# Nerite snails? Or MTS? Or neither? Or both?



## sarahbobarah (May 20, 2005)

In addition, can anyone describe what an MTS looks like, or put up pics? I've been around to my local LFS, and nobody carries them!


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## greerh (Jan 29, 2004)

I accused my clown loach of being vegetarian. But it turns out he just doesn't like eating malasian trumpet snails. I don't blame him those shells are really hard to crack. They have taken over my 10g qt tank now that the fish are gone and boldly hang out all day long. Now I think the loach must have been keeping the population down by eating the eggs. I never saw them until now because they hid in the substrate. 
That being said I haven't decided if I'll add them to my main tank or not. But I'm sure you don't need to buy them! There was another thread recently that talked about different species of nerite snail. But if they're not expensive. Try them and see. Everything I've read indicates they are plant safe and they breed in brackish water so they won't over run your tank.
Heather


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Never kept nerites (FW ones) before, but they look useful. They're a bit larger than the typical snails that you generally see, so you can give it a shot with those loaches if you're inclined.

Can't seem to locate where I placed the MTS pictures, but here's one taken by Hir0 awhile back on APF.


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## Piscesgirl (Jan 20, 2004)

That's odd, my clown loaches love MTS unfortunately because I want them in the tank...AND, my Sids are big snail eaters too. Very strange that others' aren't.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Really depends on the individual fish also. My red eye puffer has decimated the excess MTS and all pond snails that I can see and all the MTS are confined to the substrate layers (where they should be in the beginning :icon_roll ).

Of course at the same time, they haven't touched any of the dwarf crayfish, which is great. Bill, at one point, had a botia in with his cherry shrimps, of various sizes, and they were all left alone by the loach. Go figure.


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

I currently have Olive Nerite Snails in my 29 gallon planted tank. They are **AMAZING** at cleaning out any type of algea. They'll eat them all...well, at least mine did. 
But I found a downside to them - they **LOVE** laying eggs. Their eggs are small white specs, and they lay them **EVERYWHERE** on plants, rocks, terra cotta plants, filter intake tube, even on glass and any other ornaments. Basically, anywhere they can crawl, they'll lay eggs. And they are difficult to scrape off. Even if you scrape them off, they still leave a mark. Just be prepared for that, because when you get too many eggs all over the place, it doesn't make for a very pretty tank. 
Very thick shells too. Mine even came with barnacles! And I have seen the barnacle filter feeders combing the water as the snails crawls. Pretty cute!


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Rebecca, MTS are a scourge! An absolute plague! Avoid the nasty little things at all cost!

They reproduce like mad! They make rabbits and Cherry shrimp look like abstainers!

Mike


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Mike,
I agree. MTS' reproduce profusely if there's ample food. I had an "outbreak" of MTS' but since cutting back on food, their population seemed to have curbed. 
I forgot to mention also that eventhough the Olive Nerite snails laid eggs everywhere, none hatched. As mentioned before, they need brackish in order to hatch I believe.


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## tessoci (Dec 9, 2004)

Hey Mike, tell us how you really feel! :hihi: LOL!

After browsing some other boards today, and seeing posts liberally peppered with words like *teeming* and *infestation * (in addition to *scourge * and *plague*!), I have decided NOT to intentionally introduce MTS into my tanks.

Somehow the mental image of *crawling substrate * gives me the creeps! :icon_eek: 

Thanks for the warning!

--Rebecca


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

I have many MTS snails in my tank, and I love them. They really help to keep things clean. I have seen some other type of trumpet snail that does not follow the same characteristics as a MTS snail that people could be confusing the MTS with.

The MTS likes to hide out in the substrate mostly. They have light tan/brown shells that have a zebra/lightning pattern that is at the part of the shell where the foot comes out (broad side). Every once in a while, they will venture up the glass, but it is a rare occurance, and generally the only time that I have seen it is when the lights kick on first thing in the morning. The MTS snails are incredible breeders though, and if you don't have some type of fish to keep things under control, then I would caution aganist it. I don't have a problem as of now, because it seems like the older snails die off quicker then the smaller ones are growing up, so things seem to be in check as of now. The small snails don't venture up above the substrate too often right now, and it might be because the larger fish that I keep eats them.

