(Allen Smith) wrote in message . com...
How do people manage to keep these things alive?

I've tried in 2 out of my 3 tanks and they have consistently failed to
thrive. They sometimes manage to hang on there for up 2 weeks, but
they always end up dead.

I've been following this thread and have read every post.

All that has been said before about snail as food is right on.

Now, what I know from reading this newsgroup and personal experience
is: The Malaysian Trumpet Snail is a burrower. It burrows in our
substrates to find shelter and tidbits to munch. It also somehow
procreates in that same substrate.
Thus the MTS is the earthworm of it's aquatic world.

Thus, if MTS don't have a burrow into friendly to them substrate, will
they survive?

Plecosaur/Allen, Onyx Sand by Seachem doesn't seem to me to be an MTS
home of choice. Rest assured I bought Seachem black Onyx sand, tested
same and used a little. I found my culture of MTS at a LFS that
didn't have a clue what they were and were appalled that "those"
snails were climbing the walls of their newly set aquaria with half
inch pebble gravel.

Hoping I haven't overstayed my MTS welcome this is what I know from
many hours of research and personal experience.

MTS procreate in a substrate that supports their life habitat ...
substrate burrowers. They aerate submerged soils / substrates and love
doing it. All they ask is for an organically active substrate.

In my book: What more could you ask for? A snail that doesn't eat
anything and only asks to burrow into and aerate and clean the aquatic
plants substrate and procreates like crazy until it (the MTS colony)
finds it's right balance.

If any want to more about Malaysian Trumpet Snails and their
contribution to planted aquaria I strongly suggest you ask Chuck Gadd.

My bottom line: If the substrate supports MTS. MTS will thrive.

Hope I helped.

Sharon

I also suppose this could be a possibility. The sand may be so
compacted that they cannot burrow into it. But in the tank I have with
them thriving they stay in the gravel during the day, but at night
climb the sides of the glass like crazy - that's how I'm able to
collect so many each mony. I am going to add another 80lb of Schultz
Clay Soil Conditioner and that should be light enough for them to
burrow in, correct? So if that is the problem that will be solved. It
was something I was going to do anyway, and if it does fix the problem
I will post.

Right now, so many ideas have been thrown around it's hard to figure
out what exactly the problem is. Some people think it's the kuhli
loaches. Some people think that my pH to kH ratio is off for some
strange reason (it is according to the charts). I did a 90% water
change yesterday and cleaned the filter as I had to move the fish tank
to a different location, so I'll test the water tomorrow and see if it
is any different from yesterday's measurements. I'll post the
measurements here if anyone thinks it may be helpful.


I've been following this thread and have read every post.

All that has been said before about snail as food is right on.

Now, what I know from reading this newsgroup and personal experience
is: The Malaysian Trumpet Snail is a burrower. It burrows in our
substrates to find shelter and tidbits to munch. It also somehow
procreates in that same substrate.
Thus the MTS is the earthworm of it's aquatic world.

Thus, if MTS don't have a burrow into friendly to them substrate, will
they survive?

Plecosaur/Allen, Onyx Sand by Seachem doesn't seem to me to be an MTS
home of choice. Rest assured I bought Seachem black Onyx sand, tested
same and used a little. I found my culture of MTS at a LFS that
didn't have a clue what they were and were appalled that "those"
snails were climbing the walls of their newly set aquaria with half
inch pebble gravel.

Hoping I haven't overstayed my MTS welcome this is what I know from
many hours of research and personal experience.

MTS procreate in a substrate that supports their life habitat ...
substrate burrowers. They aerate submerged soils / substrates and love
doing it. All they ask is for an organically active substrate.

In my book: What more could you ask for? A snail that doesn't eat
anything and only asks to burrow into and aerate and clean the aquatic
plants substrate and procreates like crazy until it (the MTS colony)
finds it's right balance.

If any want to more about Malaysian Trumpet Snails and their
contribution to planted aquaria I strongly suggest you ask Chuck Gadd.

My bottom line: If the substrate supports MTS. MTS will thrive.

Hope I helped.

Sharon

"Allen Smith" wrote in message
om...
You are the only one with a differing opinion on how kuhli loaches
are. May I ask your tank size, and perhaps that matter with the
survival rate if the MTS? 300 MTS is quite a bit, i think, I'd
estimate a good 100 in my 20 gallon tank.


I have 3 kuhli loaches and more malaysian trumpet snails every day. I'd
guess about 300 at this point. I don't believe my kuhli's have
discovered
the joy of escargot.

Jamie
~

Sure. The tank with the kuhli's is a 20 gallon H, CO2 injected, pH 6.4,
Ammonia and Nitrites 0, Nitrates around 3 ppm. Perhaps 300 MTS is somewhat
of an exaggeration - but it's a lot. I see around 25 - 50 at any given time
during the day, so I assume there's at least 3 times that many under the
gravel. And I'm positive - the kuhlis do not eat them.

Jamie
~

Ive heard that a lot of Anabantids (guoramis in this case) will destroy snail
populations

LeighMo wrote:

It's the kuhli loaches. They wreak their havoc after the lights are out,
which is why you never see them at it.

I suspect you are right. I found this on the Aquahobby Kuhli Loach page:

Kuhli Loaches are a resilient species that, while nocturnal, will do well at
most any time of day in a high current, high activity tank. Never had a problem
with them being jumpers, however they are fast swimmers and love swimming up
against a downcurrent. They are also a great way to reduce the population of
small snails that can quickly overrun your tank.

Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

There is only 1 female pearl gourami, which I doubt could decimate a
snail population of a 72 gallon. Either way, the group seems undecided
on the cause of death of the snails.

I will take everyone's advice and try to solve this problem. Firstly,
I will locate some Profile and add another inch or so to the substrate
so the snails can burrow more successfully and hide from the kuhli
loaches hopefully. In the 55g I will raise the kH to a level
considered more normal instead of .5 or 1 degree, I will keep it at a
level of 3 or so and as a result the pH will likely rise from 6.6 to
around 6.8, more habitable for snails.

Either way it has been puzzling, without any real answers (I feel). I
appreciate all the conjecture on the subject, however. It has led to
new ideas that I had not thought of.

Ive heard that a lot of Anabantids (guoramis in this case) will destroy snail
populations

Allen Smith wrote in message
om...

...kH to a level... of .5 or 1 degree...

Did I read that part before? Can a snail even grow or repair it's shell at
such a low level of kH?

Sheesh, and here I've been babbling about kuhli loaches... just about
ANYTHING will eat a snail with a soft or damaged shell.

kush

"You can't have everything - where would you put it?"