Keeping Malaysian Trumpet Snails: The Substrate Aerators
A guide to Malaysian trumpet snails - small burrowing cone-shelled snails that tunnel through the substrate, aerate it and eat waste, a hardworking if prolific cleanup crew.
Malaysian trumpet snails are the aquarium's underground workforce, small cone-shelled snails that burrow through the substrate day and night, aerating it, consuming waste, and preventing dead spots in the gravel. Hardy and hardworking, they are excellent cleaners - though they multiply quickly when there is extra food, so their numbers track how much you feed.
Is it right for you?
They suit anyone with a planted or substrate-based tank who wants natural substrate aeration and waste cleanup, and who does not mind a self-regulating population.
System & Space
Any established tank with a sand or fine-gravel substrate they can burrow in; they are active mostly at night.
Water & Temperature
They want warm, clean, stable water around 22-28C and are, like all snails, sensitive to copper.
Stocking & Feeding
A few will soon become many if there is surplus food; they eat waste and detritus and need no direct feeding in a normal tank.
Health & Care
Extremely hardy with clean water and no copper; their only downside is rapid breeding when overfed.
Harvest & Enjoying Them
Kept for their substrate-aerating cleanup role, they quietly keep the gravel healthy and turned over.
Getting Started
Add a few to a substrate tank, feed the tank moderately to control their numbers, and let them work the gravel.
Common Mistakes
Overfeeding (population boom), trying to manually remove them, and copper exposure are the main issues.
FAQ
Will they take over? Only if you overfeed - their numbers follow the food.
Are they useful? Yes - they aerate the substrate and eat waste.