# Planted Tanks > Beginners' Corner >  Having Malaysian Trumpet Snail in a planted tank. Can or Cannot?

## Filet-O-Fish

Hi 
I want to know what are the pros and cons of having Malaysian Trumpet Snail in a planted tank with monte carlo carpet plants. I have read that they good at eating algae and most important of all, they burrow into the substrate to eat detritus and aerate the substrate. My tank had ADA aquasoil ( normal ADA aquasoil topped up with 2 inches of powder type aquasoil). 

There are 2 things which concern me.
1. Will they uproot carpet plants when they come out of the soil during night time?
2. Will they breed beyond control like normal snails.

Would appreciate member's' experience on this.
Cheers. :-)

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## fireblade

Better don't! it will be a nightmare if you want to remove them.. they breed like rabbits and hide in soil when light is on.
I have to soak my gravels in hot boiling water for a few rounds before I total wipe them out in my 1 footer...

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Better don't! it will be a nightmare if you want to remove them.. they breed like rabbits and hide in soil when light is on.
> I have to soak my gravels in hot boiling water for a few rounds before I total wipe them out in my 1 footer...


Yeah true. They don't lay eggs but give out live young ones. How many snails did you start off with in your tank?
Quite a drastic measure to clean your gravel.

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## fireblade

I am not sure, when I took over the 1 feet tank, there were some lapis sand inside so I reused and then it haunt me for few years before I take the drastic move...
adding puffer is of no use because with puffer around, they disappeared in the sand I think , then when puffer die, all appear again... 
best thing is 30mins after lights off and you turn on the light, they are everywhere!

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## PKB

There are a nightmare to me. Their shell are too hard for mini puffer to crack and I have 15 Assassin snail in my 4 Footer just to hunt them down. One year on and they are still there.

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## Urban Aquaria

Your carpet plants will already be aerating the soil with their roots and consuming nutrients from the waste that break-down in the soil... therefore no need to add these type of snails in to do those jobs, their burrowing action can also eventually uproot plants too.

If introduced, malaysian trumpet snails will eventually become pests and start to appear everywhere, they are super hardy and can withstand even harsh chemical treatments. Its a big headache to remove them once they establish.  :Opps: 

For algae management, use nerite snails instead, excellent algae eater and no chance of overpopulation.

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## Filet-O-Fish

> There are a nightmare to me. Their shell are too hard for mini puffer to crack and I have 15 Assassin snail in my 4 Footer just to hunt them down. One year on and they are still there.


Eeeeeeek! Forget about Malaysian Trumpet snails. Too many horror stories. 
Btw these don't lay eggs but produce young snails. 
But I notice American & UK websites sing praises of this snails. Here's one below:
http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewFr...eshwater_id=23

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Your carpet plants will already be aerating the soil with their roots and consuming nutrients from the waste that break-down in the soil... therefore no need to add these type of snails in to do those jobs, their burrowing action can also eventually uproot plants too.
> 
> If introduced, malaysian trumpet snails will eventually become pests and start to appear everywhere, they are super hardy and can withstand even harsh chemical treatments. Its a big headache to remove them once they establish. 
> 
> For algae management, use nerite snails instead, excellent algae eater and no chance of overpopulation.


i saw some healthy snails at Aquatic Avenue-Redhill the other day, so I thought of getting one or two but now I'm not.

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## fireblade

wise choice  :Smile:

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## Emperios

Quick jump.
Advantage & Disadvantage of nerite snails?
I heard that they will escape out of tank. 
Won't it be troublesome?

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## PKB

Those praises probably written before those MTS took over the tank  :Grin: , 4 or 5 pcs are fine but not 400-500 pcs.
My Assassin snail have so much to eat that they themselves start reproducing in my tank. Faints...




> Eeeeeeek! Forget about Malaysian Trumpet snails. Too many horror stories. 
> Btw these don't lay eggs but produce young snails. 
> But I notice American & UK websites sing praises of this snails. Here's one below:
> http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewFr...eshwater_id=23

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Those praises probably written before those MTS took over the tank , 4 or 5 pcs are fine but not 400-500 pcs.
> My Assassin snail have so much to eat that they themselves start reproducing in my tank. Faints...


