# Malaysian Trumpet Snails



## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

I got one free from a nearby petstore cause they're 'pest' snails and I was considering picking up a couple more. Knowing they'll breed and take over. But I have a friend who wants them and needs a lot of them so if Calcifer doesn't cull the babies I can always give them to my friend. Knowing they breed like nuts and will bloom like crazy, how many would be ok to start with in a 5 gallon? So far I have one plus Calcifer in a fully cycled 5 gallon tank.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

One or 2 should be fine, I love them.

Just as general info.


> By: Ryan Wood​ The Malaysian Trumpet Snail is a great to have in any aquarium. There are some with different patterns, shapes, size, dark or light colored. It is a beautiful snail to see up close in person. In some forums as well as blogs the Malaysion Trumpet Snail is instead used as the acronym MTS.​ There is a lot of bad rep that all snails have received. A lot of hobbyists tend to think that having any type of snail in their aquarium is horrible and all must be removed immediately. There are even chemicals that are solely meant for killing snails in the aquarium. I highly recommend that you never use any chemical meant to kill snails in a tank with shrimp. Snails are not bad for your aquarium. Overfeeding your tank is what causes snail outbreaks. Most snails will actually leave your plants alone and instead eat the algae off of the leaves as well as glass. Do not think that a snail is a pest, they can be extremely useful in any aquarium.​ The Malaysian Trumpet Snail is actually a benefit to any aquarium for several reasons. It will not eat your plants at all. This snail also will not "muscle" your shrimp off of food meant for the shrimp. The Malaysian Trumpet Snail feeds on detritus and leftover food that is underneath the substrate. It actually burrows in the substrate and moves around throughout. You will rarely see this snail during the day. Occasionally it will emerge from the substrate. A cool thing is that sometimes you will see the substrate move and you will know that there is a Malaysian Trumpet Snail underneath doing its cleaning duties.​ The fact that this snail burrows and eats detritus is an excellent perk to having it. Another great perk is that while it is underneath the substrate moving it is at the same time aerating the substrate. Substrate aeration is a great benefit to planted aquariums as it promotes air exchange and root growth. They will not disturbed any plant roots or move wood/rocks around your aquarium.​ The Malaysian Trumpet Snail reproduces live young and does not lay eggs. They can reproduce rapidly however. Rapid reproduction is a sign that you either need to feed your inhabitants less or vacuum the gravel extensively. You do not want to rely on this snail to do all of the gravel cleaning. High temperatures can also result in rapid reproduction if coupled with overfeeding.​ This snail is an all around must have for most aquariums. They are very cool to look at, extremely docile, do not eat plants, aerate substrate, eat detritus, and do not harm other inhabitants. I highly recommend this snail to anyone.​


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

So they don't usually reproduce if there isn't enough food or detritus on the bottom of the tank? So if I did get one or two more they won't like full on take over the tank in like two minutes (over exaggeration obv.) as long as I make sure not to overfeed Calcifer? That's kinda cool. My one guy stayed pretty still with his trapdoor shut yesterday unless the light was off, today he was zooming around the tank doing laps.

I eventually want at least one in each tank but don't the tanks have to be fully cycled first? or would MTS be ok in uncycled tanks? Right now the 5 gallon is my only cycled tank. I'm working on cycling my new 10g divided and wouldn't mind having a couple snails in that. I'm not planning on cycling the 2.5-3 gallons due to outlet space and timewise (i know it's better and sponge filters are a good way to go about it but as of right now I don't have the resources, maybe in the future) but on those tanks I do very frequent water changes to keep up with water parameters.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> but don't the tanks have to be fully cycled first? or would MTS be ok in uncycled tanks?


Because we cant get ammonia in Australia I use MTS for fish in cycle, These suckers are hard to kill.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

I need hard to kill lol. I can kill moss balls...and the Nerites and Mystery snail I tried all died within 3 days. Hoping the MTS makes it. I actually really like watching him "oof" around the tank. (I say "oof" around cause that is what I can imagine them saying as they move just "oof!...oof!...oof!").


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

I love mystery snails i trained these 3 to come up for bloodworm


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

They're so cute. I had a black mystery snail that I had picked out because he was very active in the store's tank and seemed healthy. Within 2 days he was dead.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Are you adding epsom salt to the tank?


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

Nope. no salt in that tank around that time. a couple weeks prior I had AQ salt in it cause Angel shredded his tail by biting and I wanted to prevent infection but the tank had had a couple water changes since so the salt should have been gone.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

Went back today and picked more up. They ended up giving me like 15-20 (haven't counted)I'm planning on splitting them up between my 5g and my 10g


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

They gave me 21 in total. I have a friend who wants MTS as well so I think I'm gonna give her some so I don't have so many in a tank to start off with.


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