'nt find it to reply I'm a bit of a dinosaur! Anyhow if you would like some snails I would be glad to send you some , not sure how I would go about this though any suggestions?

caroline