Found out why my filter was so freakin loud

[GDominy]

So it's "tank day" today, the day where I clean the tanks, filters, add any fish (if applicable), prune plants etc... I added 5 baby tiger barbs to the "mean" tank to make the school a bit bigger, and I decided to add some carbon to one of the filters on the big tank.

Now, for a few days now I've noticed that the water flow was a bit lower then usual coming out of the Fluval 404. Not a big deal, I figured the prefilter sponges were just a bit gummed up. However, much to my surprise, when I opened the canister I heard a gross (and I mean skin crawling gross) crunching sound. I turned the top over to discover more snails then I have ever seen in an enclosed space. It was like sandpaper it was covered in so many baby snails.

As I take the filter apart tray by tray sponge by sponge I pulled out hundreds if not thousands of snails ranging from 1/16th of an inch to 1 inch in size. All this in the space of 2 weeks! I've always had a few snails in filter, that can't be helped, but this, this was just astounding.

I'm pretty sure I have destroyed any bacteria that was living in that filter as I nuked it with scalding hot water to eliminate the snails. I couldnt have let that many Malasian Trumpets and Ramshorns into the main tank, they would destroy the plants before the loaches could get them.

The filter is up and running again and is moving more water then it has in a while. I think I'm going to have to add a sponge prefilter to the suface skimmer to prevent plant matter from getting sucked in though....

Sheesh...

 

[quick061]

man that's strange. what's the best way to keep snails out of your filters? i ask because i've just bought a 404 as my first canister and never had experience with them before. any advice would be great!

 

[Tyler718]

quick061,
Do you keep live plants? That is where most snails come from. They're there when you buy them. Just don't see them. If you don't you should be in the clear unless you have certain types of snails.

 

[wetmanNY]

snails in the filter, wetman's old tale again...

GDominy, I know that when Melanoides snails multiply like that it can be hair-raising, but here's another way to think about what was happening with snails in your filter.

Think of all the nutrients that would have been in the filter were transformed into snail tissue, snail shell and snail metabolism, especially the nitrogen,and phosphates. If they had not been transformed into Snail, they would have been broken down by bacterial action, "mineralized", and thus made available to algae once more-- and plants, too, of course.

The shells are made of calcium carbonate and some magnesium too, as "apatite." That Ca and Mg came directly out of the water, where it was contributing in its small way to your KH.

And further, it's been shown that bacterial action is stronge, bacterial communities healthier and more diverse,r where the bacteria mat is being grazed.

They may have freaked you, but they were making a wholesome contribution by interrupting the nutrient cycles that feed algae.

 

[quick061]

Tyler718

yes i'm going to put live plants in soon (my tank is fishless cycling now). if i just inspect the plants closely and rinse them off will i be able to remove the snails? is there a better way to go than buying them live?

to tell you the truth i haven't given much thought to the plants yet, i've been busy getting the pumps/filters and starting to cycle it. any good advice on the matter would be much appreciated at this point

 

[GDominy]

I'm not surprised there were snails in the filter, I actually encourage it. I was simply surprised at the sheer volume of them. I keep snails intentionally in this tank as the loaches graze on them constantly. Its a nice addition to their varied diet.

I guess I havent cracked that canister open in a while, I should be a bit more diligent in its maintenance. Usually I clean the other one weekly, so I must have forgotten this one last time it was due for a good clean.

No biggie, just something odd I felt like sharing ;-)

 

[kveeti]

GDominy, sorry, I'm just going to sidetrack your thread and answer quick061. But I feel for you, finding that many snails would absolutely gross me out. May I ask what you did with them?, i.e. Baggie and trash them or what? (I did see you did the scalding water on the filter, so they all went down the drain? Sorry, I'm morbidly interested, I have visions of these big snails crawling up the drain like in a bad sci-fi movie)

quick061 - you won't always see the snails, even if you get rid of them, you could introduce their eggs. Your best bet is to sterilize any plants:
http://www.intellweb.com/gcka/sterileplants.htm

 

[wetmanNY]

potassium permanganate

When I was a mere lad, we used to use a solution of PMnO4 to soak plants in to eliminate snails. Now I wonder where you'd buy the tablets (it's not stable once it's made up into solution).

The other snail-dip was alum-- currently still available at your drugstore.

 

[Rocketman]

Kveeti I read your link, it seems like that treatment is more targeted to killing parasites like ick and velvet than snails. But I've been working on a similair quarintene idea in the back of my mind for aqhile now - what if you stuck one plant in a small, (2 gallon) tank, with minimal resources for growth, (high O2/CO2 exchange, no supplemental CO2 or fert., and no fish, except maybe loaches, to keep the nitrate level down,) and fished out the snails when, (or, more optimistically, if,) they showed up for the party. And then when they do, simply scoop em out, and keep at it for a good 3 weeks. Maybe labor intensive, but if you have the time, (like if you are cycling a new tank,) it may be worth it.

 

[GDominy]

Originally posted by kveeti
GDominy, sorry, I'm just going to sidetrack your thread and answer quick061. But I feel for you, finding that many snails would absolutely gross me out. May I ask what you did with them?, i.e. Baggie and trash them or what? (I did see you did the scalding water on the filter, so they all went down the drain? Sorry, I'm morbidly interested, I have visions of these big snails crawling up the drain like in a bad sci-fi movie)

Most of them went down the drain. The large adults I tossed back into the main tank so they can continue breeding free loach food for me Filter is still running nice and quiet this morning and the tank looks great... Phew..