SereneReyn

I've read all about the benefits of these lil guys in a planted aquarium, how they keep the substrate loose, eat any dead plant matter, etc... sounds great! but i've also read and seen pictures of how they breed like crazy... that scares me, 'cause... i'm not big on the idea of a filter full of them, or having to come up with control methods... handling them is a bit icky too (a couple maybe, but no way could i scoop out hundreds of babies, etc... especially to kill them)

so... anyone that actually has experience with them, how big a problem is the population control?

Dino

Population is controlable purely thru food.
Don't feed as much, fewer snails.

We probably have several thousand in our 120 or so tanks with no issues.

SereneReyn

thanks, makes me nervous tho, lol.

mustangblue01

I put a ton of these in my 50gal. I love them. I rarely see any on the glass other than first thing in the morning. They don't eat any of my plants and you wont have an out-of-control issue if you don't overfeed your fish.

Gamer

I'm considering some of these guys, especially now that I'll be converting to live plants.

Butterfly

They mainly come out on the glass and move around the surface at night after the lights go out. During the day they pretty much stay buried.
Most snails will overpopulate with an abundance of food. Since a fishes stomach is about the size of one eye it s terribly easy to over feed. If I know I'm overfeeding a particular tank (ie conditioning for breeding)then I do an extra water change that week and do a good gravel cleaning. No overfeeding, extra water change, good gravel cleaning- all three good ways to control snails if need be.
Malaysian Trumpet snails are so beneficial for our tanks its worth the risk of over population.
Carol

Halibut

How do you account for the snails as far as bio load goes when adding fish?

Gunnie

I don't even count the MTS on the bio load issue because they are so small and beneficial to the tank. If you have room in your tank, and you decide the mts are not right for you, pretty much any type of loach will take care of them for you. I have 4 yo yo's in one of my tanks that I specifically bought for snail control, and now I actually get them snails from other tanks as a treat. Just make sure you do the research on the loaches and your bio load before choosing this option. Adult loaches come in many sizes, and some of them (like clown loaches) are not meant to be placed in small tanks.

MagpieTear

I brought home about 2 dozen in January and put them in my 55 gallon setup (10 live plants plus java moss, fish load pushing the limits) and I lost about 7 in the first week. After that they adapted and by now they're thriving. No major explosion, but a small and steady flow of little ones. Just make sure you don't overfeed the fish and you'll be fine.

Phishies Inn

Hate to jump on a thread, but where exactly do you get freshwater snails? Are they commonly sold at LFS? I know you can get MTS's online but I don't really want to pay crazy shipping for $.50 snails :P I know my LFS has saltwater snails and other cleanup crew inverts but I don't know about freshwater.

Butterfly

Most LFS sell mystery snails but the only place I've ever been able to get MTS is from other hobbyists.
Carol

SereneReyn

i've seen them at several lfs's around here. the place i like best sells them for only 10 cents. but i've never seen anywhere with a sign posted for them. i just noticed them in the tanks and asked about them. they probably assume most people aren't interested in snails.

Drea

PhisheesInn... I could send you some MTS, I have plenty....or Dino might sell/send you some (that's closer than from me in Michigan.)

Phishies Inn

Thanks Drea but surprise! I have 3 now in my tank - well, 3 that I can *see*...I'm hoping there's more under the sand Took them a while to venture out from my plants but here they are. Yay for good hitchhikers!

Drea

Glad to hear it, shouln't be long you'll have a good crop. Just watch the other food quantities!

Narcicius

wow I actually went down to the creek and caught a bagfull of snails with cone shaped shells and I keep then in an open drink cooler in the front yard. They multiply well with the occasional peice of lettuce in there. lol

HankB

Any idea how long? I just got a dozen from my LFS (free for the asking along with some fish and plants which were not free.) They're in a bare bottom QT tank with the fish and some other plants.

I'm wondering how long it will be before I see any young. Also any idea how big the young are?

Been a week now and I'm still waiting impatiently.

thanks,
hank

griffin

they're really small :P the smallest i've seen mine at were a mm or so. but they might start off smaller than that and i just didn't notice. hope that helped