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MTS
When I first started trying to grow plants, I got a Malaysian Trumpet
Snail as a hitchhiker on a plant I bought. I had read warnings about
adding snails to aquariums, but added it to mine anyway. I soon had
dozens. Then I moved to my current house, which has well water. I didn't
think softened water would be safe to use, so I used raw well water. Lots
of iron, sulfur and calcium. The snails proliferated like... like
tribbles. (Like Bones said, "they're born pregnant.") I started looking
for ways to control them. At the time, the LFS didn't have any Clown
loaches. Then, I decided to stop using my well water, for the plants'
sake, and started adding filtered (RO water) for $0.25/gal. I soon
learned that straight RO water wasn't good for my plants, either. But in
the meantime, the snail population plummeted. Now I bring in city water
from work. It's moderately hard. The snail population has remained at an
acceptable level. It seems that the hardness of the water limits the
snail population. If you have too many snails, maybe your water is too
hard.
I think snails, esp. MTS are good for the tank. Like everything else,
it's a matter of balance. But, if I had a setup for species of fish or
plants that required hard water, I'm not sure I'd want any snails, unless
I had something in there to eat them.
BTW, what's an ethical way to dispose of excess snails? Anyone want to
trade some for plants?
Jim N
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