ridding tank of MTS

[phillyofish]

my 125g tank has been infested by MTS, i bought some assasin snails but still have a lot of them remaining. Would it benefit if i remove all the sand and replace with new sand after the tank is empty for a week. The tank has tangs in it ( cyps and tricoti).

[emartin]

I've heard of people leaving the tank and substrate out in the summer sun for over a week and still having the snails come back.

The only thing I have ever heard of ridding them completely or at least immensely is Loaches.

Good loach candidates (I put some common names if I don't know the scientific name):
Botia histrionica
Pakistani Loach
Yo-Yo Loach
Skunk Loach
Clown Loach
Angelicus Loach

Any of those should do a great job controlling the population...




There is a product called Had-A-Snail but that will NOT work on MTS snails. So don't bother with that one.

[Flareside]

For years I battled these guys. I tried microwaving the substrate (small quatitiies at a time) didnt work.
I tried completely changing substrate- didnt work
I tried close to every product like "had a snail", "snail rid"- had short term success- but ultimately didnt work.

The eggs are on your nets, your filter media, rocks, plants etc...

What did work is a combination of two things:
clown loaches and cutting back on feedings.

Some tanks only get fed every 2nd day. Fish still breed, do not have a fat gut, and when there isnt food available, the fish and loaches go right to the substrate to forage for food- snails dont stand a chance. A well fed loach will overlook the snails (same way a well fed pleco eating veggies will overlook cleaning algae from your glass)

Snails thrive when there is uneaten food reaching the substrate- by taking that away- they went away

[phillyofish]

got some clown loaches...5 for $30, waiting to see them at work. thanks guys.

[Flareside]

Congrats, thats a good price for them :beerchug:. If they are small, just try and keep a constant temp in the tank, because they are succeptible to ick fairly easy when small. If any of them do get ick- post that here if it happens. You dont want to use normal ick meds as it can kill them. I have a way that Jack Watley taught me to cure them and it works. AND they will never, ever get ick again- they become immune to it. He was totally right

[CrabbyMatty]

I think Flareside hit the nail on the head with the recommendation to cut back on feedings.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed mention of microwaving the substrate. Now I know of two things that will survive a nuclear holocaust...roaches and MTS.

[emartin]

Cutting back on feedings WILL help starve the expansion of the MTS and bring it down a lot but it won't get rid of them. They will still be in the tank, feeding on whater food hits the bottom or on algae.

That plus loaches or smaller Synodontis catfish (the large ones will likely just ignore any snails and wait for you to feed like what common Plecos do) is really the best remedy to get rid of them completely or almost completely.

[phillyofish]

moved the assasin snails out since I didnt want them to be a treat.

[Sharpfish]

The best fish for the job hands down, bar none is the Paretroplus menarambo 'The pinstripe Damba'. I was infested with those stupid MTS. My pair of Damba was 7", and descimated the population of snails in my 40 tanks. They are natural piscavores, that is their prey. Even the largest 1" MTS can not stand up against the 'rat teeth' of a Paretroplus menarambo'. They bite clean through the shell and pull them out the hole.

I was going to auctions and buying all of the snails I could ( ramshorn, MTS, pond snails, ETC..) just to give them more to eat. They would eat 200 snails 1/2" long over night. They will eat all snails. They will not discriminate.

I have tried a lot of loaches. The best one I have come across is the Tiger loach. But it still could not compare to the Paretroplus menarambo.

[CrabbyMatty]

The best fish for the job hands down, bar none is the Paretroplus menarambo 'The pinstripe Damba'. I was infested with those stupid MTS. My pair of Damba was 7", and descimated the population of snails in my 40 tanks. They are natural piscavores, that is their prey. Even the largest 1" MTS can not stand up against the 'rat teeth' of a Paretroplus menarambo'. They bite clean through the shell and pull them out the hole.

