Want to KILL all the MTS

[paranoid1123]

I have way too many MTS, seems like my 1 little pea puffer isn't doing his job in cleaning up my mts problem in my 20 gal planted tank. I was wondering what would be the best way to get rid of them?
----I was thinking assassin snails but I think the puffer might eat them!
----What about some loaches (yoyo, zebra)?
----The tank is a 20gal ( 24x12x15 ish ), it has about 10 cardnial tetras, 4-1000 guppys (you know how guppys are), 2 plattys, 1 flying fox, 4 butterfly loaches, 1 pea puffer, and 6 Amano Shrimp, and 100's of MTS but they only come out at night i never see 1 during the day time.

[Mzungu]

Are they causing any problems?

I actually welcome MTS in my planted tanks - they're quite useful. I now know why they're such a nuisance in tanks with lots of flow and no plants, since they get into the filters and really clog them up, but I usually ask Geoff to throw them in my tanks whenever he cleans a filter.

[paranoid1123]

I think they are eating my plants @ night.

[Darbex]

They wont eat plants, unless they are decaying. They generally only eat decaying matter and left over food. I hate them because they get over everything and you see these little shells everywhere and they can expand their population from a few to thousands in a matter of days. In my discus tank I havent had a MTS problem my assassins were keeping them under control. But something recently changed not sure what it is but now there are to many for the assassins to handle so now I have to wait for the assassin population to catch up to erradicate them.

[lilmissruffcountry]

Get some loaches. I got some Dojos that will take out ANY snail...they even managed to eat a few marble and bigger spixi and trapdoor snails....I will be bringing about 6 unneeded Dojo's to the auction.....they will even go under the gravel to catch the snails in the gravel!

[Darbex]

Not saying it wont work, but I never had luck with Botias/Loaches in controlling MTS.

[lilmissruffcountry]

Not saying it wont work, but I never had luck with Botias/Loaches in controlling MTS.

I hadn't either, but this set of loaches that I have are MEAN, I mean MEAN to snails. They are eating snails that I thought they couldn't, I have seen them on more then one occassion coming out of the gravel with a snail in their mouth. They have not been harmful to other fishes that I know of, but are eating the snails I am breeding.....so I figured to pass them on to someone else if they need some that WILL work for just about any snail. I mean, baby apple spixi snails are tough, and they have that protective plate over thier shell, and these guys still slurp them out. I have tons of empty snail shells where ever they have been, and just don't have the need for them in any of my other tanks.

[kwc1974]

The problem with MTS snails is that the burrow into the substate, some people actually like them for this reason. So whatever biological control you use whether it is puffer or loach will not take care of the population that is under the substrate. They will also pick up a heathy population in the filters as well, yet another place a puffer or loach will not get to.

Best advice I have received, make sure plants are heathy, cut back on feeding. This should reduce you MTS population to a more manageable level.