Ok... So I have had a HUGE problem with snails. They snuck in on a plant and had taken over one my aquariums. I had neons in it and well they just like to push the little guys around. So long story longer... I had tried a few ways (including chemicals) to get rid of them and the only thing that happened was that I lost 3 of my ottos. :sad:
Noticing that my dempsey tank (which prior to putting her in the tank had the same "problem") was snail free, I decided to transfer her to the larger tank. Now I warned my students that she is a "bit" aggresive and that the small school of neons may experience a small loss but that the trade-off was that ottos would not die due to the nasty chemicals and the snails would eventually be gone. After a bit of concerned looks, I did explain that dempseys are omniverous and that small feeders are occasionally fed to them to round out their diet. A neon is just a prettier version of this. Still some sad looks....
Until this morning... same sad looks staring into the tank counting neons.... A CHEER GOES UP! I thought, "Great the neons made it through the night!". Nope. The cheer was for the dempsey. So much for those little forelorn looks. Now I have kids checking online for other "natural" preys the dempseys feed on.
One good note out of all of this. 4 classes of students have been recieving a much better idea of what is truly required to care for a tank, cycling, and fish:tank ratio. I have even had a few "tattle" on other teachers and they have tried to explain why you cannot have X amount of large fish in X size tank. Go Kids! Also they are planning on moving my neons into a safer tank and then setting up a breeding tank for feeder guppies.
What have I started?!
Noticing that my dempsey tank (which prior to putting her in the tank had the same "problem") was snail free, I decided to transfer her to the larger tank. Now I warned my students that she is a "bit" aggresive and that the small school of neons may experience a small loss but that the trade-off was that ottos would not die due to the nasty chemicals and the snails would eventually be gone. After a bit of concerned looks, I did explain that dempseys are omniverous and that small feeders are occasionally fed to them to round out their diet. A neon is just a prettier version of this. Still some sad looks....
Until this morning... same sad looks staring into the tank counting neons.... A CHEER GOES UP! I thought, "Great the neons made it through the night!". Nope. The cheer was for the dempsey. So much for those little forelorn looks. Now I have kids checking online for other "natural" preys the dempseys feed on.
One good note out of all of this. 4 classes of students have been recieving a much better idea of what is truly required to care for a tank, cycling, and fish:tank ratio. I have even had a few "tattle" on other teachers and they have tried to explain why you cannot have X amount of large fish in X size tank. Go Kids! Also they are planning on moving my neons into a safer tank and then setting up a breeding tank for feeder guppies.
What have I started?!