Tank Over Run With Malaysian Trumpet Snails

As much as I don't want to admit it, my tank in over run with Malaysian Trumpet Snails. I know they're not supposed to eat live plants but my plants are covered in babies and are constantly floating at the top because they are getting pulled/knocked out. I think the snails are to blame. Is this plausible and how do I get rid of them? What do I do with them when I catch them?

 

If I'm not mistaken, you can just get an assassin snail and it will deal with them. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

What else do you have in the tank/what plants are being uprooted? I find it hard to believe that snails could uproot them but I suppose it is possible.

Assassin snails will eat them, but assassin snails do breed themselves and then you have a whole other snail population.

As far as getting rid of them completely, good luck. Really the only way to do that is by doing a complete tank tear down.

 

Mts ate nocturnal sI if you leave any traps in there you will have to remove them durinv the night but you should be able to get rid of heaps this way. Also do a couple of big gravel vacs as they live in the substrate.

 

What else do you have in the tank/what plants are being uprooted? I find it hard to believe that snails could uproot them but I suppose it is possible.

Assassin snails will eat them, but assassin snails do breed themselves and then you have a whole other snail population.

As far as getting rid of them completely, good luck. Really the only way to do that is by doing a complete tank tear down.

What if the OP just gets a single assassin snail? They can't reproduce by themselves can they?

 

What if the OP just gets a single assassin snail? They can't reproduce by themselves can they?

No, but it would take quite some time for one assassin snail to eat all of the MTS, but I doubt one would be able to clear an already infested tank. They would probably breed faster than it could eat.

 

I use the bottle trap method. It seemed to work for a while, but I just can't keep up, even with multiple assassin snails.

On tanks that aren't planted, I've replaced all the sand and decor. But it doesn't always work...

I have a feeling they're never gonna go away.

 

Aww man! I only got them a while back bc I read so much that claims they don't eat plants. I would get an assassin snail, but I have a few nerites that I don't want eaten. There are also shrimp in my tank...not sure if the assassin snails would pose a danger to them. Would anyone agree that they eat live plants?

Also can anyone elaborate on snail traps? What should or could I do with them after I catch them?

 

I don’t feel that they eat plants, I have a mystery snail, pond snails and MTS. None of my plants are touched

 

Mts don't eat healthy plants

 

I put 6 assassins in the 37 gallon guppy aquarium. A week later no assassins to be seen, not even shells. That was a month ago. But the bladder snails are all over. I think they ganged up and took the assassins out. So I dropped in 3 zebra loaches. I plan to get 2 to three more. They are babies and only around an inch long. I will move them to a larger aquarium when they grow........If the snails don't win.

 

I don’t feel that they eat plants, I have a mystery snail, pond snails and MTS. None of my plants are touched

Is it normal that the babies are all over the leaves?

 

Also can anyone elaborate on snail traps? What should or could I do with them after I catch them?

I take 2 plastic water bottles. Liter soda bottles also work.

I cut off both ends on one bottle, cut the spout off the other bottle, then stick both ends inside the first bottle. So it's basically a plastic minnow trap.

You can bait with algae wafers or other food. Whatever you see that the snails like the most.

After you catch snails, you can remove them.

 

Is it normal that the babies are all over the leaves?

I haven't seen MTS babies yet, but I know that's where my pond snails lay their eggs and the babies hang out, so I would say yes

 

I emptied most of the water in the tank (all fish and decor moved out as well as the two assassin snails I had in the tank that weren't doing anything to even dent the population) and did a 1/9 parts bleach dump straight into the substrate. It didn't kill the mts, I dumped more straight bleach into the substrate, they still didn't die. I got fed up and took out every single grain of sand and crushed any remaining MTS in the bottom of the tank then put new sand into the tank. Haven't seen any since.

Assassins only work in an overrun tank when there are lots of them. I have five in my other MTS overrun tank and they are slowly making a dent. They reproduce when they have lots of food (snails), but you can sell them once they populate so much, they are popular and easier to get rid of than any pest snails.

MTS will be in the substrate, even gravel. They will eat plants. They destroy the looks of the tank by coming out in hordes when the light goes out. They are my least favorite pest snails, even over ramshorns (which are much easier to crush and find). Common plecos are more useful and less harmful than MTS imo (and I don't like common plecos).

 

I too am a enemy of the Mts.
The best thing for me was to target them with water changes.

 

They'll breed a lot if there are lots of uneaten food or dying plant matter. If your fish picks at them, they'll only come out when the lights are off. The quickest way to reduce their numbers in an overrun tank is to catch them manually or make a snail trap. Then to prevent them from overrunning again, limit their food by feeding less or having bottom feeders that will out compete them for food

 

IMO you should move the fish out, the decor, all the water, and all tank equipment and just take a net and get rid of all your substrate with the snails in it, and then clean off the plants and let them sit on a moist paper towel for an hour but no moreand clean off the rest of the stuff.

 

I have only low tech plants, the MTS do not eat healthy plants. They may work on dead leaves, I remove less leaf debris than I did before I got MTS. They will level sand so sloping substrate around a plant may be lost.

 

I actually introduced MTS in my walstad stank. There might be more than a hundred there now and it never bothered me. But a clump of ramshorn snails feasting on an algae wafer always gives me the creeps.

About assassin snails, I have two in the same tank to control the ramshorn. And I also have nerites and black devil snails in there and they're not bothered by the assassins.

 

Blanch a piece of cucumber and put in the tank over night. In the morning the cucumber should be covered in snails and you can just throw it away ,this works best if you fast your tank for a couple of days so they will be really hungry.