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Re: MTS - pic
> Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 15:25:43 -0400
> From: Steve Bansee <Steve.Bansee at PWGSC_GC.CA>
> Subject: MTS - pic
>
> Does anyone know of a site that has a picture of a Malaysian Trumpet Snail,
> they sound interesting but have no idea what the look like.
They are so distinctive that you don't need a pic for a clear ID. Their
spiral shell comes to a straight-sided point at the closed end, and looks
just like a miniature ice-cream cone. It is conical and like a straightened
cornucopia. Depending on variety, they can get up to a couple of inches, but
most we see are about an inch long when full grown. The open end is then
about 3/16 - 1/4" across.
These snails are really a mixed blessing. They are livebearers and
incredibly tough, so getting rid of them is a terrible task. They are
primarily carnivores, so they eat fish eggs rather than plants. That can be
good or bad, depending on what you want the tank to do.
Loaches can't eat them, they seem to have a front-door seal they close when
poisons are applied, and the shells are way to tough to crush. I wish
someone would come up with an easy way to totally rid a tank of these and
other snails, so my killies can breed in peace. Even baiting only gets
*most* of them. The rest are usually more than enough to reduce egg
production to useless levels.
BTW, any store that would not offer to reach in and pick me a few free (or
cheap) MTSs, when asked, would go off my list of "qualified vendors"
instantly. Unless the gravel is littered with dead shells, they are
constantly having to thin them to keep them from taking over their tanks. To
charge for, or refuse to sell at a low price, something they are throwing
away regularly is truly unprincipled and excessively greedy, IMHO. We don't
need to support stores that behave like that, do we?
Wright
--
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679 huntleyone at home dot com
To all gun-control advocates: Please just place a sign
on your front lawn that reads: "This home is gun-free."