I have had a large snail population in my Piranha tank for at least 4 months now and before that the tank was a half land half water tank and it to also had waves of snails. I have read online that snails will only populate as much as the available food will allow them to. My Ps are of course messy eaters so food is readily available. I was originally thinking that they were Trumpet snails based on information I have read on the internet, but when ever I have seen pictures of them it didn't necessarily look like what I have in my tank. I have read good and bad things about MTS and have recently converted one of my tanks from gravel to sand. I was doing more research on snails because I wanted something that would aerate my sand and control waste and algae. I have heard that Trumpet snails are good for that purpose. What made me really start questioning what typre of snails I had was that people were saying that MTS remain hidden for most of the day. The snails I have are out constantly and they are everywhere. After searching for more info I stumbled upon a type of snail that kind of looks like mine, the Bladder snail. I have read that these maybe good as a cleanup crew as well. One thing I did notice is that despite the thousands of snails in my tank I still have algae in spots. What I am trying to figure out is if I should introduce the snails I have in my piranha tank to my bigger sand substrate tank or possibably get some actual trumpet snails(if that is not what I currently have), or use something else for waste control and possibly get rid of the snails I currently have?
Bladder Snails??Trumpet Snails?? Good or Bad?
- Thread starter D Realist
- Start date
Trumpet snails are great for keeping the substrate stirred and eating uneaten fish food, but I don't think you can expect even hundreds of snails to clean a tank, they just aren't that efficient. I have so many in one tank, that just before the lights go on, they darken the front glass. I still must scrape the glass, and do gravel vac maintenance.
Trumpet snails are great for keeping the substrate stirred and eating uneaten fish food, but I don't think you can expect even hundreds of snails to clean a tank, they just aren't that efficient. I have so many in one tank, that just before the lights go on, they darken the front glass. I still must scrape the glass, and do gravel vac maintenance.
I am really thinking about getting the trumpet snails for my sand tank to stir the sand. I don't expect them to cut down on water changes, I just want them to help keep my water parameters in check. I have some messy fish. Piranhas in the one and another with large Oscars, Gars, ID sharks, and a small painted turtle. Both tanks have fish that tear up food. It is nice to have a small clean up crew. My biggest problem in my tanks tho is algae. I am trying to get something that may help with algae without being eaten or bothering the fish. I usually add plecos to my tanks, but have read that they could such the slime coat off of the gars, and in the piranha tank there is always a risk they could eat it. I tried ghost shrimp in the P tank, but they eventually found them and ate them. I have been researching some more and I am now about 98% sure that they are bladder/pond snails that I have in my tank.