 LOL. I like your sense of humor.  :Laughing:

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Quick jump.
> Advantage & Disadvantage of nerite snails?
> I heard that they will escape out of tank. 
> Won't it be troublesome?


No they don't or at least from my tank. When I have my Co2 high, they will go up to the water surface. Once Co2 is off, they go back into the tank. So far in the 4 months they've been in the tank, they didn't try to escape.

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## Urban Aquaria

> Quick jump.
> Advantage & Disadvantage of nerite snails?
> I heard that they will escape out of tank. 
> Won't it be troublesome?


Advantage of nerite snails is they are excellent algae eaters (can even clear green spot algae to a certain extent) and they don't multiply in freshwater aquariums. In addition, they come in many nice colors and patterns too.

Disadvantage of nerite snails is the females may lay tough white eggs around the tank, although the eggs will not hatch (they need brackish to saltwater conditions to hatch and develop), the sight of the white eggs on plants and hardscape can be abit annoying.

Of course, if you happen to only have male nerite snails, they you have the best of both worlds, great algae crew + no eggs.  :Grin: 

Nerite snails do crawl above the water line and sometimes out onto the rim of the tank, they are tidal snails so its part of their natural instinct to migrate from pool to pool, though most of the time they will just sit above the water surface for a while, then crawl back into the tank. Over the past few years keeping nerite snails, i've only encountered once when a nerite snail actually drop on the floor (probably it lost its way), luckily i found it and put it back into the tank.

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## skytan

any way to identify a male nerite snail from a female one.

:P

Pretty obvious what my intentions are. hehehe

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## Emperios

> any way to identify a male nerite snail from a female one.
> 
> :P
> 
> Pretty obvious what my intentions are. hehehe


For Nerite Snail Species, It look like to differentiate the gender would be to look at their Right Eyes. 
Female would have antennae & right eye unfolded while Male would have them folded.

You should try to view this.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=150755

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## Urban Aquaria

> any way to identify a male nerite snail from a female one.
> 
> :P
> 
> Pretty obvious what my intentions are. hehehe


Okay, here is how i find out if a nerite snail is male:

1) It is adult sized and yet still does not lay any eggs in an algae-filled tank for many months.
2) It crawls on top of other nerite snails very often.
3) When it crawls on another nerite snail, it secrets a white stringy substance (no prizes for guessing what that is)... <--- this is confirmation.

Any nerite snails which i notice exhibit all 3 characteristic (especially factor number 3), i'll shift them to my display tanks as algae management crew (they'll be worth their weight in gold!). 

The females i just leave them in my grow-out tanks to continue living there, they can lay their eggs and its still okay since the tanks are not on display anyways.  :Very Happy: 





> For Nerite Snail Species, It look like to differentiate the gender would be to look at their Right Eyes. 
> Female would have antennae & right eye unfolded while Male would have them folded.
> 
> You should try to view this.
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=150755


I guess that could work for certain larger species of nerite snails, though i also tried looking with magnifying glass but still can't spot the difference (maybe my eyes not sharp enough)... but for horned nerite snails, its almost impossible to see those details due to their smaller size, so have to use other methods of detection.  :Grin:

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## Filet-O-Fish

> For Nerite Snail Species, It look like to differentiate the gender would be to look at their Right Eyes. 
> Female would have antennae & right eye unfolded while Male would have them folded.
> You should try to view this.
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=150755


Fantastic info. Thanks. :-)

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## Filet-O-Fish

> The females i just leave them in my grow-out tanks to continue living there, they can lay their eggs and its still okay since the tanks are not on display anyways.


I don't have the luxury of having multiple tanks like you....well not yet but if I do find that my snail is a female and I want to take it out of my tank, can I let it go in a nearby pond. Will it survive in pond water?

