malaysian trumpet snail confusion

AudraM

AudraM

AC Members
Jan 2, 2008
65
0
0
Queen Creek, AZ
So I go to the LFS today to get help with a few problems. I'm having an algae problem and I was asking if that was the cause of problems I'm having with my plants. I've noticed that I occasionally get a hole in the middle of a leaf. The clerk tells me something is eating it, probably the gazillion MTS I have. I thought they were good for planted tanks and that they don't eat plants. So I come here and search the forums for info and come across several posts stating that snails only get out of had when you overfeed. I know I overfed in the past. So now I'm a bit confused. Are MTS plant eaters or not? Did overfeeding cause a population explosion that eats my plants now that I'm no longer overfeeding the fish? :confused:
 
I have never seen MTS actually chomp out holes out of plants. Is it new plants which are degrading so they can adapt to its new aquarium?

Also I think I read holes and patches in leaves are caused due to lack of potassium? This part dinged in my head like a lightbulb turning on.... but I am unsure if that is the problem. I never went technical with my plants only drop em in the tank, and turn on the light for me.

Here is a link with a person who has the same problem if not similar:

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=271239
 
I don't think it's potassium problems. Could one of my algae eaters be eating the leaf with the algae that's collected? It seems to be mostly confined to my red leaf crypts.
 
Are you disturbing the crypt roots during maintenance? They very commonly will melt when not happy. Its possible what is happening is you are experiencing some unhappiness with the plants. The MTS are opportunistically feeding on unhealthy plant tissue. I have them in most of my tanks, and my plants are unmolested


Offtopic-
Your child is adorable.
 
My MTS left a few holes and broken leaves on my Cryptocoryne Nurii. Those little *******s are kind of annoying. They generally stay away from the healthy leaves but some of the buggers want to taste it anyway. Not exactly a plant killer but they can and will take a bite every now and then.
 
out of 4000 MTS I have never seen one take a bite out of healthy plants.
 
ok, I think I'm less confused, at least for now :) the crypts are fairly new (couple of months old), but I don't disturb them. Maybe it's the algae. Thanks everyone!
 
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