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Mts

2K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  Finkelstein 
#1 ·
There's a guy in Woodridge selling a dozen MTS for $2.00. I don't know how many he has, but I'm picking up a dozen tomorrow. I found him on Craigslist, so I haven't seen them yet. I'm not going to give out his phone number here though. PM for info.
 
#7 ·
To keep the substrate aerated if you have sand or a sand\soil combo. But i dont think thats much of an issue unless you start it out too deep from the start. Im going to redo my tank, and Im definitely not using them again, they multiple WAY too much and are out of control in my tank.
 
#8 ·
Most people give it away for free. They usually hide with the light on and crawl all over on the glass when the light is out. There are some benefits of having them but not worth it if you can't stand with their numbers. Nerite snails do a better job in cleaning the glass surface without the population problem as they can't breed in fresh water but then they have another problem of laying white eggs all over your driftwood and rocks. You can introduce assassin snails to kill the MTS but assassin snails multiply too.
 
#9 ·
Unfortunately for me, I've been unable to find free MTS nearby, and this guy is literally down the street from my house. I do need some sand turners though, so I do want to have them. I'll give them a couple days head start before the assassins show up though. From what i've read thus far, they should help with my diatoms. I'll be adjusting my flow to help with that as well though.
 
#10 ·
MTS are great snails. As other said, they help aerate your sand substrate to get rid of air pockets. I started with about 10 for my shrimp tank and have more than that now. I don't find them as annoying as pond snails.

$2 for a dozen is a very reasonable price, but people give these guys out for free. That's how I got mine

Edit: I'm sure if AA got their hands on them, they would sell them for $5 each just like they do with their very poorly colored RCS
 
#11 ·
Many TPT in ChicagoLand Hold a Meet & Greet/ Parking Lot swap at the GCCA Swap meet.

I give MTS away on a regular basis. I cull my tank 4-6Xs a year. Nothing wrong with $2 though. That way at least it was worth the local sellers time to bag them up for you.

You could post a WTB on the Parking Lot thread here on the Illinois forum.
 
#13 ·
Tried checking lfs and petco/petsmart? Sometimes they have tanks infested with MTS and will toss in a few for you for free if you ask nicely.

I got mine from a ROAK here for the price of a stamp. A dozen or so turn into billions over the course of a couple of months. I dunno if assassins can keep up with them. I've had bladder snails starve because the hordes of MTS clean everything so well. I just wish they ate BBA.


I dump a handful in my turtle tank from time to time but I never seem to get a population going in there.
 
#14 ·
The last time I got my free MTS was from buying a plant from AA in Hoffman Estates few months ago. Luckily, I usually quarantine my new plants for snails...... and sure enough I caught that before its too late. Sometimes tearing down a tank is not enough to get rid of them. If you google it, you will find people having their MTS reborn after the eggs survived with the gravel dried for over a year......(I do doubt about that.)
 
#16 ·
I'm paying the $2 for the convenience really. Plus, I'm not in the market to buy anything more at any LFS at the moment, and I don't want to wait until the swap. I'm still cycling, and I hope to be done in time for the swap, but if Im' not oh well. There will be another one.
 
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