Trumpet snails

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Thalan

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 30, 2008
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jacksonville
Yes! Another thread about these little guys. My mini catfish tank has quite the horde of MTS and I will probably be rearranging things soon so Im wondering if I should make any effort to ditch the snails. They can be a bit of an eyesore but a part of me thinks, hey free clean up crew why not add them to my other tanks?
The main issue is do they ever go after slime coat? I wouldnt mind some tiny scavengers in my 75 but not if theres a chance theyd bother my bichirs. Anyone have any experience there?
 
I doubt it...they move so slow. Also birchirs can just death roll to get them off. I doubt they could cause any harm to a live fish.
 
^ I agree with EarthEaterBob, that its unlikely they will eat the slime coat off your fish... on the other hand, trying to remove thousands of them is definitely not going to be fun (if it gets to that point)... since one other member had way too many and couldn't get rid of them for the life of him... not sure if he ever managed to in the end though...
 
Hello; I have found in the last few years that by cutting back even more on feeding amounts, that the number of snails is reduced in porportion.
Many years ago I had setups with a lot of the MTS. I was still feeding every day and more than the fish actually need. Over a few decades I have been gradually reducing the number of feeding days by skipping feeding on more days.
The thinking about the snails is that they will have large numbers if they have the food. (Not a big reach there, huh?) I keep an eye on the condition of the fish to monitor what I can with regard to being fed well enough. There have been a couple of side benefits that seem to be taking place. The tanks seem to be more stable over time with fewer problems. The fish seem to live considerably longer with fewer health issues if they survive the initial quarantine and introduction to a tank period. I do not seem to have to pull as much maintance on the filter media of the filters. When I vaccum the gravel there seems to be much less detritus removed.
These observations are not straight forward as I have another variable at play. I also have tended to move to much reduced levels of stocking density over the last decades. At any rate there have been periods in the last months where the number of snails has appeared to be lower than ever before. Quite a contrast from a past period when the gravel bottom of some of my tanks would be a nearly seething mass.
 
You could purchase a few assassin snails if you're looking to get rid of those guys. IMO, they look a bit nicer. And as I understand it, Clown Loach target small snails as a food source, so that's another possibility
 
I actually try to get a large group of MTS a few times each year to add to my tank. I like how they keep my sand stirred up so I don't get gas pockets, and my clown loaches love to snack on them as well. If you have extra you want to get rid of I'll take any that you can send me.
 
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