MTS Snail Question

Lesley · 10-09-2011, 03:34 AM

I went to my LFS today & happened to see that most of their tanks have MTS's in them.... I've been there many times & hadn't noticed any of these before until today, after reading this post & wanting to get some to clean my tank hearing about how they burrow in the substrate...... The girl at the store told me that they've always had them, they are a problem, they end up in their filtration system & once you have them in your tank you can't get rid of them..... She gave me a bag with about 20 in it & now, before I put them in my tank, I'm wondering...

Am I going to wish I hadn't??????????

Also, my concern is: Are these snails going to kill my Red Rams Horn Snails?????

EDIT: A couple other questions please.

Can someone tell me what my GH & KH & PH should be for Breeding & Raising RCS in a 10g tank that has a sponge filter, some live plants & Fluval Shrimp Statum. Thank you. Lesley

**mordalphus** · 10-09-2011, 03:36 AM

They wont kill anything, but they do overpopulate, so you'll need to regularly remove them from your tank. It's easy to do. You could also get assassin snails later down the road to eat them.

diwu13 · 10-09-2011, 03:55 AM

Another option is that they come out at night a lot to feed. So at night just look at your tank with a flashlight and scoop out half of what you see on the sides of your tank. Very easy if you use a net. Repeat until you reach a level you wish for.

Another problem with MTS is that when you start to have a larger population of them, your plants in your substrate will become uprooted when they burrow around in there. This will force you to replant a lot.

shrimpzoo · 10-09-2011, 04:02 AM

I think you would of been fine being given 3 or 4 MTS.. they can get themselves pregnant and bring out more MTS and so on and so on..

I think 20 was kind of overkill lol. But you should be fine as long as you control their population by removing a few of em when it gets hectic.

Nubster · 10-09-2011, 05:29 AM

Yeah...I started with 10 about 2 weeks ago. I bet I have 50+ now. They are pretty cool for snails though. People are always asking for them in the classifieds so they should be easy to get rid of without having to kill them.

sapphoqueen · 10-09-2011, 05:41 AM

man they are cool but every time you have to remove some off them :P
i started with 3 and now ...... who knowes Lol

garfieldnfish · 10-09-2011, 06:22 PM

I started with 11 years ago and flushed about a million down the drain. Then I got assassins and now I have a hard time finding MTSs. I think I will post a thread on my experience as there seems to be a number of posts directly related to what I went through the past few years. Stay tuned. Lol.

yohohon · 10-10-2011, 03:19 AM

I run a very high co2 in my tank and don't see mts at all. I have seen them may be a couple of times within last 2 months (since I introduced them to the tank). Other snails, fish and shrimp do ok, but I just don't see mts ever(night, day doesnt matter). My only version is high CO2 levels prevent them from breeding too much or at all, just like shrimp. Anybody with experience like that?

Bandit1200 · 10-10-2011, 04:43 PM

I used to have tons of them in my tank as well as about 10,000 ramshorns until I started injecting co2. I believe the ph drops to the point it deteriorates the shells. I've since added some crushed coral to the canister, but all the snails are already dead and i'm reluctant to add any more back in now that I don't have to worry about scooping out snails from this tank.

yohohon · 10-11-2011, 04:10 AM

Right right, now that you mentioned it, I used to have lots of ramshorns back in the days. Now I don't see them either. My ph is always on the acidic side, even at night, as I am trying to grow Toninas. My water is very soft. The shell deterioration from lack of Ca and low ph must be the reason.
I guess that should be made a known fact around here, that if one runs high co2 and the water is soft, then the snail outbreak is less likely, if at all possible.

Lesley · 10-13-2011, 01:37 AM

I just got some Malaysian Trumpet Snails from my LFS. I'm wondering how to tell the difference between them and assassin snails? I just saw a pic of some assassins & they almost look the same....... Thanks

diwu13 · 10-13-2011, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lesley

I just got some Malaysian Trumpet Snails from my LFS. I'm wondering how to tell the difference between them and assassin snails? I just saw a pic of some assassins & they almost look the same....... Thanks

The MTS will have a very elongated shell that goes to a point. An assassin snail will have this tube-like thing sticking out from its "head" or its body or something. Looks almost like a horn.

If you wait a bit if you see the snails burrowing -> MTS. Chasing after other snails... haha.

Lesley · 10-13-2011, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diwu13

The MTS will have a very elongated shell that goes to a point. An assassin snail will have this tube-like thing sticking out from its "head" or its body or something. Looks almost like a horn.

If you wait a bit if you see the snails burrowing -> MTS. Chasing after other snails... haha.

If I wait long enough I'll see which snails burrowing chasing which snails? My snails have burrowed, all except one & he has been cruising around the water line sucking up the crap up there..

diwu13 · 10-13-2011, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lesley

If I wait long enough I'll see which snails burrowing chasing which snails? My snails have burrowed, all except one & he has been cruising around the water line sucking up the crap up there..