I don't have to heart to let something die due to my neglect or with my intent........do I sound mushy and all that? :Laughing: 

Cheers


P.S. UA, your recent YouTube video of your tank is fantastic. :Well done:  But I wish you'll make the videos a bit longer with more details ( different angles shots of your tanks , your hardware setup, sneak peek into your filtrations and flow setup etc.....). Thanks in advance. :Smile: 

For members who want to see it:

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## Urban Aquaria

> I don't have the luxury of having multiple tanks like you....well not yet but if I do find that my snail is a female and I want to take it out of my tank, can I let it go in a nearby pond. Will it survive in pond water?
> 
> I don't have to heart to let something die due to my neglect or with my intent........do I sound mushy and all that?


Not sure about snail predators in local ponds, but probably not a good idea to release snails there. Maybe just give them away instead.

I guess you could also put a smaller tank in the spare space under your current tank too, can use it as a quarantine/holding tank or perhaps a shrimp grow-out tank... there should be large enough space for it since you are running a 4ft tank.

Just an example, mine is a 2ft tank cabinet and i still managed to put a 10 liter cube tank inside it: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...t-Layout-Ideas

Its a great opportunity to add another tank, yet without taking up more room space.  :Grin: 




> P.S. UA, your recent YouTube video of your tank is fantastic. But I wish you'll make the videos a bit longer with more details ( different angles shots of your tanks , your hardware setup, sneak peek into your filtrations and flow setup etc.....). Thanks in advance.


Good idea, i'll try taking photos and video from different viewable angles in future tank updates.  :Very Happy: 

Btw, my hardware and filtration is still the same as previous setups, no change from my original cabinet layout in the link above.

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Just an example, mine is a 2ft tank cabinet and i still managed to put a 10 liter cube tank inside it


Hi UA, I took a look at the link. The moment I saw you cabinet layout under your 2feet tank. I just have to say this:

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## Jimmy

The eggs are horrible sight! Even scrubbing them off still leave a ring marks. Too many to really scrub them. Sian.

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## Filet-O-Fish

Hi
Just some info I found about MTS ( Malaysian Trumpet Snails)

After I read this, I'm 100% sure I don't want this guys in my tank!

_ These snails can reproduce both sexually and through parthenogenesis, starting at a size as small as 10 millimeters! Instead of eggs,_* these snails give birth to as many as 70 live young at a time.* _With a reproductive strategy like this, you might guess that they can increase in numbers rapidly. And you’d be right._
_
_
_"This also isn’t the most finicky of snails when it comes to diet. Algae, detritus, and excess fish food are all on the menu. Because of their subtropical range, they can deal with temperatures dropping well below room temperature, even approaching freezing."_
_
_
_
_
_ These numbers can get so high that you have a whole new group of animals adding to your bioload. What is worse than that is what can happen to your filter intakes. If you have powerheads, these snails can rapidly clog up these filters and even find their way to the impellers. Once up against the impellers, you can get a horrible rattling sound and even a broken impeller. Also, you never know exactly how many you have because of their proclivity to hide in the gravel. Turning on the lights in the middle of the night has brought a gasp to more than one aquarist (they often come out in force at night). Cosmetically, they can get in the way of the look you want for your tank._

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## toshinobu

Thanks for all the useful information here, I got myself 5 nerite snails from Green Chapter's helpful uncle. So far they seem awesome.

One thing though, I kinda like MTS  :Laughing: 

The Green Chapter uncle highly discourages that idea, and he doesnt sell them. For me, I just think that they can help me stir up the sand and also eat the left overs and maybe some fish poo... Most of time they probably hiding in the sands and only come out at night. Actually sounds kinda interesting to me LOL

Well, maybe because I havent experience the problem phase yet

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## fireblade

If you are going to try. .good luck to you

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## Urban Aquaria

Malaysian trumpet snail = easy to add, tough to remove.  :Very Happy:

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## zonkkie

Agree with fireblade and UA. I just decommissioned a tank because of MTS infestation. There were like 1000s of them. They bury themselves into my hmf sponge, in the soil and all over the tank surface. And i didn't even intentionally add them in the first place.

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## toshinobu

LOL I dont plan to add any MTS yet after all the warnings from the lao jio si fus....

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## toshinobu

Can someone id this snail for me please. Is is the infamous MTS or an assassin snail?

