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Hi everyone....

i have a 20 gal tank.....2 clown plecos and 6 corries in it......i have been told that "snails" Maylasia trumpet" do a great job of cleaning ALL the waste from the pleco's ...is this true...is it a good idea, i have been avoiding them as i don't want hundreds of them and i hear they multiply like crazy....


also, my plecs won't eat fresh veggies...they do like the wafers though so i have been splitting one and giving that at night....also i give my cories 1 tabimin..(both of these tabs are split in half) at night....
i know they are eaten but i don't know how long it takes or if i am overfeeding...i also give them some of the tetramin rich mix wafers in the am....i let them rest on sunday with no food at all....and so far my water seems clear and good but i have been told that anything not eaten in about 5 mins. is toooooo much...and i know they don't eat it this fast!!!!!!!
sorry for the long post..
ellie

ugh... MTS don't really remove any waste from the tank. They will stir the soil and may break down larger pieces of mulm, but what comes out of a snail then? it's not a way to keep your tank clean, and I'd only suggest this if you've got a thick substrate and want to keep it from going bad... which a good gravel vacuuming would do, and it'll be needed any way. any animal you add to your tank is going to increase the bioload... catfish may be good scavengers, but they're gonna end up making the same products the food would decaying on it's own. It just makes it so you don't have to look at it while it's decaying as long.

BTW, once you've got the snails, it'll be nearly impossible to get rid of them.

Putting a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails in one of my tanks is one of the worst mistakes I've made in my fish keeping career. They spread like an epidemic through all my tanks, and it took years of extreme measures to bring the snail population back under control.

You too will regret it if you do it. Don't!

Dinyar

Thank you both.....i had felt exactly that way as snails have never been my 'THING' but had been advised by some older fish people that it might be ag ood idea...

THANKS SO MUCH...I WILL NOT GET ANY....

ELLIE

I'll second Dinyar here, I managed to eradicate them from most (!) of my breeding tanks, but the riverine tank still needs a few Botia's (the clowns got white spot and died, I have no luck keeping puffers alive) and the solution for the Tangtank is arriving next week, unfortunately no Tang (but Haplochromis ishmaeli from Lake Victoria).
I know some fishes that do eat Malaysian Trumpets, unfortunately they ALL have drawbacks!
South Americans:
-Megalodoras uranoscopus, eats them all! garanteed; unfortunately it gets HUGE (+25")
-Pseudodoras niger, just as good, even bigger!
-Pterodoras granulosus; another tankbuster (24" or something) and they're less than 100% on the snails.
-Callichthys callichthys (5-8"?); eats baby snails of all species, enough to control a population; but unfortunately rare as hens' teeth in the trade....(and it's a fairly enthousiastic burrower, not suitable for small planted tanks)
-Other Dorads (like Platydoras costatus, Orinocodoras eigenmanni, Agamyxis pectinofrons) eat baby snails too, but not as fanatic as the big ones. These are all fairly big, nocturnal fish (6-9"; Orinocodoras easily reaches 14")

Asians:
-Botia sidhimunki; extinct in the wild, bred in captivity, nice, but very sensitive to white spot.
-Botia macracantha (Clown), sensitive to white spot, grows to a foot in length....
-Botia dario, B geto, B strigata, B modesta and B lohachata are all excellent snaileaters, but not as good as the other two. All are shoalers and can be hyperactive. Other Botia's usually aren't as good, and some are downright nasty!
-Tetraodon sp, Carinotetraodon sp (Pufferfish) are very good at snailcontrol; but puffers are often more interested in nipping or maiming co-inhabitants, some need salt, and all are VERY sensitive to nitrates; they can drop dead in NO time withouit leaving a clue why....

Africans:
-More puffers, see above
Several cichlids:
-Neolamprologus tetracanthus and N tretocephalus eat trumpetsnails. Both are Tanganyikans (need special water), get fairly big and are quite aggressive!
-Julidochromis transcriptus Gombe is smaller, but also Tanganyikan, doesn't do as good a job and can be fairly fanatic too.
-Malawian Hap (there's one that eats snails, but I forgot the Latin name); this snaileater from Malawi needs special water too, is very friendly as cichlids go, BUT 10" and RARE....
-Victorians: several Vics eat snails, their water is closer to riverwater; however...all need a lot of space, all are endagered or extinct in the wild (!!) and are hard to get! H ishmaeli is the best and smallest of them, but still....
I know of NO catfish or other fish in Africa that eats snails, neither do I know a cat from Asia that does (maybe some whopping big completely unsuitable Pangasiid will, BUT)

wow everyone has really been helpful.....i may have nightmares tonight about these snails....lol
you certainly know your fish!!!!!
sorry to hear about the "clowns" and white spot.....those are one of my favorites to look at but i do not have a large tank so no can have....

by the way what is a "eurystomus"?????

ellie

by the way what is a "eurystomus"?

Literally, a wide mouth (or opening).

