You can empty and bleach a tank, which is dramatic. More dramatic and possibly the worst decision is to use over-the-counter chemicals that claim to specifically kill snails. Many of these chemicals include copper, which is actually toxic to just about any living thing. Another option to affect snail success is water conditions. When water gets to a certain level of softness and low pH below neutral , these snails have trouble building their shells.
But the best solution out of all of these choices is to feed your fish less! Cut things back and the snail numbers will follow suit. For the impatient, you can put a large piece of lettuce in the aquarium at night to snag large numbers of snails at a time, speeding up the process.
Should you want a more gladiator-type approach, there are fish that relish the chance at eating snails. With all those whorls, these are actually not the easiest snails to eat, even for snail specialists. Fish as ravenous as African cichlids actually leave the snails alone for the most part. But some fish are very good at crushing, shucking, and biting right through even snails like this.
Certain species of loaches are famous snail eaters. Clown, skunk, and yoyo loaches all are employed for this cause, and there is long list of other loach species that will do the job as well. With a quick twitch, these snail assassins rip the snail right out of the shell. Also, clown loaches and probably others are known to enjoy eating snail eggs. Therefore, if you have non-livebearing snails, these will be eliminated even faster!
The downside of this is aggression to your other fishes. The subocular spines of loaches are wicked weapons, and many species squabble with each other and with other fishes. A more simple and brutal approach is to crush the snail. With hard-bodied prey being abundant all over the Earth, there are also fish with snail-crushing jaws everywhere.
Many cichlids can develop the skill for ripping snails out in loach-like fashion. Species as different as yellow labs Labidochromis caeruleus and Haitian cichlids Nandopsis haitiensis do this. There are, however, snail-eating cichlid specialists that have jaws custom-made for crushing snails.
The buffalo cichlid Steatocranus casuarius and the endangered Herichthys minckleyi have powerful pharyngeal jaws specially made to crush snails. Other cichlids have these jaws too, but there is an arms race between sturdy snail shells and powerful snail-crushing jaws.
The easy solution to this is to have a large fish for the job. Pharyngeal jaws are great tools for eating snails, but what might be even better is a beak! Puffers tear apart snail shells the way large parrots tear apart hard seeds. Except for large snails and small puffers, this matchup is almost always in favor of a fat and happy pufferfish.
Like the snail-eating loaches, puffers not only eat snails, they do so con gusto! Again, as with both the cichlids and the loaches, there are aggression issues to be considered.
Some puffers are downright insane and appallingly persistent with their dispatching of tankmates. The success of these snails can actually be a problem on a scale much larger than your aquarium, believe it or not. While having a powerhead ruined or a tank overrun is annoying, imagine impacting an ecosystem or spreading disease.
This is a little more concerning and not as easy to solve as adding a few loaches! The shell also develops as the snail grows, making them a good indicator of how old the snail is. At the opening of the shell is an operculum. This acts as a trapdoor for the snail to seal themselves for protection. The snails usually come in colors that vary from grey to brown and can also have some small patterns.
Some snails have red sports circling their whorls. Their heads are flat with two tentacles at the base which holds the eyes. The female snails have green gonads and the male snails have red gonads. The female Malaysian Trumpet snails are also longer than the male ones. Commonly, Malaysian Trumpet Snails live for about a year or two. They can live longer under the right conditions. If the snails do die above the substrate, they will lie motionless on the bottom of the tank. If they die buried, they might go unnoticed until the substrate is stirred up.
While the norm is to remove the dead snails from the tank to avoid the spreading of infections, some people choose to leave empty trumpet snails shells in the tank and let their minerals dissolve back into the aquarium water. The Typical Malaysian Trumpet Snails grow up to 0. According to several studies, the Malaysian Trumpet Snails have the highest growth rate in the first year of their life, where they can grow up to 0. After the first year, the growth rate slows down to 0.
The snails are commonly freshwater and some manage to survive in brackish water. They settle in stable waters such as lakes, irrigation canals, ponds, lakes, city drains, dams, rivers, streams, etc.
In natural habitations, they are found in slow-moving water where the oxygen level is a little low. The recommended tank size for Malaysian Trumpet Snails is 5 to 10 gallons.
In most cases, the tank size does not matter because these creatures are very small and can live in different types of tanks. One can keep them in small tanks or large aquariums. Hence, the bigger the tank the better. One must layer the tank with a soft sandy substrate.
This would help them burrow as they choose to remain buried for long periods. Gravels, pebbles, or any other hard substrate will not facilitate their burrowing behavior. Instead, such materials would harm them by causing injury. Certain parts of the tank can be reserved with some plants that would provide these snails with shelter and food. One can keep as many Malaysian Trumpet snails in their tanks.
However, it must be noted that these snails have a robust breeding capacity. The ideal water temperature for Malaysian Trumpet Snails is degrees Fahrenheit.
This will prevent the water from being too acidic for the Malaysian Trumpet Snails. The water must also be kept on the hard side to assist a healthy shell growth. Any standard aquarium lighting can be used for the tanks.
One must be very careful when putting metals and plant medicines into the tanks as they can hurt the snails or be poisonous for them.
If the aquarium conditions are right, the snails will mostly look after themselves. This includes flakes, pellets, wafers, and most other types of fish food.
In fact, since they aerate the substrate, they may be beneficial for your plants. Algae is also on their menu, but they may prefer the above sources of food over it. There are also other snails that will eat algae that will cause you less problems in the long run. A male nerite snail is a good choice in this regard. I have a guide on them here. Pretty much the only thing you need to do in order to breed them is to keep them in a tank with the right water conditions.
A lot of people end up looking for ways to cut down on the number of Malaysian trumpet snails they have. Malaysian trumpet snails can be a great addition to your tank, if you can keep their population in check.
Overfeeding is the biggest reason why your tank is probably being overrun by Malaysian trumpet snails. Pea puffers will also eat trumpet snails.
The next thing you want to do is spread slices of cucumber around the bottom of your tank. After you turn out the lights.
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