Do mystery snails poop an incredible amount?

[Herefishie]

I moved my mystery snail into a small 2 1/2 gallon tank and my fish into a different tank while I am cycling a larger tank. I did that about 10 days ago. I just went to clean that tank that he is in and I was absolutely floored with the amount of what I believe to be poop that stirred up from the substrate. It was like a snowstorm. When I have seen him poop I know it is really long and stringy but now I'm wondering if they are worth keeping if they are putting out more than they are taking in? 

Edited February 25 by Herefishie

[Tony s]

I have roughly 30 in one tank. And at least 2 in all 14 tanks. Not having a waste issue. From what I see they consume more than they produce. Definitely worth keeping 

yes, I had one clutch get away from me. Even took 30 to the lfs for free 

[Cinnebuns]

Yes they poop A LOT. That is why it's suggested to have a 5 gallon for just 1 mystery snail. It's not about the space but the bioload. I used to breed mystery snails. Even as babies they pooped so much that at one point I was having to water change and gravel vac 1-2x a day. It's also why they are often suggested to use for cycling a tank. 

[Lennie]

Yes they poop like crazy. If anyone says they dont poop much, probably not feeding them enough. If fed daily with good amount of food, their whole schedule is about eating and pooping while taking a nap. And sometimes they wander around

[Herefishie]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:32 AM, Cinnebuns said:

Yes they poop A LOT. That is why it's suggested to have a 5 gallon for just 1 mystery snail. It's not about the space but the bioload. I used to breed mystery snails. Even as babies they pooped so much that at one point I was having to water change and gravel vac 1-2x a day. It's also why they are often suggested to use for cycling a tank. 

Since putting him in the 2 1/2 gallon while I cycled the 20 gallon that I was planning to put him in, I've changed my mind. I'm going to move him into a 5 gallon tank and leave him there alone. It's kind of amazing how much they poop!

[Lennie]

On 2/28/2024 at 5:18 PM, Herefishie said:

Since putting him in the 2 1/2 gallon while I cycled the 20 gallon that I was planning to put him in, I've changed my mind. I'm going to move him into a 5 gallon tank and leave him there alone. It's kind of amazing how much they poop!

I think if one does keep up with the maintenance/water changes, one mystery snail per 5g is doable. But, I don't think this criteria meets the minimum tank size required for one, and these snails can move around a lot and they are pretty fast. I wouldn't keep any under 10g. 5g is tiny for an adult, they get HUGE and basically can complete a tour on the entire tank within seconds.

 

But if it is cycled and is a temporary situation, then 5g is much better than a 1/2g for sure.

 

I'm curious, why move your fish to another tank when you cycle a bigger tank? Just transfer all old cycled tank material, especially the filter to a new tank, and it is basically an instant cycle, unless there is a huge difference is size and stuff?

[Tony s]

I think snail poop is all relative. they don't poop any more or less than anything else relative to body size. comparing a 2" snail to a neon tetra isn't fair to the snail. also substrate and filtration play an important role on whether it's even noticed. sand or other semi porous substrate and you notice immediately. with gravel, it just sinks in and you don't see it. also, I think that how much you feed them is critical to how much mess they make. like fish, the more you feed them, the more they poop. you want less poop, feed less. same with fish and waste. I rarely ever feed them because I leave enough algae for them to be constantly searching for food. gives them exercise, so they can go be goofy. but, yeah, my 75 is cannister driven. it really does have 30+ snails. I keep the nitrates around 40. and my kh around 4-6. water changes only happen when one of these numbers starts to get unbalanced.

[Herefishie]

On 2/28/2024 at 4:29 PM, Lennie said:

I'm curious, why move your fish to another tank when you cycle a bigger tank? Just transfer all old cycled tank material, especially the filter to a new tank, and it is basically an instant cycle, unless there is a huge difference is size and stuff?

I actually misspoke. I didn't move all of my fish to a different tank. I just moved the current tank that they were in to a different spot to set up the larger tank. I had this little 2 1/2 gallon tank that I had not used so I decided to put my mystery snail in it just to highlight him more temporarily. I don't feed him every day so I don't think I overfeed. I was just surprised that now that he's by himself in a small tank I noticed how much he poops, lol.