Random observation of the day.
I don't think Malaysian Trumpet Snails and Quilted Mels are truly nocturnal.
1) When cycling the tank pre-fish I had some Quilted Mels in the aquarium- they were out and about mostly during the day. It was only after fish were added they started to be less active during the day and chose to hide in the sand.
There are still (even with fish) always some roaming around during daylight hours.
2) I have my aquarium set on timers to provide a dusk and dawn stage where some lights are on and others are off.
I notice way more snail activity starting about 10 minutes before my lights switch to "dusk". They must have a fairly good internal clock because they know when the lights are about to dim.
It seems right before dusk and shortly after the dusk phase begines the snails (both MTS and Quilted Mels) start to appear. Dusk lasts about 2½ hours in my tank... this is by far the most active time for my MTS and QMs.
When I've looked at my tank in the middle of the night I don't notice a lot more snails than are out and about during the middle of the day.
I suspect most people consider these snails nocturnal because in an "all on" or "all off" light cycle- the lights being switched off is the closest to dusk that snails will ever experience.
Due to the fact that in a fishless aquarium MTS are out during the day- and that even with fish they prefer dusk leads me to believe that MTS must use their eyesight somewhat in determining food location and are not just "tasting" the water to know where to go.
There is probably a scientific word for an animal that is most active at dusk as opposed to diurnal or nocturnal- but I forget what this is.
Anyhow- that's just my 2 cents on my tubular shaped friends habbits.
Another observation- they seem to prefer hiding in javamoss around the driftwood than the sand.
It's amazing how many can hide undetected in driftwood- and then as soon as dusk appears a piece of moss that looked snail-less minutes ago suddenly looks like a pine tree saturated with snail-sized pine cones.
I don't think Malaysian Trumpet Snails and Quilted Mels are truly nocturnal.
1) When cycling the tank pre-fish I had some Quilted Mels in the aquarium- they were out and about mostly during the day. It was only after fish were added they started to be less active during the day and chose to hide in the sand.
There are still (even with fish) always some roaming around during daylight hours.
2) I have my aquarium set on timers to provide a dusk and dawn stage where some lights are on and others are off.
I notice way more snail activity starting about 10 minutes before my lights switch to "dusk". They must have a fairly good internal clock because they know when the lights are about to dim.
It seems right before dusk and shortly after the dusk phase begines the snails (both MTS and Quilted Mels) start to appear. Dusk lasts about 2½ hours in my tank... this is by far the most active time for my MTS and QMs.
When I've looked at my tank in the middle of the night I don't notice a lot more snails than are out and about during the middle of the day.
I suspect most people consider these snails nocturnal because in an "all on" or "all off" light cycle- the lights being switched off is the closest to dusk that snails will ever experience.
Due to the fact that in a fishless aquarium MTS are out during the day- and that even with fish they prefer dusk leads me to believe that MTS must use their eyesight somewhat in determining food location and are not just "tasting" the water to know where to go.
There is probably a scientific word for an animal that is most active at dusk as opposed to diurnal or nocturnal- but I forget what this is.
Anyhow- that's just my 2 cents on my tubular shaped friends habbits.
Another observation- they seem to prefer hiding in javamoss around the driftwood than the sand.
It's amazing how many can hide undetected in driftwood- and then as soon as dusk appears a piece of moss that looked snail-less minutes ago suddenly looks like a pine tree saturated with snail-sized pine cones.