You mentioned you had other snails in the tank correct? Then you definitely have MTS and not assassins. If you had assassins they would immediately go after your ramshorns.

Lesley · 10-13-2011, 02:05 AM

Oh, yes I have Red Ramshorn and they seem all to be well so far.

10-09-2011, 03:34 AM	#1
Lesley Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (16/100%) Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 277	MTS Snail Question I went to my LFS today & happened to see that most of their tanks have MTS's in them.... I've been there many times & hadn't noticed any of these before until today, after reading this post & wanting to get some to clean my tank hearing about how they burrow in the substrate...... The girl at the store told me that they've always had them, they are a problem, they end up in their filtration system & once you have them in your tank you can't get rid of them..... She gave me a bag with about 20 in it & now, before I put them in my tank, I'm wondering... Am I going to wish I hadn't?????????? Also, my concern is: Are these snails going to kill my Red Rams Horn Snails????? EDIT: A couple other questions please. Can someone tell me what my GH & KH & PH should be for Breeding & Raising RCS in a 10g tank that has a sponge filter, some live plants & Fluval Shrimp Statum. Thank you. Lesley

10-09-2011, 04:02 AM	#4
shrimpzoo Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3/100%) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Posts: 463	I think you would of been fine being given 3 or 4 MTS.. they can get themselves pregnant and bring out more MTS and so on and so on.. I think 20 was kind of overkill lol. But you should be fine as long as you control their population by removing a few of em when it gets hectic. __________________ You mossn't be so rude!! ShrimpZoo's 30gal CRS/CBS Breeding Tank - Active. ShrimpZoo's 10gal Snowball Breeding Tank - Active.

10-09-2011, 06:22 PM	#7
garfieldnfish Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Acworth, GA Posts: 672	I started with 11 years ago and flushed about a million down the drain. Then I got assassins and now I have a hard time finding MTSs. I think I will post a thread on my experience as there seems to be a number of posts directly related to what I went through the past few years. Stay tuned. Lol. Last edited by garfieldnfish; 10-10-2011 at 05:02 PM..

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10-09-2011, 03:36 AM	#2
mordalphus These pants? are fancy. (View User Tanks) PTrader: (262/100%) Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 7,636	They wont kill anything, but they do overpopulate, so you'll need to regularly remove them from your tank. It's easy to do. You could also get assassin snails later down the road to eat them.

10-09-2011, 03:55 AM	#3
diwu13 Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (24/100%) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Willimantic, CT Posts: 6,168	Another option is that they come out at night a lot to feed. So at night just look at your tank with a flashlight and scoop out half of what you see on the sides of your tank. Very easy if you use a net. Repeat until you reach a level you wish for. Another problem with MTS is that when you start to have a larger population of them, your plants in your substrate will become uprooted when they burrow around in there. This will force you to replant a lot.

10-09-2011, 05:29 AM	#5
Nubster Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (16/100%) Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Romney, West Virginia Posts: 3,427	Yeah...I started with 10 about 2 weeks ago. I bet I have 50+ now. They are pretty cool for snails though. People are always asking for them in the classifieds so they should be easy to get rid of without having to kill them.

10-09-2011, 05:41 AM	#6
sapphoqueen Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Japan Posts: 385	man they are cool but every time you have to remove some off them :P i started with 3 and now ...... who knowes Lol

10-10-2011, 03:19 AM	#8
yohohon Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: May 2011 Location: Brooklyn NY Posts: 34	I run a very high co2 in my tank and don't see mts at all. I have seen them may be a couple of times within last 2 months (since I introduced them to the tank). Other snails, fish and shrimp do ok, but I just don't see mts ever(night, day doesnt matter). My only version is high CO2 levels prevent them from breeding too much or at all, just like shrimp. Anybody with experience like that?

10-10-2011, 04:43 PM	#9
Bandit1200 Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3/100%) Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 451	I used to have tons of them in my tank as well as about 10,000 ramshorns until I started injecting co2. I believe the ph drops to the point it deteriorates the shells. I've since added some crushed coral to the canister, but all the snails are already dead and i'm reluctant to add any more back in now that I don't have to worry about scooping out snails from this tank.

10-11-2011, 04:10 AM	#10
yohohon Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: May 2011 Location: Brooklyn NY Posts: 34	Right right, now that you mentioned it, I used to have lots of ramshorns back in the days. Now I don't see them either. My ph is always on the acidic side, even at night, as I am trying to grow Toninas. My water is very soft. The shell deterioration from lack of Ca and low ph must be the reason. I guess that should be made a known fact around here, that if one runs high co2 and the water is soft, then the snail outbreak is less likely, if at all possible.

10-13-2011, 01:37 AM	#11
Lesley Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (16/100%) Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 277	I just got some Malaysian Trumpet Snails from my LFS. I'm wondering how to tell the difference between them and assassin snails? I just saw a pic of some assassins & they almost look the same....... Thanks

10-13-2011, 02:05 AM	#15
Lesley Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (16/100%) Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 277	Oh, yes I have Red Ramshorn and they seem all to be well so far.