Malaysian Trumpet Snails

Doing a tad bit of research this morning. My hair algae is getting a tiny bit excessive (not horrid but excessive). You can kind of see in the image below:



The best candidate for my tank appears to be these Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS). They are recommended for freshwater planted aquariums as they don't eat live plants but eat algae and dead plants, they also help aerate your substrate (like an earthworm for a garden). So I have a few questions if anyone can help.

First of all does anyone have experience with these snails? How big are they exactly? Would my dwarf puffer wipe them out? Would they attack a moss ball? Does anyone know where I can buy them?

Thanks!

Hmmm, I've never heard of them before. However, I'm not well-versed in freshwater snails... Hopefully someone can help you out...

your dwarf will almost certainly eat any snail you put in your tank, its one of their favorite foods and its absolutely adorable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o1fw9jtRNc&feature=related

the snails aren't that expensive though, so you could just put a few in there and they will do a triple job of aerating your substrate, cleaning algae, and feeding your puffer if it gets hungry

they get to be about an inch long if well fed, but that takes a few weeks. As far as the moss ball is concerned, I have no idea, but I've heard they only eat decaying plant matter.

These snails do burrow and reproduce rather quickly, so within a few months your substrate may be overrun with them (good times for the puffer)

Well it sounds like it's worth a shot. Now I just need to figure out where to get them.

I have tons of these in my planted tank , I have no idea how they got there , must have hitch hiked on a plant , they constantly dig threw my substrate (eco complete) and keep it looking clean , ive never seen them eating my live plants (only my angels do that ) . only negative I can really say about them is that they breed like crazy , I went from seeing one to hundreds in a matter or a couple months , the biggest ive seen so far is about a inch , if you want some I could hook you up

Wes that would be awesome. I only have a 3g so I won't need much. I'm not sure that population would be much of a problem once my puffer figures out how tasty they are.

are you going to be at the Tbas auction in November ? or I could meet you somewhere local

I should be able to pop in on or after the auction. I definitely can't make the whole thing, I volunteer at the hospital on Saturday morning and early afternoon

Rahmoondog wrote:

your dwarf will almost certainly eat any snail you put in your tank, its one of their favorite foods and its absolutely adorable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o1fw9jtRNc&feature=related

Most adorable voracious predator ever!