Heeellllllpppppp!

[Demi ^_^]

My 85L/22G is FULL of MTS snails! The gravel they are living in, was not in water for 2wks+, yet they are alive in my new tank!

How do I get them away? Is their any fish that could go in there, that would eat them? :14:

[gm72]

I'm not aware of any fish that would eat them. I have a 10 gallon guppy tank that has about 4.9 MILLION of those snails in there. No worries, really.

To get rid of them though you could just use the cucumber trick and pull them out as they climb aboard the death train.

[AABatteries]

Don't clown loaches eat snails?

[gm72]

Yes but a 22 gallon is far, far too small. Clown loaches get very large.

[Adrian]

I know yo-yo loaches love snails too, but I don't know how large they get. Coppersafe will rid all snails, but is really hard to remove once the water has been treated. Unfortunately, it will also kill live plants, and any other invert, like clams and shrimp.....

[AABatteries]

Yes but a 22 gallon is far, far too small. Clown loaches get very large.

I know, but I was thinking get a few medium sized ones for a few weeks, and then take them back.

[lovleeko]

You could get a smaller loach and they would probably go to town. The cucumber thing someone mentioned is also effective. Are you sure their MTS? They should hide during the day. YOu could turn off all the lights and take a big fish net and skim through the gravel. Just a thought.

[Demi ^_^]

We have just handpicked a few dozen out of the tank and have placed a piece of lettuce in the tank in hopes of them climbing aboard :)

Do Kuhlis by any chance, eat them?

[AABatteries]

I don't think so.

[gm72]

I know, but I was thinking get a few medium sized ones for a few weeks, and then take them back.

I really dislike that idea. Get the animals to keep not to return. Just my personal opinion. Fish are like any other pet to me, we don't get a cat or a dog just for a special occasion and I wouldn't expect anyone to get a fish for just a special occasion.

[Demi ^_^]

I now have cucumber + lettuce in the tank... We shall see

[lovleeko]

From what I know, they will eat some of them but not particularly well. No more than what any fish will if a snail is small enough. (this is only what I have read when I was looking into getting MTS and wanting to achieve a good balance so not from experience) I do know that golden zebras will. I have these guys, they are awesome little dudes. Their quite small now and they hide most of the time. But they look great. I forget who it was who had these guys in common with me and they even eat mystery snails. Because I was wondering if they would eat my mysteries if I put them in the tank. Apparently they will suck them right out of their shells. And these could be ideal I would think because MTS have harder shells and they need a good snail eater to make a difference. (again, research not experience :) Which is all I can really offer since I am new to the land of snails :)



We have just handpicked a few dozen out of the tank and have placed a piece of lettuce in the tank in hopes of them climbing aboard :)

Do Kuhlis by any chance, eat them?

[lovleeko]

Oh yeah, make sure you turn off the light and they should really climb aboard thumbs2: Check the filter media after too because I have read that they can get in there and cause some serious ammonia. Or at least the small ones can. Hey, maybe theyll help your cycle LOL

[Northernguy]

Demi try out Fishalicious snail trap!It worked for me but make sure you press it into the grave or sand.http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=30410

[Jacko]

Assassin snails are a great MTS eater, one of the few out there. Clown loaches and most other loaches won't be too good for eating MTS because they are unable to burrow and MTS will still breed under gravel, you might not see them but they'll be there. Horsefaced loaches eat them and are a burrowing loach so they work pretty well but full sized can get 8 inches long and the dwarves are incredibly rare.

That trap is a pretty nifty idea, I think I'll go do that so I can transplant some MTS to my 75 gallon, I'm tired of getting 1 or 2 per water change :rolleyes:

[Mvjnz]

You can usually give away MTS (or in some cases sell very cheaply) to other people with aquariums. A lot of people want them in their tanks.

[Demi ^_^]

I'll definately have to try that trap - thanks for the link NG!

Gosh! If people want any of these buggers, I'll give them away by the hundred LOL

[Jacko]

Well the trap works pretty well, if you don't have burrowing loaches.
Put it in last night, woke up this morning to 1 very fat dwarf horsefaced and 1 very fat java loach. :rolleyes:

Though thinking about it, since those are the hardest fish to catch in any of my tanks, might be useful when moving them.thumbs2:

[cer]

Clown loaches will work!

[Jacko]

Clown loaches will work!

They get too big for that tank. They can get 16 inches and once bigger they won't be as good of snail eaters, especially MTS. The shape of the MTS shell makes it harder for snails eaters to get at the snail itself, if you look at an MTS you'll see that they can pull back quite a ways into their shell and for the Botiine loaches, those few mm makes a difference as to how easy it is to get.

And the Bottine loaches will have a rough time getting those that are burrowed to the bottom of the tank, even if they skim the top few cm of sand or gravel there are still many other cm below that in which the snails have no issues of living.

True, even if they do work to eat the snails they still get too big for the tank and I agree with gm72 here, you shouldn't just buy a fish because you need it and then return it. It would be like having a mouse infestation and getting a cat for a few weeks and then get rid of it, that isn't very ethical. Not only that, but once you do get the fish you'll find that (like cats) they can be very personable and many people would find it difficult to give them up again.