# On the fence about MTS



## maboleth (21 Aug 2016)

I acquired four of these snails, they are all white trumpet variants with spots. They look totally cool, one of the coolest looking snails for me, very "exotic" to say at least, could also look great with my gravel. They are not black or yellow, so that's also a plus for me.

HOWEVER, I'm totally terrified about introducing them in my 250l (66g) tank. I've read countless of stories about their usefulness as workers, janitors, don't chew on plants, one of best snails to have, etc. But also read some frightening stories how they make an explosion in tanks, covering the bottoms, glass, impossible to control (without using Helena's or something other that eats them).

So I'm really torn here. What do you say about these guys? I don't feed my fish much, but I also have areas in my tank that are impossible to clean, because of the dense plants and rocks... so I expect it to have a bit of debris hidden in the gravel. Could that lead to their explosion as well?

In a nutshell, I LOVE how they look, but I'd also be terrified to see several hundreds of them on a glass or tank bottom.


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## Daveslaney (22 Aug 2016)

I have them in my tank and to be honest very rarely see them,They spend most of there time burrowing in the substrate.The only time i see them is if i get up in the night and turn the room light on.
They do a good job cleaning and airating the substrate.I do have a couple of candy loaches in the tank to,so if they keep the numbers down im not sure.But i have had no problem with them.


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## alto (22 Aug 2016)

^ This

I'd never keep them without loaches!

I don't overfeed, never saw much change in visible MTS ... but ... total substrate takeover & difficult as any freshwater breeding snail to eradicate from your tanks

After being popular a few years back, none of the local shops sell them anymore ie my experience was not unusual


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## Doubu (22 Aug 2016)

maboleth said:


> I acquired four of these snails, they are all white trumpet variants with spots. They look totally cool, one of the coolest looking snails for me, very "exotic" to say at least, could also look great with my gravel. They are not black or yellow, so that's also a plus for me.
> 
> HOWEVER, I'm totally terrified about introducing them in my 250l (66g) tank. I've read countless of stories about their usefulness as workers, janitors, don't chew on plants, one of best snails to have, etc. But also read some frightening stories how they make an explosion in tanks, covering the bottoms, glass, impossible to control (without using Helena's or something other that eats them).
> 
> ...



If your only worry is the population exploding, you can easily catch them when lights are off. From my experience they tend to crawl up the glass walls once its dark =).


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## maboleth (22 Aug 2016)

alto said:


> ^ This
> 
> I'd never keep them without loaches!
> 
> I don't overfeed, never saw much change in visible MTS ... but ... total substrate takeover & difficult as any freshwater breeding snail to eradicate from your tanks




Yes, this seems the only solution to everyone that has MTS - keeping loaches or Helenas together with MTS to keep them in check. I never thought about keeping the loaches and helenas though.



alto said:


> After being popular a few years back, none of the local shops sell them anymore ie my experience was not unusual



Honestly, selling them was a bad sales practice from the start - not because these snails are bad, but because they multiply so fast and should be given for free to everyone who wants them. All of my local aquarium stores have them and, of course, they are offering them for free.


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## mort (22 Aug 2016)

I have a few in my nano but don't notice them at all tbh. I used to have a lot in my larger fish tank before I added 8 clown loaches, that was over twenty years ago and they still breed in the filter and I toss the larger ones in the tank for the loaches to enjoy, not that it takes the 8 long to demolish them (same with plants though).


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## Sk3lly (22 Aug 2016)

I use MTS in my 60l. Heavily planted and i barely notice them in the day. For me the positives outweigh the negatives. Just another cog in my mini ecosystem 


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## Manisha (23 Aug 2016)

I find my MTS to be a valuable addition to my planted tank. Although rarely see them throughout the day. My big tank is 240l in volume so the substrate is quite deep in places so their ability to aerate the substrate I view as a benefit to the plants. I don't keep loaches or Helenas & numbers seem balanced by competition from shrimp/Ottos etc. I was concerned that I would have difficulty controlling their numbers but had been advised they can easily be baited by adding cucumber at night & removing in the morning. So far this hasn't been needed!


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## maboleth (24 Aug 2016)

Manisha said:


> I find my MTS to be a valuable addition to my planted tank. Although rarely see them throughout the day. My big tank is 240l in volume so the substrate is quite deep in places so their ability to aerate the substrate I view as a benefit to the plants. I don't keep loaches or Helenas & numbers seem balanced by competition from shrimp/Ottos etc. I was concerned that I would have difficulty controlling their numbers but had been advised they can easily be baited by adding cucumber at night & removing in the morning. So far this hasn't been needed!



Just curious, how much snails do you pull out with one overnight bait?


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## Manisha (25 Aug 2016)

Hi mabeloth, I haven't had to use baiting as a technique because my ottos & amanos are faster than the snails! I had good advice here... http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/bladder-snail-hitchikers.41253/


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