What kind of snails are these?

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by LAKE

Around 30, inherited family tradition.

Is that 30 years, 30 tanks, or 30 gallons?

[HD Blazingwolf]

Originally Posted by Complexity

Is that 30 years, 30 tanks, or 30 gallons?

LOL

im surprised by this as well. i've seen a snail explosion before, and i've heard of it happening even without feeding. they can survive off TINY amounts of algae and bio film

[LAKE]

The question was "how many years..." that'd be around 30 years.

Many have heard of or seen snail explosions but that experience has not been hands on.
That is not the case.

The pre snail explosion conditions always seem to have one thing in common, sadly neglectful. Snails in a reasonably well cared for tank will multiply and sustain a population relative to the environment without ever becoming a major problem. Multiple types of snails will lower the sustainable population for any one species. If you fear an unmanagable snail outbreak, I would respectfully suggest that you have a strong aversion to snails or you may want to consider reevaluating your aquarium care strategies.

[Bubba Shrimp]

good idea place food and draw them in Thanks

[Bubba Shrimp]

snail shells would be a good place to start looking for life on Mars or the moon

[Bubba Shrimp]

I have had the tank for 3 months. I have two glass catfish in there and they don't chase food they grab what they can from their spot. This causes me to over feed them cause I want to make them big ha. They snails feed on the brine shrimp and flake food that collects they form clusters where the food settles. If they are clustered somewhere that means there is food there.

[Bubba Shrimp]

so yes it probably is due to a form of tank neglection, which is over feeding.

[Bubba Shrimp]

I still have a few assassin snails at work theres are few empty shells loll

[Complexity]

Many have heard of or seen snail explosions but that experience has not been hands on.
That is not the case.

I apologize, but this didn't make any sense to me.

The pre snail explosion conditions always seem to have one thing in common, sadly neglectful. Snails in a reasonably well cared for tank will multiply and sustain a population relative to the environment without ever becoming a major problem. Multiple types of snails will lower the sustainable population for any one species.

Did you just make this up because it sounded good to you? There is absolutely no truth to this argument. What do you suggest is the limiting factor that will lower the snail population, especially in a cared for tank moreso than a neglected tank?

If you fear an unmanagable snail outbreak, I would respectfully suggest that you have a strong aversion to snails or you may want to consider reevaluating your aquarium care strategies.

It is a factual issue that MTS eat detritus, including fish poop. If you have a large tank and you feed the fish properly, they will poop. There is no way around it. The MTS will multiply to crazy numbers if left to their own devices over the course of a number of years.

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by HD Blazingwolf

LOL

im surprised by this as well. i've seen a snail explosion before, and i've heard of it happening even without feeding. they can survive off TINY amounts of algae and bio film

Not to mention fish excrement. Kind of hard to restrict that if you're caring for your fish!

[angelsword]

Originally Posted by LAKE

The question was "how many years..." that'd be around 30 years.

Many have heard of or seen snail explosions but that experience has not been hands on.
That is not the case.

The pre snail explosion conditions always seem to have one thing in common, sadly neglectful. Snails in a reasonably well cared for tank will multiply and sustain a population relative to the environment without ever becoming a major problem. Multiple types of snails will lower the sustainable population for any one species. If you fear an unmanagable snail outbreak, I would respectfully suggest that you have a strong aversion to snails or you may want to consider reevaluating your aquarium care strategies.

I think you’ll find that most of the snail population explosions you hear about are actually based on hands on experience. It’s the people saying “just stop over feeding” that haven’t had personal experience.
The 55 gallon planted tank sitting five feet from me has had zero food added for months because there are no fish in it. I am using the EI dosing method and do a 50% water change on it every Saturday. Before I set it up as a planted tank with no fish it sat with nothing but Eco Complete and as much water removed as I could get out. The substrate dried nearly completely before I added water to the tank and replanted it.

Not to question your 30 years of experience, but there are still approximately 7 billion MTS in the tank. I think maybe 8 have starved.

Originally Posted by Bubba Shrimp

I still have a few assassin snails at work theres are few empty shells loll

Those Ramshorns really like your tank!

I put five Assassins in my 75 gallon and they are really earning their keep. I've actually taken a few MTS from other tanks and dropped them in for them. I'm hoping they'll start breeding.

[LAKE]

My snails like to congregate where food settles as well. They still don't get out of control as they are contributing to the balance breaking down excess waste for the plants to consume the nutrients. A little bit of over feeding alone is not necessarily sadly neglectful if care is adjusted to compensate. At times I have even fed extra of the snail's favorite foods to help them grow and multiply.

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by angelsword

I think you’ll find that most of the snail population explosions you hear about are actually based on hands on experience. It’s the people saying “just stop over feeding” that haven’t had personal experience.

Absolutely.

[lauraleellbp]

MODERATOR NOTE-
Do not turn this discussion into interpersonal drama. I have handed out warnings/infractions and cleaned up this thread. If you wish to continue the discussion, keep it a polite and civil conversation!


Taking off my Mod hat:

I've had snail population explosions in shrimp tanks that weren't fed anything.

So though I agree that typically snail explosions are related to food supply- sometimes they are not. I find that upon initial introduction of any of the more prolific snail species, they tend to go bonkers laying eggs and you get a massive explosion of snails all about the same size/age... then the population dies back over time, and eventually- if you keep up with your basic tank husbandry- you do fall into an equilibrium.

Assassin snails have been the best biological control by far that I've personally tried thus far. Far above and beyond loaches, even.

Pond snails are the ones that bug me the most- they lay those jelly egg masses everywhere, and I've actually lost some really nice plants from leaves getting covered in eggs.