How Many MTS Do I Need

If you have 2 Malaysian trumpet snails to start with, you will have a lot more in a few weeks. It doesn't matter about making sure you have a male and female with these snails. Females don't need males to reproduce, they do so by parthenogenesis. So all you need is one female. They are also ovoviviparous - the eggs are held in a pouch in the female's head until they hatch.

From things I've read, it depends on the size of the parent snail. For the largest snails, anything up to about 60 per batch, provided it is well fed. Not overfeeding the tank means less food for the snails = less baby snails.

I have lots of snails in my tanks.
My main tank has 6 nerites in various colours, and my betta's tank has one of the smaller species. I bought the nerites for their algae eating ability.
I have black Malaysian trumpet snails in both tanks - I bought these because they tunnel through my sand substrate and keep it turned over.
And I have pest snails in both tanks that came in with plants - they are the tiny ramshorn snails and Physid snails (common called tadpole or pond or bladder snails). Because they are a useful part of the c=ecology of the tank I accept that they are there and don't try to kill them.

The best way to stop snails overrunning a tank is by not overfeeding fish. Most snails will only breed a lot if there is plenty of food.
Over feeding is very common with new fish keepers. Fish need a lot less food than you'd think. The way to start is by putting a tiny bit of food in the tank and if the fish eat everything within a few seconds add a bit more. As a very rough guideline, a fish's stomach is about the same size as its eye. You should feed the tank the amount of food that is equal to one eye per fish.



As for snails, you can always remove them as and when you see them.