Malayssian Trumpet Snail envasion

I've never been able to wholly eradicate them by mechanical means (picking them out by hand or net or using a gravel siphon). I bought a tube of "Had-A-Snail", but thankfully decided against using this chemical in my tank.

Instead, I tried a method suggested by many other more knowledgeable aquarists on this board...I became a bit more careful with feedings, making sure that I did not overfeed my fish. Feed a little, wait a couple minutes so that no food is wasted, then once the fish are done with the first small batch of food, do another small feeding.

Well, the benefits of more controlled feeding were multiple.
1. The Malaysian trumpet snail (MTS) population remained low.
2. My gravel cleanings produced less "stuff" in the siphoned waste water (I do a water change with each cleaning).
3. My filters didn't require as much maintenance.
4. The water column looked much clearer.

Besides, the MTS seems to do a nice job in keeping the gravel "sweet".

v/r, N-A

Trumpets typically only reproduce in correlation with the food available for them...it sounds like the tank may be a bit overfed. If the snails are outside the gravel/sand bad during the day, the water quality is likely below par (although snails first thing in the morning are just 'caught out' when the lights come on and usually disappear into the gravel right quick).

i put 3 mts in my planted tank a few months ago. i have found many since then when i first turn on the light, but never an infestation. i have only seen about 5 medium ones, one large one(original), and maybe 15-20 little ones. and they dissipear into the sand within an hour of turning on the light.

i also only feed my fish about once every 3 days and do 40% water changes twice a week.

if its really overpopulated you could try to put a slice of zucchini in at night and then in the morning before you turn lights on take out the piece of zucchini as it should be covered with snails and dispose. clown loaches is another option.

Do you have a lot of algae?

One thing she can do is go to AquaBid and look at all the auctions for MTS. Bag the ones she has and sell them

People WANT those snails. I bought my first 50 off AquaBid.

Roan

MTS are really great... Tell her to do more deep gravel vaccuuming to remove any tinies...That and some more controlled feeding should cut their numbers down...