whats up with these weird snalis?

[LMOUTHBASS]

ok these little snails came outta no where! I haven't added new plants in at least 6-7- months and i always wash plants before putting them in my tank so i have no clue how they got here - but i have an ARMY of these weirdos - i call them weird because they only come out when the lights are off - as soon as the lights come on you can see these freaks literally jump off the glass and leaves to the gravel - where they burrow into the substrate - so weird - anyhow from what i've read i'm guessing they are malysian trump snails - they are such an eyesore - however i've also read they are good for planted tanks ? is this true? if so how are they beneficial? they don't seem to do anything - not even eat algae - and my clown loach doesn't seem to acknowledge their existence! ughhh - i want to get something to eat them cause they are a nuissance - but if they're beneficial should i leave them be?


I'm no snail expert so i need help - thanks

 

[TKOS]

Snails can live in the substrate for a long time without you seeing them, espeically if they are only coming out a lights out.

It may take some time for your clown loach to notice them, especially if he hadn't been eating snails before.

 

[oztun]

First it doesn't sound wierd.. Snails are nocturnal and are more active at night. I have them in my tank and when the light comes on the majority of them go hide.

As for how they got there well its very hard to eliminate them from plants. If you just washed them that wont do it. You have to use a solution like bleach or something. I myself don't consider snails much of a pest so I've never tried.

Normally when you start seeing snails it means there is algae for them to eat. Sometimes the algae is so small you can't really see it, but if they are out at night on the glass then you can bet it's there.

The reason I don't consider them a pest is because I vacuum my tank once a week. When I do I remove most of them if there are large numbers, by picking them out by hand. Every couple of months a new batch will hatch out and this happens. I don't mind looking at them though so for me they aren't a nuisance. I never have visible algae thanks to the little guys.

Hope that helps.

 

[oztun]

Forgot to add... Snails love uneaten food so this may be what they are eating in your tank. Since I added cories to my tank I haven't had as much, because the babies don't have much food.

 

[daveedka]

Sounds like MTS's, if they are they will be Shaped like an ice cream cone (more or less) the loach will get some of them, but they are well armored and have a trap door they can close to protect themselves so the loach won't be able to eradicate them completely.

It only takes one of them to build a society, they don't lay eggs but rather give birth to fully formed clones. They are plant friendly in that they do eat algea ( very very slowly) and they do chrun up the substrate with their burrowing. They only burrow as deep as available oxygen levels allow, so they really don't go extremely deep except in UGf tanks. In my opinion and experience they are the slowest clean-up crew available. however they also reproduce very slowly as well.

They tend to be hard to count, due to their noctuornal nature, and their burrowing habit, their size tops out at about 3/4 inch long.

Now the bad news. These guys are close to impossible to irradicate, fish have trouble eating them, they are hard to find effectively, and snail treatments like copper (not reccomended by me at all ) won't have much effect because the snails will simply close their shells and wait out the bad water period.
Trapping them with shot glasses, or lettuce leaves is about your best bet, and repeated removing of any you see will eventually deplete the population and if you are dilligent enough for long enough, you may get rid of them. You can send all of them you catch to me if you really want to get rid of them. I have them in every tank and my biggest problem is keeping the population growing. They are the only snails that will survive my Cichlid tank.

I really like my snails, and would not have a tank without them. the best way to control population is to keep the tank really clean and make sure food is limited. Snails prefer algea, but will eat anything including bio-film. they only breed to the available food in the tank, so they are also a good indicator of when they tank needs better maintenance/ less feeding etc.
HTH
Dave

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

sounds like they are somewhat beneficial if you don't mind them then - i guess they are not harmfull which is good - i wouldnt mind them in small numbers because they do give a sort of natural look but sometimes it just looks plain rediculous - think i will try the lettuce trick and put a few in my betta tank as well - it-s just wierd cause sometimes there are non visible sometimes there seem to be hundreds guess it' s just how they burrow etc thanks

 

[midiamin]

How to get trid of them is simple. This method work over a 6-9 month period of time. You have to cull them starting with the egg layers. That's the largest of the snails. Ist week concentrate on those. The following week you can target the next largest. Continue this until you have weeded out most of your eggs layers. Than you can take your snail population from there and reduce it to whatever level you want. After that, culling once a month should be sufficient to control your population. These snails are beneficial to plants so you should be able to take them to your LFS and exchange them for trade or whatever.

 

[daveedka]

MTS's don't lay eggs, nor do they really reproduce very quickly, so simple culling will control them well.
dave