Please help with my Malaysian trumpet snail explosion

[robbo81]

Hello all. Sorry if this topic has been done to death. For the last few months ( if not more ) I’ve been fighting a losing battle against Malaysian trumpet snails , I’ve cut back in feeding I’m doing more water changes and gravel vac. I’ve tried traps and scooping them out but days later just as many again. I know these little buggers reproduce rapid so where do I go now ? Should I try assassin snails to reduce the numbers or maybe something like esha snail treatment , however is that shrimp safe as the last thing I’d want is to kill off my cherry shrimp.
I know some say they are good for turning over substrate but the numbers I’ve got is ridiculous now.
Water parameters are all fine as they always are. Nitrates are not particularly high at around 20ppm.
Any advice is much appreciated
Thanks
Rob

[Tycho]

Hi Robbo

Sounds a nightmare! I would try a few assassin snails, they take a bit of time but they should help make a massive difference! Also a common mistake (and one I made myself ) is don't squish them as it releases the eggs... or at least they do with bladder snails so I suspect it will be the same.

[robbo81]

Hi Robbo

Sounds a nightmare! I would try a few assassin snails, they take a bit of time but they should help make a massive difference! Also a common mistake (and one I made myself ) is don't squish them as it releases the eggs... or at least they do with bladder snails so I suspect it will be the same.

I will try some assassins. I have tried all sorts other than assassins

[plankton]

If they are still exploding in population then there must be food for them.
How much do you feed?
I don't think assassins have a go at shrimp, but I've never kept them together so can't positively say so.

[robbo81]

If they are still exploding in population then there must be food for them.
How much do you feed?
I don't think assassins have a go at shrimp, but I've never kept them together so can't positively say so.

I usually either feed frozen food like blood worm so I’ll use one frozen block out the pack. Then next time I’ll use a pinch of tetra prima maybe a couple of Cory sinking flakes and a couple of algae pellets for the sea. I’ve then changed to feeding every other day.
I’ve never been sure really on how much to feed. I thought too little was better than over feeding
Thanks

[Jen1981]

I only have 1 starve day for my fish every week but if your fighting a snail explosion they may be finding food elsewhere, the fish will be fine for a few days without food while you try and combat the snails. I love mine but then I don’t have many plus I have other snails in the tank so they’re all eat something,
The esha snail treatment will kill the shrimps and it will also kill any trumpet snails that are burrowed under the sand that you can’t see.
Trumpet snails are live bearers so they don’t lay eggs & they usually come out at night
On another note you could sell the ones you catch on eBay as tank bred

[Stephen]

Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) are difficult to eradicate the only real way to totally get rid of them is to clean out the tank completely and start again with new sand etc.. (this is what I have done in the past).
Unfortunately snails or snail eggs can come in on plants or in a fish bag. When I had a population explosion I knew that they came in a fish bag with some corydoras as I spotted them in the bag. They were tiny and I took care not to introduce them to my aquarium but at least one must of got in. One soon becomes 101.
Malaysian Trumpet Snails do not lay eggs but are actually live bearers.
I removed over 100 of them but they soon reappeared and eventually I decided to clear out my aquarium and start again; now I am snail free. That's an expensive exercise especially when I have a big 6 foot (600L) aquarium.

The other method to get rid (or cut back) on MTS is to introduce something that will search out snails and eat them.
As previously mentioned, Assassin snails (Clea helena) are very good at searching out other snails and eating them.
Assassin snails not only eat other snails and uneaten food etc.. but they will not eat plants (or algae) as they are totally carnivorous plus they are very attractive with their bumble bee markings.

Introducing assassin snails is probably the most cost effective method.
In a 200L aquarium I would probably add 6-10 assassin snails.
When buying them look for the active assassin snails as they can go inactive for several days, also inactive assassin snails may be dead. A dead assassin snail gives off an unmistakable odour.
Assassin snails do breed and they lay eggs. The tank water must be at least 24C for them to lay eggs, it has been discovered that they will stop laying eggs if the tank water gets to 22C or below.
As with many snails they are more active at night and spend much of the day buried in the sand but you may see them on occasions during the day, they can be an attractive addition to the tank.

Good luck.

[robbo81]

Hi all. Thanks all for this advice. Very very helpful. And yes I didn t think of selling them haha if only I could catch them all I would haha
I think a little trip to the fish shop for some assassin snails is on he cards. I do understand I will never get rid of them but if I can control them that’s all I want. At the min I’m fighting a losing battle . Thanks again guys some very helpful replies . Much appreciated

[Tycho]

If they are still exploding in population then there must be food for them.
How much do you feed?
I don't think assassins have a go at shrimp, but I've never kept them together so can't positively say so.

I have assassin snails in with my cherry shrimp and have never had an issue.

[Annie]

I know you have a lot of snails and I would use an Assassin, but maybe best just to get one , the reason I say this we have two in our large tank and they have bred and have about 15 baby assassin, which of course will breed too.
I have separated the parents but now have the problem of too many baby assassin
You can’t tell which is a male or female either.