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Sand Substrate & Malasian Trumpet Snails

Posted By: Judy <jmz@capital.net>
Date: Wednesday, 28 June 2000, at 10:51 p.m.

Well, I'm on vacation & I spent all day yesterday removing my UGF and replacing the gravel with playsand. I did the vinegar and magnet tests and got no adverse reactions. After washing (which took a long, long, long time), I layed down a 1 inch layer. I previously had a medium dark blue gravel and the one thing I noticed was the reticulated catfish have lightened up in response to the light colored sand. Just an observation.

My question for this tank is: Should I add the MTSs directly to the tank or should I place them in the Q-tank? I've never had snails so I don't know if they can transmit any diseases to the fish.

I read these snails were good for aerating the sand and actually cleaning up some of the fish waste. Correct or no?

Another question - If these snails do aerate the sand, could I add more sand? The bottom looks a little sparse compared to the amount of gravel I used to have.

Also, will the MTSs reproduce so if I go to sand in the BIG tank, I'll already have a supply. Actually, this answer can wait. It was a lot of work changing over the 45 gal tank. I'm not sure I'll even do the 120 gal considering the time and price. My lfs has recommended a minimum of 120 pounds of the black sand they carry. They've offered a discount, but $70 + tax is a bit steep considering I only paid $2 for a 50 lb bag of playsand and still have a lot left (I bought 2 bags not knowing how much I would need - I only used a very small fraction of 1 bag). Maybe I could use a mixture of the black sand & light sand I already have that will not wash out the colors of the loaches yet still keep the price of the changeover within limits. Of course, then I might not get as good a discount, if any. They offered a reduced price of $3.49 /5 lb bag down to $2.90 per bag. I hate choices like this.

I do like the looks of the changed tank though. It is much brighter now (the fish probably don't like it as much as I do though).

Since it is so late, I've decided to put the snails in the Q tank. I don't know how long they would last if I left them in the bag until a got a response to this post. TIA for you help.

Judy
 

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