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Do Malaysian Trumpet Snails eat Plants, like Anubias?.



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jason,

To my knowledge they don't eat healthy plant matter but might munch away on dying leaves. Is the Anubias in good health?

I also read that they tend to eat other kinds of snails, as long as they are small.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I've just brought the Anubias from Germany & they look very healthy. I am going to attach them to Driftwood with fishing line & place them in a tank that was infested with MTS, but i cleaned it well & removed all the gravel & other stuff & everything is new now. But as you might know, MTS are pests & they'll be back after a few months, but hopefully this time not as much as i had.

So you don't think that the MTS will eat the Anubias leaves?.



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Jason, I don't know about trumpet snails, but I put a perfectly healthy anubias in my tank, with 2 ramshorn and they damaged every leaf on the plant. I also tried to put some hygro poly and once planted they literally made a u-turn from where they were and all I had left was a few floating pieces. I personally found them to be very destructive.

Last edited by tetratech at 03-Nov-2005 06:06

My Scapes

Jason, I was wondering the same thing, but most sources I've read or talked to tell me that they won't. I have no experience with them, however. I am interested in them, but too afraid that they'll overpopulate the tank.

"I am a believer in punctuality, though it makes me very lonely" EV Lucas

Hi,
I've had the MTS snail in my tank for over a decade with
all sorts of plants and never have I found any damage to
a plant caused by those snails. They don't bother
healthy plant leaves.

I don't understand your wholesale elimination of a snail
that is so beneficial to the system.
They grow (in numbers) according to the food and space
available and are normally only seen out at night and
during the lights on period only long enough to get back
into the gravel. If they are out during the day, something
is wrong in the tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

MTS are fantastic additions to a planted tank, or to a tank with a sand substrate... or both

I've never seen them do any sort of damage to any plant. Plus they act as a natural self-reproducing food source for loaches.

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks alot for all your reply's. So they will not damage the plants &amp; i don't have to try to eliminate them, before adding the Sand substrate &amp; the Anubias attached to the Driftwood.


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I add mts to my planted tanks on purpose especially if I'm using sand. They don't touch plants, help stir the substrate, and snail waste is the best plant fertilizer I've found. The only reason to get rid of them is if you don't like how they look.

Frank, what does it mean if they're out during the day? I used to have plants in a tank that has MTS in it, but I took the plants out and now the baby snails are everywhere.

______________
Cake or death?

Ramshorn snails are very bad planted tank snails, they will eat plants. MTS won't.

If your MTS are out during the day it usually means your chemistry is out of whack. Try to test your water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

My mts are always out during the day in all my tanks. Usually climbing on the driftwood and up the moss wall. If I feed the tank then twice as many show up even at the brightest times of the day. They don't seem to care too much about light or dark.

My tanks have quite a few plants and healthy leaves are not bothered a bit by the mts.

I always have mts out during the day but at night... wow I started thinning them out cause when I turned the light on one night I could hardly see in the tank to check my bn.

my tank has been up for approx. 2 years and all prameters are good. I have to add Grants Stump remover to keep my Nitrates up around 20 and I do tests before and after my weekly water change to try to stay ahead of trouble. I can say they do make a difference in Nitrate level as now I need to add more to my tank.

jan

Thanks alot once again &amp; i'm glad that i don't have to worry about the MTS.


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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
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Hi,
If you have bunches and bunches of MTS out during the day,
it indicates that there are either too many of them, or
that the gravel needs to be vacuumed as its packed too
tight or filled with mulm. It's normal to see small
number.

Vacuuming should be done on the unplanted areas and all
the open space should not be done at the same time.
Mentally section off the open areas into quarters, and
each month vacuum a quarter of the open area. That schedule
allows the vacuumed area to "recover" before the next
area is done.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks alot Frank &amp; best regards from sunny Malta.


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com