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Malasyan Trumpet Snails

LondonDragon

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Just curious to find out how long do these snails live for? When I first noticed a trumpet in my tank I kept it separate on a Betta tank for about 2 years, until I decided to get rid of the betta tank, then I put the snail into my Rio 125. It even survived in the crayfish tank for a year, with some minor shell attacks.
This week while prunning the glosso I noticed this very large snail is still alive and well in the tank, this put it at around 4 years old so far, can they live much longer??

Cheers :)
 
An intriguing question, I shall have to put a dot on one of mine so I can distinguish it from all the others and see how long it lives!

How have you only got 1? I thought they were able to reproduce singularly... see http://www.snailshop.ashopcommerce.co.u ... adult.html
 
I have about 10 trillion, but some (approx 30mm long) have been about (as far as i know :lol: ) for at least 4 to 5 years.
Mine reproduce live bearing, (end of shell breaks away and is a new baby snail, that's why larger ones do not have a point on the end of the shell).

They are carnivors (love Discus beef-heart) and IMO act like earthworms, keeping the substraight 'loose' and hence oxygenated. (They also hunt-down over-feeding due to the Discus).

Sorry can't assist advise re the 'problem' but IMO, if they breed as mine do (?) then I would remove the affected (just in case) as the population will soon recover.

HTH, Cheers, mick B
 
mick b said:
(end of shell breaks away and is a new baby snail, that's why larger ones do not have a point on the end of the shell).
Are you sure? Mine carry their little ones around the tops of their snails, there is certainly more than one per snail! I've noticed that the ones I was given all have the tips of the tails missing, but the ones which have been born since have all got perfect points, I think it might be something to do with the level of calcium in the water. Mine is very high and I have a high pH which helps build strong shells.
 
Egmel said:
How have you only got 1?
No I have many, have thrown out and given away hundreds over the years, just wondering if enyone knew, I just kept my first one all along just to see how long they lived for and its still there in the tank, ence my question ;)
 
LondonDragon said:
Egmel said:
How have you only got 1?
No I have many, have thrown out and given away hundreds over the years, just wondering if enyone knew, I just kept my first one all along just to see how long they lived for and its still there in the tank, ence my question ;)
Ahh, that makes more sense!
 
Egmel said:
mick b said:
(end of shell breaks away and is a new baby snail, that's why larger ones do not have a point on the end of the shell).
Are you sure? Mine carry their little ones around the tops of their snails, there is certainly more than one per snail! I've noticed that the ones I was given all have the tips of the tails missing, but the ones which have been born since have all got perfect points, I think it might be something to do with the level of calcium in the water. Mine is very high and I have a high pH which helps build strong shells.

Well, that's how I understood it to work? :? and yes, smaller new ones do have a point, but not the older ones?

Calcium, don't know? all I can say, is my planted tank is approx 6.8 ph average, kH 5, gH 12 (ish) and @ 29 deg C (does sometimes in summer hit 32 C) and they breed like wild-fire!!!

Cheers, Mick B :D
 
they are live bearers and can produce on there own. the babies dont come from the pointy part of the shell :lol: they come from inside the opening and mostly float when first born.
 
thebullit said:
they are live bearers and can produce on there own. the babies dont come from the pointy part of the shell :lol: they come from inside the opening and mostly float when first born.
Cheers for that, I was fairly sure that was the case! Mine sort of float but if they can they latch onto the edge of mum's shell, it's really cute to see a mummy snail with lots of babies around her shell. Though there are fewer like this now since my population has stabalised.

I think the reason Mick has MTS with missing tips is because of the pH, it's not very low but I think most snails prefer it to be over 7. (mine is often near 8 :wideyed: ) Also the calcium hardness is relatively low, kH of 5 = ~90 mg/l CaCO3, compared to mine at 280ish mg/l!
 
Like this place, learned something new! :D :D :D

But I'm not increasing pH or kH for them, they do fine, judging by the numbers! LOL

Cheers, Mick B ;)
 
mick b said:
But I'm not increasing pH or kH for them, they do fine, judging by the numbers!
Wasn't really suggesting you should, just highlighting the likely reasons why yours are lacking their tips :)

As to lifespan (sorry LD we've slightly hijacked your thread)most internet sources quote >5yrs so I guess the answer is no-one knows but your one isn't the only one to be this old :)
 
yes they like a ph above 7 as it helps with good shell growth along with a good calcium rich diet.
 
I thought everyone regarded MTS as a pest??

Thats the impression I got from being on another forum (fishforums.net) and that most wanted rid of them but that they were too hard to remove once in a tank due to their rapid breeding.

When I bought my cherry shrimp, there were quite a few MTS in the bag, and I avoided putting them in the tank. Are they actually good to have and not a pest then?? Should I have kept them??
 
they are good for any tank espescialy sand as they burrow and keep churning the substrate up, which stops any air pockets building up, plus keeping the waist food down. they donot eat live plants either. i keep them in all my tanks, well not in the crayfish tank as they never survive, well i never see any.
 
I love my MTS :) people are scared of them, because they over breed only if you are over feeding your tank (most people overfeed and wonder why they have problems in the tank).
The MTS actally burry themselves in the gravel and areate it, which can only be good, I always had snails in my tanks and I won't do anything to get rid of them, if they become too many then you have an overfeeding problem which is a nice sign too :p and you can then just pick them up and offer them to other people, or sell them on ebay :p
 
Aah..... I might put some in then!

I have a gravel substrate, can they burrow in that? Do they also eat detritus and any 'crap' in there?

Out of interest, how big do they grow? I suppose if they get out of hand, I can just remove a load and leave a few in. I had a problem when I first got my tropical fish with overfeeding, and had loads of mites in the tank. But now I've reduced my feeding I haven't seen them again.

I was used to feeding my goldfish before I got my tropicals, and he just eat anything and everything constantly - including his WCMM tankmate after 3 years of being friends!!

I have a 60L, with 5 neon and 6 glowlight tetras, and just added 6 cherry shrimp last week. Its a well mature filter - would MTS add anything too much to the bioload, or are they negligible??
 
Why order them?? Just ask me for some and I will send them to you :p Have to hunt for them though as I found out when I sent some to "Superman" its harder to find them when you want them lol
 
If LD's having difficulties finding his then I'm stripping down my tank in the near future so will have no trouble sending you a handful if you want them. :D
 
Cool, thanks guys 8)

I'll take a few MTS from you LD (if you can find some!) or anyone else if you dont mind :D


Do you want anything (moneywise) for them, or just something to cover postage?

Just let me know how to arrange it....... postage details/SAE/payments etc. ??


Cheers :D
 
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