Does anyone know how much of a bioload a heavy infestation of Malaysian Trumpet Snails would put on a tank? There is no overfeeding, but lots of algae in this tank. I'm just wondering how much in the way of nitrates these snails are adding to the tank.

Kelly, I've never really thought about that...

What is your nitrate reading on the tank?

Kim

It's between 10 and 15 ppm at the moment (before water change). It has not had a water change in 3 weeks (due to being on vacation). I'm doing a 40% water change as I type, just watching it fill up. I scraped a ton of algae off the front glass, and the tropheus gobbled it up. I'm also going to clean out one of the canisters tonight, it's badly in need of having the media rinsed out. There's even snails living in the canister! Before we left to go on vacation, I did three 40% water changes over the course of 2 days to get it ready. I didn't measure nitrates at that time. When I vacuum the sand, a cloud of fine brown dust type particles comes up where the snails are the heaviest. I vacuum the substrate with every water change, and I always get that brown "dust".

Kelly, if your nitrates are only 10-15 with you being away for 3 weeks, someone did a really Good Job of taking care of your fish! I would not be concerned about that at all. No need for alarm unless they start edging up towards 40, IMO.

Are you wanting to get rid of the snails? (Does this not cause a problem in a Tropheus tank??? I'm only asking because I would think they would eat them, and when I had a breeding pair of plecos in my Tropheus tank, everyone had a fit!)

If you do want to get rid of them, don't use any of those "Had a Snail" remedies. Try adding cucumber slices to the tank in the evening before bedtime, and net and remove the slices covered with snails the next morning.

I seem to have brought a few in on these plants I'm sticking everywhere, and I foresee problems in the near future.

Kim

I made little baggies of food with strict instructions to feed only one baggie a day, no matter how much the fish begged. My neighbor's husband thought I was a little crazy about fish "begging" but after I got back he told me how the fish "followed" his wife as she walked from one end of the tank to the other. Says he now knows why I kept repeating in the written instructions to not give any extra food no matter how much they begged. The tropheus normally eat twice a day, but I had my neighbor only feed them once a day.

Regarding the nitrates, guess I'm a little neurotic about keeping them low. I probably worry too much. I came home to the front glass thick with algae, and snails crawling on every surface. I suppose the snails are more of a visual annoyance, as they don't seem to bother the tropheus, and the tropheus don't bother the snails. I'd like to have a nice white substrate instead of one littered with snails, but I'm not going to bomb the tank with chemicals, so I may just have to live with the snails, or get some clown loaches, or maybe try the cucumber lettuce clip.

somebody say snails???? I love snails, eat them every chance I get... no need to cook, peel , season....... just plop me in there & I promis to take human bites...........


Drooly

Cool pic, Milkmaze!

Kelly, I'm glad everything turned out well with your
neighbor feeding your fish.
It's hard to leave your fish, especially tropheus, in
the care of another!

Great pic, Mikmaze. Puffer, right?

yes puffer, and he does really love snails.... real cool, "parrot puffer" was what he was sold to me as, takes fresh or salt, and is in my tank with the rest of my manic mix.

A number of years ago when I had alot of MTS yo uwould never see them when the you kept up with your water changes but when ever I would slackoff those babies would try to climb out of the tank. I guess for cleaner pastures?