It's the an old (and invalidated) species name for both Synodontis petricola and Chiloglanis deckenii. It's also a fairly common species name for other fish.

Rusty

Hi!

@dinyar i wonder how you "transmitt" the snails from tank to tank? I have 2 tanks with snails and the others w/o them. Havent transmitted them in over a year now.

Also i hate them when they crawl into pumps and clogg them, but having them in the tank is quite a good help to stirr up the sand. When theres too many ill just feed or wait till the lights are out and then suck them out with a hose and get rid of them...

LOL! Rusty
It's the invalid name for Synodontis POLLI; NOT S petricola.....

I kind a like my 5 adult S polli's, and because I have to respect the true name I call them as such; but "polli" sounds like some overgrown parakeet screeching for a biscuit!
I sort of adapted "eurystomus" as a surname, to keep up the old banner.....

"SG" stands for Sid Guppy; wich was my second username, and is still used by me on several cichlid-forums and a Dutch forum on Anabantoids
I got a thing for mouthbrooding Betta's and Ctenopoma; the Bushfish too.
Actually, between catfish, Tang cichlids, Betta's, eels and other critters, I'm spread so thin on the world of fish, you can look through me .

My fist username ran into bugs and foul play by the makers of the software used on the forums; there are several words "banned" or "censored". If a username contains such a word, the software acts up, and the mods are powerless to stop it. So after much hassle, I changed my name; and did again, when planetcatfish started the new forum.

I inherited snails with plants I bought at the LFS. Working on some loaches to clean everything up.. The guy at the store tried to sell me this stuff called HAD-A-SNAIL. Does anyone have any experience with this? Meds always scare me a bit ...

Thanks,

Adela

The active ingredient of "Had-A-Snail" seemingly includes copper, which catfishes are particularly sensitive to. It is also stated that it would kill crustaceans (and other arthropods) as well.
I haven't used the product, but these are things you need to be aware of.

very glad you brought up that fact about copper! was considering getting an alage fix as i use only synthetic plants would not cause no other problems there. But the most effective ingredient in killing plants and alage is copper and also states on the products that it will kill crustations. But now knowing that it is not friendly to my catfish i will continue to do it the old fashion way and just wipe it off the glass. Thanks

*nods at adela*

I picked up a couple of plants from my lps 2 weeks ago. I loathe snails, and expressed a concern about bringing any home with me. Oh, how they assured me there were no snails in that plant tank. Hah. I was looking in the tank Thurs nite, and sure enough there is a teeny pinhead size snail crawling up the glass *sigh* I think I got him with the gravel vac, but who knows how many more are hiding in there.

And as much as I loathe them, I agree; I see no reason to throw what is technically a poison into my tank. I'll just keep whipping out the vac when one shows up (cause I sure the heck am not touching it LOL).

From what I understand, Clown Loaches (which I particularly like anyway, except I find them susceptible to ick) will eat snails when they get big enough. I have no idea if other "common" tropical fish will do the same ... anyone know?

Adela

My best experience is clown loaches - they´re gentle, beautiful and effective. Besides I don´t like the idea about "Had A Snail". . It would probably harm the other small fishes and maybe also the plants - but I don´t know. The only problem with clown loaches is that they will eat your plants if you don´t give the "green" food

i have heard "had a snail" refered to as "had a tank full of fish".

Puffers and all Botia Loaches love eating Snails. Apart from that try to lure them onto some of there Fav food and lift them out!








Graeme.

I have a pair of yo-yo loaches that seem to keep the snails in check. I too received "hitchhikers", despite my picking through every leaf and root of new plants. I still see the odd one, but assume the loaches are eating the rest. I have no problems crushing the survivors!

Yo-yo's are supposed to max out at 4", although I've seen one almost 5" in a display tank. They are a very round, fat loach at this size too. Still a better option than the clown loaches though! I have had no aggression problems with them towards other species, but like most loaches they are happier with company of their own kind.

As someone who brought home 3 MTS, to have her crayfish eat 2 of them....all three of my tanks are now infested with the boogers!

My 20 gallon, however, seems to have a steady population, rather than an increasing one. I owe this not to the dwarf puffer, but my ghost shrimp. Over an inch apiece, and very willing to show me when they demand MORE shrimp pellets and the like, I've seen these guys snag an apple snail (a small one, I admit), and rip it from its shell, dropping the shell and snacking on the morsel. I assume they do the same thing with the MTS.

How odd that most everyone I speak with is surprised at this, and maintain that ghost shrimp eat algae, and that my puffer (not even an inch yet) will make a meal out of the shrimp!

I really think it might be the other way around one day.....

What is a ghost shrimp? I have about 10 shrimps, but they´re just ordinary ones. . pretty big though - bigger than my pet shop told us they would be.

Ghost shrimp are the just the regular transparent aquarium shrimp, <i>Macrobrachium lanchesteri</i>.

Thanks. . hm. . I thought it would be a black, cool shrimp. .