Trumpet Snails

[Greylady]

I have a planted 6 gallon tank. I'd like to add a trumpet snail as I've read that they will not harm my plants and are great for aerating the substrate. I've checked with all the fish stores around me hoping to find some but no luck. I'm a little hesitant to order them from eBay, because I only want one or two.

Any suggestions as to the best way to acquire one or two?

Thanks

[ChoclateBetta]

Tropical sellers on the Internet great.

[babystarz]

I just got 6 myself, if you're willing to wait on them I'll be selling their babies for $1 each.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this eBay seller. I've bought snails and worm cultures from him multiple times and he packages everything really carefully, he's great with communication and everything from him has thrived in my tanks:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Malaysian-Tr...item2a231519ce

If you don't want all 6 I'm sure you can contact him directly and he'd sell you just a couple.

[Silverfang]

ebay, aquabid, the classified section here. Your LFS/LPS. Be warned THEY WILL MULTIPLY!

[Tikibirds]

I would try making a post here first and see how that goes. Many people keep them but they get overrun, so I am pretty sure you can find someone one here that will sell you one or two. I have found some pretty colored apple snails in AB BUT they sell them in big lots and I only want like 1 or 2- so I know how it goes.

MTS reproduce by a process called parthenogenesis, i.e., they are livebearers that do not require two parents. The individual snail carries both male and female organisms, so that it can reproduce by itself, asexually.

so yeah, they will reproduce like mad from what I have heard.

I poke my soil with one of those plastic things people use to hold dividers in place.

[aokashi]

They do breed a lot if you over feed your fish.. Since I don't the population's been pretty steady...

[Greylady]

Thanks everyone! Babystarz thanks for the eBay seller recommendation, nice to know someone that has bought from him and had no issues.

I have read a lot of posts that they will multiply quite a lot and possibly take over the tank. I've also read a lot of posts from people that say they don't have issues with overpopulation. Some say they will only overpopulate if there is an overabundance of food, others say in a matter of weeks they took over their tanks... so I guess it's a toss up but I'm willing to try it as the benefits seem to outweigh the risk. I've been "poking" the sand to aerate it, but I've recently added more plants and some don't like their roots disturbed. I also want an algae eater so a trumpet seems like it would address both those issues. Also since it's only a 6 gallon I don't want a snail wit a high Bio load.

I've read that if you do want to reduce the number in your tank you can set a glass jar in the tank with a piece of lettuce overnight and a lot of snails will converge on it, then you just take the jar out so that's a possibility if I do end up with more that I'd like.

Thanks again for all the help / suggestions.