Malaysian Trumpet Snails - friend or foe?

[Sixo]

Hi all,

I've been offered a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails but I know they're a bit marmite with people.

I was wondering...

Would they eat Black beard algae?

How rapidly do they reproduce? (Granted you avoid overfeeding)

Are they a big help with turning sand over?

Cheers

[BigBen]

Friend in my opinion, but I think "pest" snails are massively underrated, MTS, bladders and ramshorns are all welcome here. Anyway:

BBA - probably not at they largely just hang around the substrate and clean that up. MTS can actually indicate an issue with water if they all head up the glass towards the surface. I wouldn't want them if I had a plant substrate capped with sand however.

Reproduction - Same as the other pest snails.

Turning sand - Massively yes.

I would say if you don't like pest snails, MTS are not for you but if you can see the value of these types of snails in the mini ecosystems we strive to create, then get a few.

Ps. Don't pay for them as your LFS would probably give you some, with a weird look for asking.

[plankton]

I like them.

[Sixo]

I think If ever there was a snail for my tank it is the Malaysian Trumpet, I have sand and only use root tabs for my plants, will Corys be bothered by them?

I don't mind the idea of a few of them in there but I don't want to be carrying out regularl mass-cullings, that's the main put-off for me.

[plankton]

That pic is from the panda/guppy tank.
They do eat fish eggs though, that's the only con I've found.

[Stephen]

To me all snails are unwanted.
Somehow a few (maybe 3 or 4) very tiny MTS were introduced by mistake (came in with some Corydoras) and soon I had hundreds.
I literally cleaned my aquarium out of everything and started again just to get rid of the snails.
Get some shrimp instead.

All the best

[Si4geckos]

I've got MTS in my big tank with fine sand. Barely see them these days except if I turn a light on at night and they're all over the place. Spend the daytime churning up the sand. Deffo don't eat BBA sadly

[fr499y]

for algae ( pram and tank mates dependant! ) you can't beat Otocinclus and Amano shrimp

[Chrisjj0686]

I think a few snails is always beneficial, particularly in a planted tank.

I’ve found that if the population gets out of control, it can be a sign of over feeding. Feed less and the population diminishes.

I also introduce the odd assassin snail once in a while which keeps numbers of “pest” snails in check. I occasionally find myself moving assassins between tanks.

BBA is a suborn algae, and in my experience, is not always taken care of by otos or amano’s. Siamese Algea eaters on the other hand devour it - the problem at the moment is finding them - they look very similar to the flying fox, which is a different fish all together.

[MasonJ19]

Foe, definitely foe.