# What to do with all these mayasian trumpet snails?



## Jeremy93ls (Feb 20, 2009)

I'm about to thin out some MTS in my 10 gallon tank. They've really multiplied recently. I don't want to just toss them out in the yard.. what can I do with them? Is there a humane way of discarding them?

Would it be bad to send them to my septic tank via toilet? They'd probably think they've died and gone to heaven down there.


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## Nexed (Aug 7, 2008)

You can sell them on ebay or aquabid, even sell them on this forum in the sell/trade section!


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## CRS Fan (Nov 25, 2008)

Get some Assasin snails to eat them up. Worked for me !


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## giypsy (Oct 6, 2009)

My female betta hunts the babies down and has them for a snack.
Occasionally like today, she goes after one that is too big and 
they latch onto her snout. Rattling on the glass or an MTS 
speeding across the aquarium is a tell tale sign she has 
"bit off more than she can chew"


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## edwardn (Nov 8, 2008)

Blow ....?


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## James He (Aug 24, 2009)

CRS Fan said:


> Get some Assasin snails to eat them up. Worked for me !


How to control Assasin snail after all MTS gone?

I don't want to cause other problem after solve MTS problem.

James


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

Nothing survives without proper habitat. You cannot do without water and substrate is important for plants so stop providing as much food as you are doing. Very small quantities of very small things provide sustenance for denizens of tanks and food particles may not be visible to us and still provide lots of food for the snails and other critters. 

Using traps and simply discarding the snails when you find them (never in the sanitary system) is probably the best way to control them.


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## Garon (Mar 22, 2005)

I would definately not flush them down the toilet as no telling how many would survive and possible damage to the the septic system.

Throwing them in your yard is a great natural fertilizer.


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## DarrylR (Dec 5, 2007)

Garon said:


> I would definately not flush them down the toilet as no telling how many would survive and possible damage to the the septic system.
> 
> Throwing them in your yard is a great natural fertilizer.


2nd. Throwing out in the yard where there is no possible way of run-off into a stream. Or freeze in your freezer than trashed.


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## Jeremy93ls (Feb 20, 2009)

i suppose adding them to the compost pile or garden would be beneficial. Its hard to imagine how they would damage the septic system but that's something I try not to form a mental picture of, haha.

Thanks for the ideas.


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

Putting anything into a sanitary system is bad. Not those things would die in sanitary system (enclosed septic system or open sewer system) but that anything could live and reproduce. While the thought of being in a sanitary system is, to us, a bad thing to some critters it may not be particularly wonderful but is just another place to struggle to survive as are our tanks. To have a foreign creature in our systems is bad and until there is another critter that preys on them, or it develops, the new creature can wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Do not be the person who introduces a strange creature into our world.

It is interesting to note the reaction to observed waste products as opposed to the mostly unseen urine and fecal material that exist in our tanks, which do not engender any response at all. Our fish and other creatures live in swill constantly that other than water changes goes unremarked. This is normal and very natural so who knows?


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Yoyo loaches or zebra loaches will wreak havoc on snails. I had a snail infestation, bought four zebra loaches. The next morning I could only find 2 or 3 snails, now they are non-existant.


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## A_Shea (Jun 2, 2007)

I second the loaches. I actually brought snails home for mine
or a puffer fish. Figure 8s are neat.


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## chickenlady (Feb 9, 2009)

I had the same problem with mystery snail babies. I put a bunch in a small bucket and froze them, but still had tons, so put an add up for free baby brigs, just pay shipping. Most of them are gone now, so try that, had lots of people asking for MTS., so you should have no problem giving them away.


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## rymeyer (Feb 27, 2006)

Is having too many MTS really such a problem? They churn the substrate and usually hide unless it's dark. Also, it seems like a little less food for a while might make the problem go away on its own. Or, you could always set up a small puffer tank. I used to have a pea puffer that enjoyed ripping them out of their shells.


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## Jeremy93ls (Feb 20, 2009)

rymeyer said:


> Is having too many MTS really such a problem? They churn the substrate and usually hide unless it's dark.


I don't know that mine really know the difference between night and day. We count 40-50 of them hours after the lights kick in. They're appreciated for burrowing in the substrate but when they take away from my aquascaping, it's time to go. I've had the best luck plucking them out by hand. My organic garden is at least 50 snails richer by now. Mmmmmmm... tomatoes fertilized with aquatic snails. who could ask for more?


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## cawnov (Jan 7, 2010)

It sounds like there is a large food supply in your aquarium, large enough to allow a high population carrying capacity for the snails.


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## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

It didn't look like there were too many snails in your tank to me. If they are eating the plants then yes, but otherwise leave them be, they are just filling a niche you have created. You could always give them away to people. Assassin snails are a good idea too, I'm pro-life...


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## Alexpatrascu (Feb 9, 2010)

DarrylR said:


> 2nd. Throwing out in the yard where there is no possible way of run-off into a stream. Or freeze in your freezer than trashed.


I think that would be a good idea....


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## almightydolla (Nov 10, 2009)

I've tried assassins. They breed really slowly, and the MTS seemed to find a happy medium between babies and being being eaten. Their allure of hunting soon wears off, so I eventually got rid of them.


Lately, I've just been smashing any baby MTS that i see on the glass. All the fish in my tank just love eating them, so they don't go to waste. You've got a tiny window though, once they reach a certain size they are impossible to crush without pliers.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

dwarf puffers work well. I got my girlfriend two for her tank.
She loved them.
After 2 months there were no more pond snails in her tank.
We gave the puffers back to a lfs.
She is depressed that she has no puffs anymore, I may surprise her one day.
I vote puffers, they are funny and will target all the baby snails


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## brackish bro (Jan 22, 2010)

S Cargo?


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## jon021 (Feb 23, 2010)

i've been told that the shells of the mts are too hard for dwarf puffers and may chip their teeth


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## Valley (Feb 28, 2007)

I've heard that too. My dwarf puffer would only even try to eat them if they were small. Anything over about 3/4" he wouldn't even mess with... I added about 100 MTS snails to my NPT, I'm not sure what in there is eating them but they are just about all gone now.  The only things in there I can imagine eating them is ghost shrimp but who knows? I've got natives in there, maybe they are able to eat them??


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