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## Mystikboy

Assassin smail

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Thanks for all the useful information here, I got myself 5 nerite snails from Green Chapter's helpful uncle. So far they seem awesome.
> One thing though, I kinda like MTS 
> The Green Chapter uncle highly discourages that idea, and he doesnt sell them. For me, I just think that they can help me stir up the sand and also eat the left overs and maybe some fish poo... Most of time they probably hiding in the sands and only come out at night. Actually sounds kinda interesting to me LOL
> Well, maybe because I havent experience the problem phase yet


Your 5 nerite snails will soon start laying eggs. In my 4 feet, I had only 1 female and after 30 days, my wood pieces and stones were covered with white eggs. She (RIP, I meant the snail :Wink: ) died a few weeks ago but the eggs are still all over the scape and those eggs especially on stones are next to impossible to remove.

I'm still fascinated by the benefits these snails bring into the tank, be it nerite, MTS or others BUT the sheer thought of their reproduction rate make me cringe.
Maybe I'll try them out before I decommission my tank and and get to see if they're really that good or bad.

Cheers. :Smile:

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## fireblade

Filet-O-Fish if you want to try MTS, I'll recommend you to not use back you soil, gravel or plants ... this is just a warning  :Smile:

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## Urban Aquaria

> Your 5 nerite snails will soon start laying eggs...


... unless all 5 of them happen to be male nerite snails, then its like striking lottery! No eggs!  :Very Happy:

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## Filet-O-Fish

> Filet-O-Fish if you want to try MTS, I'll recommend you to not use back you soil, gravel or plants ... this is just a warning


Yes that's for sure unless I can give it to someone whom I really don't like and watch the horror on his face after a few months of setting up his tank. :Evil: 

Nahhh...just kidding. :Laughing:

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## mugenpower78

my two nerite still no eggs after 2 months. Maybe both male lol

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## Filet-O-Fish

> my two nerite still no eggs after 2 months. Maybe both male lol


wow! You've struck gold. Happy for you bro.

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## jyn1989

i have hundreds upon hundreds of these snails in my planted tank. im manually removing them whenever its convenient for me. but so far i can only efficiently remove the larger ones. the small ones are too tedious to remove

their population have since exploded and my tank looks disgusting with them in it. 

ill be getting some assasin snails soon. hope it helps

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## Urban Aquaria

> i have hundreds upon hundreds of these snails in my planted tank. im manually removing them whenever its convenient for me. but so far i can only efficiently remove the larger ones. the small ones are too tedious to remove
> 
> their population have since exploded and my tank looks disgusting with them in it. 
> 
> ill be getting some assasin snails soon. hope it helps


Sounds like a food paradise for dwarf pea puffers... maybe can consider them. Their snail hunting techniques are fun to observe.  :Very Happy:

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## fireblade

to me the puffer is not very useful.
the snails are far more intelligent. with the puffer in the tank, you won't find any snail, but once the puffer is gone.... like magic they all appears again.

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## Jimmy

> to me the puffer is not very useful.
> the snails are far more intelligent. with the puffer in the tank, you won't find any snail, but once the puffer is gone.... like magic they all appears again.


2nd that. When the puffer has no snail to target, the others suffer.

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## Urban Aquaria

> to me the puffer is not very useful.
> the snails are far more intelligent. with the puffer in the tank, you won't find any snail, but once the puffer is gone.... like magic they all appears again.





> 2nd that. When the puffer has no snail to target, the others suffer.


Yeah... but dwarf pea puffers are so much cuter and more fun to watch.  :Grin:

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## Filet-O-Fish

What about Sulawesi snails? Are they OK for a planted tank?
So far this is what I know about them.
Has any members kept these before?

_They make excellent cleanup crews, seeking out leftover food and vacuuming up detritus from the substrate. 
They will also consume algae and plant matter, occasionally eating aquarium plants like Java Ferns.