I was going to auctions and buying all of the snails I could ( ramshorn, MTS, pond snails, ETC..) just to give them more to eat. They would eat 200 snails 1/2" long over night. They will eat all snails. They will not discriminate.

I have tried a lot of loaches. The best one I have come across is the Tiger loach. But it still could not compare to the Paretroplus menarambo.

That is such a pretty fish too. Cichlid-Forum claims them to be extinct in the wild.

[Tony]

I've had nuisance snails wiped in small tanks out by the copper ich medication. I think the loach idea should work.. plus, it'll be fun to watch. Clown loaches are cool fish.

[phillyofish]

looked in the tank this morning and saw a few empty shells. Some one is working.

[Flareside]

thats good news! You can wipe out a tank of snails with clout, but if you have an infestation as large as I used to, that much die off and decay in your water cant be good...loaches are best way to reduce the numbers, and as I said before- with reduced feedings, the loaches will really seek out the snails.

I have had my loaches for close to ten years. They do best in groups- so I have moved the whole group from tank to tank until I got all my tanks under control. I am pretty sure I have no snails at all anymore- however I did buy a lot of new fish from the RI auction two weeks ago- so the threat of eggs and more snails is always possible with new stock

[Charlutz]

MTS are very tough to completely get out of a tank for a number of reasons. They are livebearers, so there are no eggs to kill off before they hatch. The young snails are tiny and get into everything. Even if you manage to wipe out most of the adults in the tank, there are usually more of them living in the filter sponge pads and media. My clown loaches ate the ones in the tank for a while, but then they got tired of them. They have a door to their shell that they close and I think the loaches figured they were too much trouble. If you've got a fish that can crush the shells and likes them, that would keep them under control. I finally pulled the fish and dropped a cup of Clorox in the tank. Had to reseed the filters but it got rid of all of them.

[joe_jaskot]

Sell your malaysian trumpet snails on eBay. Some idiot will pay good money for them. Look at this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Malasysian-Trumpet-Snails-40_W0QQitemZ330420343877QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defa ultDomain_0?hash=item4cee965445

[Spooky_Fish]

There is a treatment for MTS. I can't remember the chemical name, but it is very closely related to Metro.

Supposedly it will completely eliminate MTS with one or two treatments. It does not affect the bacteria or fish, unless the fish have flukes (it will kill the flukes as it is also an anti-parasite treatment like Metro).

The person who told me about it, recently tracked it down and ordered it. I'll check with him as to the name and his experience using it.

[phillyofish]

Thanks Spooky

[twisted fisher]

lol ill buy some off of ya


i guess im one of the idiots willing to pay for them

[usctom]

Spooky is it Flubendazole. I would love to find some.
Tom
There is a treatment for MTS. I can't remember the chemical name, but it is very closely related to Metro.

Supposedly it will completely eliminate MTS with one or two treatments. It does not affect the bacteria or fish, unless the fish have flukes (it will kill the flukes as it is also an anti-parasite treatment like Metro).

The person who told me about it, recently tracked it down and ordered it. I'll check with him as to the name and his experience using it.

[Flareside]

Supposedly it will completely eliminate MTS with one or two treatments. It does not affect the bacteria or fish, unless the fish have flukes (it will kill the flukes as it is also an anti-parasite treatment like Metro).

Problem is when you have hundreds of snails die off, its not the medication but rather the decaying matter that negatively impacts your water parameters.

[Spooky_Fish]

Spooky is it Flubendazole. I would love to find some.
Tom

YUP, I'm pretty sure that's the stuff!!!
I'll try to find out where he got it from.

Problem is when you have hundreds of snails die off, its not the medication but rather the decaying matter that negatively impacts your water parameters.
Your 100% right. In heavily infested tanks, all the dead snails can pollute it quickly.
That also happens in infested tanks that are overfed. The snail population explodes and when you cut back on the food they can die off in mass and crash your tank. At least with the Flubendazole you know when they are going to die so you can better maintain the water quality during the die off.

