MTS and Calculating Bioload

[ryanoh]

I have 50 Malaysian Trumpet Snails coming in the mail on Tuesday for my 40 gallon sand substrate tank, and was just wondering how / if its necessary to take snails into account when figuring the stocking in my tank. AqAdvisor doesn't have any snail species listed, and as fast as they reproduce and as hard as they are to count when they're all in the sand, it seems like it would be rather difficult to know exactly how many I've got.

What do you guys with snails do when calculating how many living things to put in your tank?

 

[bassbonediva]

When I had MTS in my tanks (when I had play sand), I basically counted them as one 1" fish, regardless of how many I had. There's no need to start with a ton of them because they multiply so quickly (when I cleaned out my 29gal so I could redo it, I probably removed close to 100 of the little buggers and I only started with ten or so).

 

[ryanoh]

Yeah, 50 was just the smallest number I could find on aquabid for a price that wasn't ridiculous. I'm going to be more careful feeding my fish, so hopefully the snails won't get out of hand.

 

[bassbonediva]

Where do you live? My Petsmart gives them away for free and will give you as many as you want.

 

[ryanoh]

I live in Mississippi, and all we have in town is a Walmart and one really new petstore that didn't have any snails. The closest Petco is an hour away in Tupelo, and I called and they didn't have any. I only paid 11 dollars online, and that was just to cover shipping so I don't feel like I got too bad of a deal.

 

[achase]

Are you going to add all 50 to your tank?

 

[ryanoh]

Should I not?

How many would you add? If I let the reset go in a pond or something would they be alright?

 

[achase]

I don't really know if you should or not. I would wait for someone like bass to answer that question. Personally I had like 3 (probably more I just didn't notice) of those snails that hitched a ride on some plants and within a little while they were everywhere. Regardless of how much I feed my tank.

I mean Bass did already say the following which is why I asked about you adding all the snails.

There's no need to start with a ton of them because they multiply so quickly (when I cleaned out my 29gal so I could redo it, I probably removed close to 100 of the little buggers and I only started with ten or so).

 

[ryanoh]

I guess I was planning to put them all in. I didn't set out to get so many, but 50 was the smallest number I could find to buy anywhere. I suppose I'll just put in a few and release the rest then let them multiply in my tank.

So I was wondering, though, what happens to the snail shells when the snails die? Does the shell dissolve, or am I going to end up sucking a million snail shells over time?

 

[lstorns]

Do you have any body to give some away to.I would also find out if you are aloud to let um go. no need to get in trouble ya know.Well either way I hope they arrive alive and well for ya .

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

Why don't you make friends with the new local pet store and give/trade the excess to them?

 

[achase]

In regards to the shells they slowly dissolve and break away (it takes a bit). I usually just pick them out when I see them.

 

[ryanoh]

That's a good point about being allowed to let them go. I guess I know someone I could give a few to, but I don't have that many friends that keep aquariums. I suppose I could donate some to the local fish store if they wanted to start selling them.

They're supposed to arrive today, so I'll do a post on how many I end up adding and what I do with the rest.

 

[achase]

You could totally give/sell them to your LFS and then they can breed and sell them possibly for your use in the future!

 

[OrangeCones]

That's a good point about being allowed to let them go.

Be careful with fish/snail/plants for your aquarium and turning anything loose. It is illegal in most areas to do so, and a species that is non-native can overtake local native habitats. Sadly, that is how some spectacular plants are no longer legal to have, due to people just tossing them out. What is a beautiful plant in one area of the world can becomes an invasive weed in other environments.

I grow a lot of plants and my plant trimmings are either sold/traded to other hobbyists or destroyed. Destroyed is: putting them in a plastic bag and leaving it in a deep-freeze chest for a month. After a month, if its still warm outside, it can go into the compost pile. If its cold out, I just toss them in the trash at that point.

 

[Thyra]

Excellent point OC! I know here we have a real problem with milfoil - which looks like it would be a pretty top plant in an aquarium - but it completely chokes the lakes and eradicating it is a big business. I understand Florida has a problem with pythons that people got tired of and turned lose. Some things are so prolific in the right conditions that they can completely destroy native life. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[ryanoh]

I used to own a quaker parrot, so I completely understand the 'don't set animals free in the wild' argument. I guess it didn't cross my mind with aquarium plants, or something as small as snails, but every one keeps telling me how fast they reproduce, so it makes sense.

I'll just give the extras to the pet store.
What's a good number out of fifty for me to put in my tank though?

 

[achase]

Maybe 10 - 15.

 

[bassbonediva]

I think I started with about 10 in my 29gal.

 

[blue_ram]

Should I not?

How many would you add? If I let the reset go in a pond or something would they be alright?

Never release any animal into the wild which does not belong there. Come to Florida and see what the central american cichlids have done to our native sunfish and bass populations. Clown Knifes have taken over lake Osborne and Lake IDA and the waters around here look like a local PetSmart store.

Just trying to get the the shore is a hassle because Iquanas bigger than cats block the way and you cannot go at night because millions of cane toads hop all over the place.

None of the species are nativer and they are destroying the local environment.