MTS to aerate sand?

[Lindsey]

I'm considering picking up some Malaysian Trumpet Snails to aerate the sand in my tank when I redo it, since they're cheap, sand-burrowers and apparently good cleaners and algae eaters that don't eat plants to shreds.

However, I'm also reading that they spawn basically at will and 5 snails can easily turn to hundreds in a matter of weeks. I have loaches, but they're kuhlis and I'm guessing they don't do much for snail control.

I have a problem with algae, and at college I won't have time to vacuum my substrate as often, so these seem like a good fit, but I'm a little turned off by how fast they reproduce. What would you do? Any experiences you can share about these guys would be appreciated.

[MCHRKiller]

You wont really see your MTS, they stay burrowed until the lights on the tank are off then they come out and do their thing. A handful will turn into a bucket full in due time, but they are limited by tank space and available food sources such as left overs, and algae. I wouldnt worry about their numbers being to much :22:

[Lady Hobbs]

I had a plastic spatula that I just dragged thru the sand every couple of weeks.

[toddnbecka]

Like any snail, MTS will reproduce according to how much food is available. A snail doesn't need much for a meal, so you need to be careful about overfeeding, but they're generally harmless.

[Lindsey]

Okay, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks guys, I think I'm going to go for it.

[WhiteDevil]

how much are you buying them for, send postage and I can give you as many as you want. Ive got thousands.

They do burrow during the day and the cleaner the tank the less you see them however they are live bearers and reproduce fewer numbers then pond snails however they do not eat live plant material which make them the best choice. And if they get out of control at some point in time.....get some assassins or a number of species that are snail eater yet communial.

Mine are out day and night(only a handful maybe 10 or so are out in the day usually the larger older ones) and my tank are spotless. They only reproduce according to food supply, less food less number, more food more numbers ect.

I also used to have a sand bed tank about 3 years ago, I used a brine shrimp net to get them out of the sand, just troll it through the sand..youll get whatever is in the sand except the sand, just bounce it a bit close to the bottom and all the sand comes out and leaves only junk and snails.

The nice part about them in a sand tank is every morning you will wake up to what looks like freshly combed beach sand.

[Lindsey]

how much are you buying them for, send postage and I can give you as many as you want. Ive got thousands.


If you're serious, I may take you up on that.. I'll send you a message.

Freshly combed beach sand sounds nice!

[Wild Turkey]

Have em, love em, put em in every tank with loose substrate. thumbs2:

You really wont see them all that often.

[haut92]

6 SAEs and 4 otos eating day and night can't nearly compete with my mts at keeping my 120g clean. Thanks to these suckers I really can't remember the last time I had to clean the glass.


BEST 5 BUCK EVER SPENT FOR MY TANK. Don't worry about buying too many though, all you need is a few and a food source and you will be more than set.