Malyasian Trumpet Snails

[chrissaysyes]

Ok so a few years back I was bored on ebay and saw some guy selling malyasian trumpet snails for like $1 including shipping. At the time I had a large fresh water tank and thought bah whatever so I bought them. I kind of forgot about them until one day I get a tiny box in the mail. Inside is an old drinking water bottle but it's tiny. I'm not sure where it came from, the label had a big cartoon kangaroo. Inside is just some moist sand but no real signs of snails. I assumed they were just eggs or babies so I dumped the pinch of sand in my tank and didnt think much of it. So months later I break down that tank and put pieces into a few smaller tanks. Then BLAM. I have these trumpet snails in all of my freshwater tanks. By the hundreds. HUNDREDS. It's insane. Theyre pretty nifty and keep the walls super clean so Im pleased. Here's the kicker...I just recently pulled my old bio-cube out of storage to get my seahorse tank going...it's just finished cycling and is now home to a temporary damsel and a small cuc. I go to check on it today and my clean up crew now consists of: a scarlet hermit, a dwarf blue, and a malyasian trumpet snail. Anyone have any experience with these things? Will they actually eat marine algaes? Will it live much longer in saltwater? He's grazing the glass as we speak...I'd rather it not die and spike my params...and then I'd rather it not eat my stash of caulerpa in there also. Let me know if you guys know/can find anything. Kinda freaked out...and curious as to how it got in there.

MOD EDIT: edited for minor occurance of swearing. Thank you for your cooperation

 

[eschaton]

I always wondered if that would work. Malaysian Trumpet Snails look very similar to Cerith snails, and purportedly do just fine in low-end brackish, so it's indeed possible they do well in marine as well.

The thing I'm wondering though is are you absolutely sure it's a MTS? There are a lot of snails with similar shaped shells.

Anyway, this is very cool. Assuming she reproduces you've got the opportunity to make a fair chunk of change here, as they're a far cheaper option than the wild-caught snails.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Yeah it's definitely MTS. It's identical to this picture I found:

Also, check out this video...if snails moved that fast then I dunno if I would keep aquariums anymore...flippin creepy.
MTS in time lapse

 

[Adrinal]

OMG that video ROCKS!

 

[Lynden]

I highly doubt it's a trumpet snail. An animal needs certain biology to be euryhaline; a fresh water snail cannot simply be dropped in saltwater and be expected to survive. The salt water will osmotically suck them dry in a few minutes if not seconds.

It's far more likely to be a cerith snail especially considering that to be a trumpet it would have to apparently arise from a previously dry tank fully grown then survive in full strength sea water. Not very likely in my experience; but don't worry, ceriths are great too and will reproduce quickly, though not as quickly as trumpets.

 

[chrissaysyes]

so ceriths can go between fresh and marine?

 

[Lynden]

No, but as I see it it's far more likely that the snail came as a hitchhiker on your live rock.

to be a trumpet it would have to apparently arise from a previously dry tank fully grown then survive in full strength sea water. Not very likely in my experience

 

[dizzied]

It wouldn't be impossible for it to be MTS. They've been acclimated to saltwater before.

 

[three-fingers]

I've seen them somehow survive in the gravel after washing it through with disinfectant and leaving in a bucket for nearly a month, and I've seen them thrive in mid-range brackish tanks after effectively being dropped in (came on the wood and stones), so I'd say it's possible.

But I doubt they could survive in full strength marine water over the long-run though.

 

[Lynden]

It wouldn't be impossible for it to be MTS. They've been acclimated to saltwater before.

How does one go about this? I haven't really heard of this happening before, and it seems kind of bizarre that a snail that basically "has it all" (hardiness, wide appetite, prolificity) hasn't ever appeared on the saltwater market...

Not impossible, but highly unlikely... Maybe our snail expert Donya will reply to this.

 

[Musho3210]

nerites go from fresh, brackish, and salt, and im pretty sure that they are all the same species....

 

[chrissaysyes]

there is a smaller snail that appeared on the glass today, Identical to the snails purchased as MTS in my freshwater aquariums, as well as to any photographs I've found of MTS. I'm 99% sure they are indeed MTS but not so sure how they ended up in the tank. The rubble in the aquarium was removed from the larger tank downstairs and before that the rock was in a smaller tank of mine...I have never seen these snails or anything similar in my marine aquariums. Perhaps these snails arent marketed as marine snails because they wont thrive on marine algaes?

 

[littleme1969]

This made me smile as I thousands of MTs in my freshwater tanks, they breed like rabbits on viagra
When I set up my marine I used a tank that had previously had plecs in it. I was pretty shocked after a few weeks when I spotted a MTS in the tank..lol After having a realy close look at it i know know its not an MTS but some type pf marine snail that behaves just like MTS, burying through the sand and climbing the glass from time to time for an algae snack. Its been in my tank for about 4 months now, its not bred and has only grown a very little. Its deffo not an MTS thought it looks just like them and has the same behaviour

 

[Lynden]

nerites go from fresh, brackish, and salt, and im pretty sure that they are all the same species....

As far as I know nerites cannot survive in fresh water indefinetly, and even the ones that live in brackish are not the same species as the ones marine keepers get. They are however tide pool animals and as such are very resilient.

This made me smile as I thousands of MTs in my freshwater tanks, they breed like rabbits on viagra
When I set up my marine I used a tank that had previously had plecs in it. I was pretty shocked after a few weeks when I spotted a MTS in the tank..lol After having a realy close look at it i know know its not an MTS but some type pf marine snail that behaves just like MTS, burying through the sand and climbing the glass from time to time for an algae snack. Its been in my tank for about 4 months now, its not bred and has only grown a very little. Its deffo not an MTS thought it looks just like them and has the same behaviour

This is what I think has happened in your case, Chrissaysyes, as alluded to in my first post.

 

[chrissaysyes]

hmm...I'm thinking now that this snail is actually from a distant planet ruled by snails that need only watchful eyes in order to thrive...Im still set on it being and MTS, ignorant or not I'm investigating further into this...I'll let you know what I dig up, until then Im going to try and get some pictures of the larger snail to put up just so by some chance someone can ID it as most certainly not MTS.