The other type of trumpet snail that I have seen tends to be smaller on average, and the shell is a dark green color. These snails don't really burrow into the substrate like MTS snails do, and I have seen them all over the glass even when the lights have been on for several hours. I would definately not like these buggers in my tank.


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## sarahbobarah (May 20, 2005)

Argh! So confusing! 

To snail or not to snail? That is the question......

I asked a guy at one LFS and he said that the MTS are just the snails that hitchhike on plants and sometimes just show up in one's tank if you don't quarantine or disinfect plants. Is this true?

Also, I saw some trumpet shaped snails in some fish tanks at the pet store - is that them?


And Mystery or Gold Inca Snails: what's the general opinion of them? I asked around and here people tend to say they don't eat plants, but only dead and decaying plant leaves and detritus. Are they as plant-safe as I've been lead to believe???


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## AaronT (Apr 11, 2004)

I reccomend the Zebra Nerites. They are most likely natalensis as that is often the common name used for them. True, they lay eggs everywhere, but they're so good at eating green spot algae that I'm willing to forgive them.  My anubias went from almost black to bright green and clean in a week!


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## malkore (Nov 3, 2003)

Here's the big difference: Nerite snails can't reproduce successfully in fresh water. The eggs will not hatch. MTS on the other hand will reproduce like rabbits/roaches, and soon you'll consider them a pest. I'd go with nerites.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

I'd go with both given the chance. The puffers keeps the MTS population to a manageable level and having eggs here and there every once in awhile isn't so bad if they're capable of eating algae such as green spot.


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## capricorn77 (May 6, 2005)

Here's a good site on snails that you might find interesting: 
Apple Snails 

There's a great website if you want to purchase snails online. I've purchased from this site several times and have had really good experiences: 
Snips & Snails 

For other algae eating critters, you can check out the following online store. I've bought from them and they are really good too. They have algae eating shrimp, fish, and snails:
Arizona Gardens 

Anyway, just throwing out some suggestions based on my experience and thought I'd share. Hope someone finds this useful. 

Thanks.


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

digging up an old thread because i thought it was relevant... i have 4 yo-yo loaches in a 55 gallon tank... would it be a waste of money and basically snail genocide to put some nerites in there?

oqsy


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Momotaro said:


> Rebecca, MTS are a scourge! An absolute plague! Avoid the nasty little things at all cost!
> 
> They reproduce like mad! They make rabbits and Cherry shrimp look like abstainers!
> 
> Mike



I disagree. I love the little guys. They clean the substrate that I never vacuum. Plus I never see them during the day, so that's a lot of points there. Plus I noticed they breed a lot slower than most snails. Hell, I have trouble keeping the population up! They seem to compete with the "other" common snails I try so diligently to remove.


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## Toron27 (Aug 13, 2005)

I agree belvedere, I hardly ever see the more mature mts snails during the day. Its more the pond snail population I have had to keep in check.In my tank they are breeding much slower. I like the idea of having a snail that burrows and turns up the tank substrate.


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

Oqsy said:


> digging up an old thread because i thought it was relevant... i have 4 yo-yo loaches in a 55 gallon tank... would it be a waste of money and basically snail genocide to put some nerites in there?
> 
> oqsy


Considering the price for nerites, I'm not sure anyone has tempted fate yet. Do you have a second tank to keep them in if the loach tank proves 'unsuitable' for the nerites? If so, give one a try with the loaches.


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

i have 3 other tanks that would be suitable refuge for the nerites if the loaches decide to snack on them. i would also consider moving the loaches at this point, as they're krib nest robbers :O the last 3 or 4 times my kribs have spawned, they get the eggs either before they hatch, or the fry very soon after. they have no fear of the parents! brave little guys. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion, SC

Oqsy


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Not to hijack the thread but what can I do to increase MTS population? The common pond snails reproduce like crazy leaving me to believe I have a relatively low MTS population. I estimate it to be about 15 (looking at it during the night w/ flashlight).


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## richy (Dec 1, 2005)

I love MTS and hate every other type of snail there is. MTS reproduces way less than pond or ramshorns. I diligently try to remove as much of the ramshorns snails as I can and they become a yummy snack for my dad's koi.


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