[twisted fisher]

lol im still willing to accept all shipments of them

[bovsbaitboxes]

twister why do you want them?

[twisted fisher]

cause i have deep shell beds in my tanks and cannot get to the sand to clean it :D

plus they will keep the food cleaned up

and they make a nice snack if they slip up and come up while the lights are on

[bovsbaitboxes]

are you going to the auction I will start saving you some how many you want 20 or 30 pounds LOL John

[CJC]

If you need more then 20 - 30 lbs, I can bring another 20 - 30lbs myself.

[CrabbyMatty]

are you going to the auction I will start saving you some how many you want 20 or 30 pounds LOL John

Ok, you guys are starting to crack me up. :becky:

[twisted fisher]

lol i dont know if ill have acar by then but if i do ill make sure to tell yall

and if not once i get acar ill make a play date and be more then happy to come and pick some up
when i say a deep shell bed this is what i mean :
http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz190/twisterfisher/backgrounds/Picture129.jpg

[CrabbyMatty]

lol i dont know if ill have acar by then but if i do ill make sure to tell yall

and if not once i get acar ill make a play date and be more then happy to come and pick some up
when i say a deep shell bed this is what i mean :
http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz190/twisterfisher/backgrounds/Picture129.jpg

I think you might want to further investigate MTS. They won't appreciably add to that real nice collection you have going on.

Matt

[twisted fisher]

I think you might want to further investigate MTS. They won't appreciably add to that real nice collection you have going on.

Matt

i already have atleast 1 left in there but the multies you see in the upper water area dig the little one up for snacks. The males are almost 3"


i also have a few other tanks that need them to keep the sand loose

[1badradboy]

I have a 125 gallon tang tank which had a MTS problem. My son would help me siphon them out at night and I would toss them out in the snow while singing "Snails in the Snow" a la "Riders on the Storm".
Added several Daffodils - snail problem gone! Cool to watch them pick up the shell and remove the snail.

[Ravnheart]

Ive got a ton of these guys in my community tank right now. I'm going to be changing it over to a cichlid tank soon. It has gravel in it right now, I am going to change it to sand. Should I move my loaches over there after to make sure they clean them all up?

I had a issue awhile back with some snails, it took a little while till the loaches realized they was tasty snacks. Then all of a sudden they cleaned them out :P The loaches was very well fed after that :P

[royallen]

1. I'm old. What is MTS?

2. I assume it's some kind of snail. The old remedy was to remove the fish and add alum- a cheap chemical you can get at CVS.

3. I had a planted tank loaded with pond and ramshorn snails. A pair of Thorichthys ellioti bred. As the babies grew the snail population reached ZERO. I can only assume the ellioti ate them.

[joe_jaskot]

1. I'm old. What is MTS?

2. I assume it's some kind of snail. The old remedy was to remove the fish and add alum- a cheap chemical you can get at CVS.

3. I had a planted tank loaded with pond and ramshorn snails. A pair of Thorichthys ellioti bred. As the babies grew the snail population reached ZERO. I can only assume the ellioti ate them.

MTS = malaysian trumpet snail

[cichfrk]

1. I'm old. What is MTS?

Multi-Tank Syndrome :becky:

I am now experiencing snail outbreak in my 125 gallon tank since I got rid of my giant clown loaches. I can't expect my medium size loaches to do the job. Loaches can be a big help in controlling the snail population but not a guaranty that they can eliminate them totally.

[Buckcich]

What's so wrong about MTS ?
I mostly keep bare botton tanks as species only breeding tanks.
The tanks I keep with substrate ( sand or gravel) I INTRODUCE MTS. I DON"T see any side effects.
PLEASE clarify what's SO wrong about keeping MTS (or any other snail) in your tanks?
Any undesirable snail that happen to be in my tanks (pond snails), I just crush them and feed to the fish in that same tank, they love the extra protein.
OCD vs. MTS ?