_
_Given the right conditions, The Gold Rabbit Snail is documented to reproduce in the home aquarium, but at too slow of a rate to worry about nuisance population explosions. 
They are one of the rare snails who deliver 1-3 perfectly formed "babies" in individual milky-white egg sacs._

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## Urban Aquaria

> What about Sulawesi snails? Are they OK for a planted tank?
> So far this is what I know about them.
> Has any members kept these before?
> 
> _They make excellent cleanup crews, seeking out leftover food and vacuuming up detritus from the substrate. 
> They will also consume algae and plant matter, occasionally eating aquarium plants like Java Ferns.
> 
> _
> _Given the right conditions, The Gold Rabbit Snail is documented to reproduce in the home aquarium, but at too slow of a rate to worry about nuisance population explosions. 
> They are one of the rare snails who deliver 1-3 perfectly formed "babies" in individual milky-white egg sacs._


I keep sulawesi snails and they don't really eat much algae (at least not in noticeable amounts)... they mainly eat wafer and pellet food, along with vegetable slices. Not sure about them being a clean up crew though, they are large and do produce quite abit of waste too. Due to their size, they also tend to push through plants as they lumber around which may sometimes uproot the plants too. Some variants are avid plant eaters (not just java ferns, even moss and stem plants they also munch on), so have to factor that in.

Its best to keep them in a higher pH tank with lots of minerals, because in a lower pH acidic planted tank environment (especially with Co2 injection), their shells can get eroded quickly and they have a tougher time surviving. I would consider sulawesi snails as more of a novelty snail in a higher pH tank or dedicated sulawesi setup, not really suitable for a low pH high-tech planted tank.

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## Filet-O-Fish

> I keep sulawesi snails and they don't really eat much algae (at least not in noticeable amounts)... they mainly eat wafer and pellet food, along with vegetable slices. Not sure about them being a clean up crew though, they are large and do produce quite abit of waste too. Due to their size, they also tend to push through plants as they lumber around which may sometimes uproot the plants too. Some variants are avid plant eaters (not just java ferns, even moss and stem plants they also munch on), so have to factor that in.
> 
> Its best to keep them in a higher pH tank with lots of minerals, because in a lower pH acidic planted tank environment (especially with Co2 injection), their shells can get eroded quickly and they have a tougher time surviving. I would consider sulawesi snails as more of a novelty snail in a higher pH tank or dedicated sulawesi setup, not really suitable for a low pH high-tech planted tank.


Hi UA,
So have they done any damage to your plants?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hi UA,
> So have they done any damage to your plants?


I kept the yellow, orange and king ones... the yellow ones seem less inclined to eat plants, but the orange and king ones loved eating moss and HM in my tank, can actually see them physically munching up the plants like it was a salad bar. So nowadays i only keep them in a holding tank with just sand, rocks and floating plants.

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## Filet-O-Fish

> I kept the yellow, orange and king ones... the yellow ones seem less inclined to eat plants, but the orange and king ones loved eating moss and HM in my tank, can actually see them physically munching up the plants like it was a salad bar. So nowadays i only keep them in a holding tank with just sand, rocks and floating plants.


I Googled these snails, some them them are so colourful and have character. So far I have these in AA @Redhill only and it was the yellow type.

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## Urban Aquaria

> I Googled these snails, some them them are so colourful and have character. So far I have these in AA @Redhill only and it was the yellow type.


Yeah, the most common types are the "yellow rabbit" ones that have yellow bodies and black shells, not really colorful, i don't really fancy those too. For the other types you have to search around for them. Can check at places like C328 or Y618, they sometimes get shipments of interesting snails and you can find other types of sulawesi snails amongst them too.

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## Emperios

I bought 4 assassin snails to counter pond snails that had bred out of control in my 10gallon but it looks like it is not working at all ! 
Frustrating ! It doesn't look like they are hunting for any snails at all.

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## Urban Aquaria

> I bought 4 assassin snails to counter pond snails that had bred out of control in my 10gallon but it looks like it is not working at all ! 
> Frustrating ! It doesn't look like they are hunting for any snails at all.


Its chemical warfare time!  :Grin: 

Just kidding.... i guess you'll just have to keep manually removing the pond snails while the assassin snails do their work. It could take a while, especially if the pond snail population is multiplying faster than what the assassin snails can eat.

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## Ke77eth

not a good idea

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