Reality Check Continues - Snails, Plants, and Fishless Cycling

N

Naught

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Jan 7, 2010
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I want to thank everyone who responded on my first thread on my initial tank and stand purchase (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215799). I decided to start a follow-up thread so other people don't need to read all the settled issues I had asked about.

To update everyone, I have a 30 gallon acrylic tank. I have had it "fishless cycling" for 13 days now. I added some fish flakes every day, as well as a water conditioner initially and commercial bacteria starter once a week. Two weeks ago, I also added 2 live plants!

Current Status:

Cycling: 5 days ago, PETCO tested my water and said I have ammonia but no nitrites or nitrates yet. I'll have them test it again this weekend, but it seems to be going as planned. I am starting to get a lot of debris in the tank, so decided not to add any more fish flakes -- I don't want ammonia producing decay still going on when I am ready to add the guppies in a few weeks.

Plants: I bought two plants on an impulse buy because the store had a buy one get one sale. Surprisingly, they seem to be doing just fine! One was so big and bushy, I cut it back to half size... it's already growing back so fast I may need to trim it again.

Snails: It seems some snails snuck in with the plants (I had rinsed them first). I removed 3 tiny snails today. From what I read, it seems snails may be good or bad... for now, I am removing them considering I have no fish to control the population. Any advice? Remove them or let them grow up?

Filter: Hang on back rated for 30-60 gallons

Heater: Aqueon 150 watt set at 76 but two thermometers in tank read 80...which to believe?

Light: Using cheap fixture that came with SeaClear aquarium and a GE 20W T-12 24 bulb. Plastic at base warped slightly already but condensation is not leaking out (yet).


So, reality check.... am I on track still?

PS - My 3 year old enjoys feeding our pretend fish, but the kids are starting to think Dad is nuts! Where are the fish already!?
 
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Trust the thermometers.

Also I would get your own liquid test kit, strips are not accurate. Also if you get your own test kit you can test as often as you like.

I believe the API master test kit is a good one.
 
Sounds like you are on track :)

I wouldn't worry about the snails. Some people really hate them but as long as you aren't over feeding (when you have fish) their population will remain under control. They can help eat dead leaves and left over food in the tank.
 
Thanks for the replies.

So far I removed about 8-10 tiny snails. They are too small to tell what kind they are, but I am sure they are snails. We currently have 5 in the tank now. I'm not going to keep taking them out... they don't seem to be bugging the plants and I doubt I'd ever get them all.

Once they clean up all the decaying fish flakes, as you say they should run out of food. If not, I see there are some fish that like to eat them. I don't mind snails cleaning up the tank, as long as they don't over-run it. I'll post a photo once they grow large enough to identify.

The only test kits I saw were $30 at the local stores... I'll research more.
 
Naught said:
The only test kits I saw were $30 at the local stores... I'll research more.
Click to expand...

The API Master kits can be found on Amazon for really cheap (I got mine for $17).

As for snails, don't worry about them. I have them in my tanks. They really do clean up nicely, and their population seems to stay in check without me doing anything except feeding properly.
 
trigiver01 said:
The API Master kits can be found on Amazon for really cheap (I got mine for $17).

As for snails, don't worry about them. I have them in my tanks. They really do clean up nicely, and their population seems to stay in check without me doing anything except feeding properly.
Click to expand...

Amazon is my favorite on-line store...I'll check it out.

I got a snail today that was big enough to identify, maybe. I think it was a pond snail.

I read up on snails for a few hours today. Hopefully, once I get fish and clear some of the cycling debris, they won't be a problem. If they are, some fish handle them, but my tank is 30 gallons and I plan on guppies, so some of those are out. But Assassin Snails look pretty cool if they do explode.
 
WE HAVE FISH!

I just wanted to update everyone... all is going very well!


Acrylic. I noticed some very light scratches, but nothing I would have noticed if I wasn't looking for them. No idea how they got there.

Plant. The Hornwort is growing like crazy still... I had to cut it back once even. The second plant was rotting from the bottom faster than the top was growing, so I threw it out.

Snails. I still have an occasional snail, but usually I don't see any. I decided to stop removing them, and I'll get a Yo Yo Loach or Assassin snail if they do become a problem. The kids like watching them (they climb faster than I expected!)

Algae. I noticed a small amount of what I think was algae growing on my caves, but it went away after I got the fish.

Fish!?

Fish! Yes, after a month of research, then a month of waiting for the tank, then a month+ of fishless cycling, we finally got real (not pretend) fish! I got 2 female guppies. The kids named them Pearly and Shirley. I think both a pregnant, especially Pearly.

They seem to be doing just fine after 3 days, swimming around high, low, and in the middle, exploring. Pearly hides when we come, but Shirley comes to the acrylic. However, just recently Pearly chases Shirley away and Shirley gets only about 1/4 of the food. Could I be underfeeding?

I have been doing 10% water changes daily. My 3 year older actually is very useful, holding the siphon hose in the bucket and stopping any spilled water from getting into the tiny gap between the stand and aquarium.

My only regret is Pearly only has tiny color and Shirley has none at all... wished I had been more fussy when buying them. I know females have only a little color compared to males in general, but these are Plain Janes.
 
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Yep the females will be not a whole lot to look at. As days go by sometimes fish will color up a bit more. I had some harlequin rasboras that were pretty dull at the LFS but after a couple of weeks had a beautiful orange glow I wasn't expecting. I believe a good prego indicator is what they call the gravid spot? I know there is a guppy expert here somewhere that can tell you for sure. If they came from a store with a male in the tank, chances are they're pregnant. However, my guppy keeping is limited to the feeders that seem to NOT be feeding anything.

Pond snails are pretty neat to have. I have several (oh look, there are several more) in a small 5 gallon fish tank I set up for my girls. Like others have said, feed a lot, get a lot. I think I may save mine for a future dwarf puffer tank. They love snails. I don't know how easy it would be to remove the eggs, but I can tell you they look like a splotch of clear nail polish on the inside of the glass. Usually with small white circles about the size of candy sprinkles. Maybe a bit smaller. I enjoy having them though. Some call them a pest, I call them entertainment.

Oh, a side note about the gravel. I had some used gravel from a freebie tank that I was cleaning out and kept getting blue residue. Couldn't figure out why the blue tinge to the water until I realized I was agitating it too much. I was actually rubbing the blue off the gravel with shear friction. After that I cleaned much less aggressively. Really glad to see this one off and running. Looking forward to more pictures.
 
This really helped:

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/200198-the-stages-of-a-guppy-pregnancy-and-more/

The fish are very relaxing... just in time.

I'll try to get some pictures up. The ones I took last night were too blury. I think the camera is trying to focus on the back of the tank because the fish are so small, and I don't know if it is even possible to set it manually on my camera.

Let's hope they can still get some color. They must have been stressed in the fish store because the males outnumbered them. Now they have 30 gallons all to themselves.
 
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