Malaysian trumpet snails - the aquatic plough?

[MattW]

To start off, I have heavily planted tanks that work pretty well IMO. Little to no major issues occur in both tanks. Parameters, fish and plant-wise. However, the substrates do become engulfed with detritus/mulm, even CB, which could lead to Anaerobic bacteria pockets if not dealt with. I am aware that a gravel vacuum would reduce and potentially remove this issue, but I don't want to disturb the plant roots and remove plant food. I have been doing some reading and have seen the impact MTSs can have on aquarium substrate, both good and bad. I rely heavily on my ramshorns for their surface algae cleaning, so I assume MTS would help with the substrate issue? I also wanted to ask about what experiences other members have had with them. And whether or not they would be a good idea in a tank that uses topsoil as part of its substrate system. Thanks

 

[GaryE]

I have removed gravel from tanks and found extraordinary numbers of empty Malaysian trumpet shells. They are not long lived (at least here) and are a constant source of decomposition in a tank. If I could eliminate them from my tanks forever, I would be delighted. However, with multiple tanks, they always seem to creep through.

I'm clearly a hater. I dislike that term, as there are few things I really hate, but in this case, yeah. I would not add them to a system unless I could also add duckweed, Cyanobacter and brush algae too.

 

[MattW]

I would not add them to a system unless I could also add duckweed, Cyanobacter and brush algae too.

Match made in heaven

Thanks for the info! Have you ever had any experience with rabbit snails? I've heard they have a much slower reproduction rate but I don't know if they do a similar job.

 

[GaryE]

I've looked at them, but "rabbit" and "snail" together as a name is pretty bad marketing.

 

[seangee]

I introduced them to my tanks around 20 years ago. I started with 4.
They do help keep the substrate clean, and don't damage plants but there are some costs...

• You can never get rid of them without tearing down the tank
• When it gets warm they multiply like crazy (and keeping a clean substrate, or avoiding over feeding does not slow them down)
• They get into your pipework and slow the water flow
• Get into your filters, heater covers etc
• They eat fish eggs
• They make waste of their own and as @GaryE says they leave their shells behind when they die.

Day to day I usually don't see mine. If I see a lot after lights out I pick them off and boil them. There are times (especially immediately after a water change) when I can catch 100 a night. In summer I sometimes go snail hunting every night for a week - you can also use algae wafers or spinach leaves as bait.

They are part of my system and I probably won't tear down the tanks to get rid of them - but if I start a new tank I probably won't add any.

 

[Darby T]

With no natural predators, they will always become a pest. A snail eating fish is a good investment. I use clown loaches to do the job,but they grow too big for smaller tanks.

 

[Mr Limpet]

More like the aquatic plague.

 

[fishorama]

I disagree with you MTS haters, lol. My water in CA & MA is/was too soft for them to reproduce much & they die out after a while. Empty shells, meh, add to GH. Not a big deal here nor are other snails even though I put crushed coral in filters.

 

[MaloK]

Most peoples are going way too thick with substrate today... These are potent.

Most Champion Japanese aquascapers have like an inch or less.

I seen tanks with 3-4 inches and more... It's not coffee you're making ,loll.

The surface of buried life should not exceed 5-7 at big max 10% of height.

I can show you 2 tanks side by side... And tell me the one you like the most.

 

[MattW]

Thanks all. I’ll have a look into alternative solutions. The tank I was thinking of putting them in originally, has a max depth of 2”. The cause of the mulm is mainly by a big piece of driftwood which I can’t really remove

 

[GaryE]

I wasn't concerned about empty shells. They're no trouble. They get their calcium from the tank, and to the tank it returns. What bothers me is the animal that was inside the shell and rotted in my tank to make that shell (or, in reality, a lot of shells) empty.

I do have trouble with unsightly egg eating breeding machine trumpet snails. I don't think they resemble trumpets. Stand them up and they're more like urinals.

 

[seangee]

Is your substrate gravel or sand?
When I switched to sand I assumed I had to vacuum regularly to keep it spotless. Advice from members on here was to just leave it - it would take care of itself. I was sceptical but it turned out they were right. I stopped my regular vacuuming and within a few weeks my sand was spotless.
Another option (if this is ok for your fish) is to increase the flow enough to lift the mulm off the substrate but not disturb the substrate itself, That way muck in the water column will get drawn into your filter which will need more frequent cleaning. I have done this in the past using a wave maker set to turn on for just an hour overnight.

 

[MattW]

I have a mixture of different substrates in that tank

The front is a very fine gravel, then a coarser gravel and at the back is JBL Manado, where the majority of the mulm sits. I have decent flow at the front of the tank. Now thinking about it, there probably isn't much flow at the very back of the tank, as that is a jungle of plants.

 

[Magnum Man]

So, when I began starting up my tanks 3 or so years ago, after 30 years of down time, I emptied the tanks fully... back then under gravel filters were the standard... I had 2 tanks that used the gravel plates and were fully packed solid, with snail shells...

right now with a dozen tanks, I'm only at problem levels ( bladder snails in this one ) the previous were the trumpets... at least that tank, there is no under gravel plate for them to accumulate in...

 

[Oldspartan]

I dislike snails. Two tanks were previously infested. We squished them and fed them to Angel Fish. We also introduced Assassins. Very few pest snails now and we rarely see the Assassins. I think the Assassins are handsome critters.