Nora

@knee For me since I only have the one tank and the one fish Ive ended up with wasting more bloodworms than Id like to (money wise and smell wise in the trash). She really likes snails but eats waaay more than I expected so trying to keep up with the demand has been hard, trying to have fellow hobbyists who consistently are looking to get rid of snails has been tough, pacing ordering snails on ebay during periods of cold or hot weather is tough too. Ive ended up with the one gallon side tank to try to get snails to breed before they all get eaten but that has also not been consistently successful. The food debris also leads to needing to clean the tank more often even if its just due to smell, and my time has been less flexible of late. She is super cute, and interactive and Ive never actually seen her puff (even when the cat gets close) so pretty fearless. Given how long they can live I just think she needs someone who can be consistent with the fresh food and on a regular schedule with the change outs.

I am rehoming my pea puffer after 1 year (multi reasons, but over all not the right fit). The tank is 5gal with built in filter (dont love the filter system). I will be getting a Betta (probably halfmoon or elephant ear) , and and keeping the mystery snails I have. Any thoughts on what is should do between fish? Do I need a week or 2 without any live stock (I can keep the snails in my 1gal)? Should I change to a different type of substrate? Change to the simple sponge filter system? My plants have been a bit lackluster should I take a month to really get them vibrant/or pruned/extra growth and how? How would you all make the most of this opportunity without completely starting from scratch.

I have a small one gallon tank that I keep for snails and to attempt to get them to breed at a speed that keeps up with my gluttonous pea puffer. I have pond snails and ramshorn snails in the tank. I have seen the round spots of egg clutches on the glass before but what is going on along the water edge is new to me. What is going on along the edges?? It looks like little hairs that are moving. Are there deterius worms feeding on the eggs? Is this normal evolution? Concerning or no?

I do not know my KH, do you have a preferred testing brand for KH?

The tank in its current arrangement has been cycling since Christmas eve. We rehomed our only fish before that and I did a complete clean out then. The brown algae is fluffy in some places, and will wipe off the glass pretty easily. I will need to change the PH for a Pea Puffer or guppies though right?

Alright all. Basics, planted 5 gal tank, stratum substrate with only 2 assassin snails right now. Nitrites, Nitrates, Amonia all at 0. PH however is around 6.5/6.8. Have some issue with brown Algae and detrius worms (due to some free plants, oops). My question is, do I mess around with trying to get rid of algae/Pests and bringing up the PH if it could throw off everything else? Any tips on dealing with any of the out of balance issues? Sock Question. The tanks is on a counter where the cat can sit next to it (its well secured, with a good top). We are interested in getting either a Pea Puffer or 3 fancy guppies. Is there one over the other that has lower anxiety level. :).

My tank: 5 gallon fresh water with 1 female betta, 1 cory (hes getting friends soon), snails, java ferns, anubias I want to change my substrate from the basic aquarium gravel (bright blue) that I have now to Seachem flourite or Fluval plant. Why? I see a lot of waste build up down at the base of the tank that doesn't seem to get cleaned up as well as the plant roots just aren't holding in well with the current gravel. Problem(s): I dont have space for a separate full set up tank to fully cycle the new setup for a month after changing the substrate. How do I go about this in the best way for the bio level of the tank. Keep the full 5 gal of wanter that I take out? clearly I should not rinse out the filter, but anything else? Tank also does have some of that hard speckled green algae at the moment, so I do want to do some cleaning due to that, so trying to find the balance.

So I have the meds now but I usually feed the fish dried worms (hakari) which are her fav. and she hasnt really been eating those either. Im leaning towards doing a water change then dosing the tank with the aquarium salt and Kanaplex. Will that be ok?

Question for both of you. Over the past month I have noticed that the leaves of my plants that are above the water but below the glass have been getting some fuzzy mold (pretty sure thats it). Ive been cutting those leaves off but with this development it seems they could be related. How do I keep that mold from happening? I do not have control on the temp of my apartment.

What kind of meds should I use? Im new to treating fish.

Using API kit PH: 6.8, Amonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. Im not sure about water hardness, I live in NYC and treat my tap water. We keep the water at 81-82 degrees. Betta is the only fish, we have a few pond snails. Dizzy has had a little white spot over her right eye for awhile now but i friday I noticed it had become more of a bubble. I did a 50% water change and really tried to get a bunch of the waste up with the gravel vac. Then of course my kid "helped" feed the fish and right away there was a bunch of extra food in there, but Dizzy seemed fine until last night when the bubble was even bigger. So I did 1 tbsp of epsom salt into the tank and after about 30min did a 50% water change. The bubble is a tiny bit smaller, maybe? Could you all let me know if Im going down the right path? Is this not popeye and I need to change course? Thanks so much. Ps. We think DIzzy is a she, but let me know if Im wrong about that too.

Hey all. We will be moving the beginning of July. I have a 5 gal tank with live plants and 4 types of snails. I think i've got a handle on how to move the plants (Im going to copy how Aquarium Co-Op sent them to me). Any tips on how to move the snails? How can I gather up all the smaller ones? How should I keep them happy and contained on the 5 hour drive? Should I save some of the water from the tank? Tips on re-setting up the tank? Thanks all.

Well, Fun new development. This guy showed themself yesterday. I think its a ramshorn, which would make 3 different types of free snails that I have in my tank, yay? I surprised that it is this size though, since I haven't introduced anything new since April and hadn't seen it before. I seem to still only have 2 pond snails which are about 3/4" long by now. I've got a bunch of bladder snails too, but none bigger than 1/4". Some plant leaves are still a bit raggedy, using easy green so not sure the issue there.

Ok, so when they were smaller people thought they were bladder snails, but now, Im not so sure. Sometimes I think the antenna look more conical, others whispy. But seems to me the shells point the opposite direction than bladders should. Of course through the glass they look lighter in color but once I get them out they look the color of bladder shells. Of course it is possible I've got both these were all free with my plant order (not aquarium co-op). 😒. I attached photos of the two largest (crunchy and speedy). I've now got a bunch of smaller ones as well. I have noticed that my plants are looking lacey and in not as good shape leading me to believe the snails may be eating the plants. Attaching photo.

Sounds good. Absolutely not going for a show tank, this was a gift to my kiddo at christmas and its been a rollercoaster since then, helpers so less goes wrong sound good to me. There are currently no fish in the tank so very minimal food is happening. Eventually we will get another Betta but we are waiting a couple weeks at least.

I have a 5 gal tank. I already have 5 nerites. How do I know when I’ve got too many for the tank?

Well guys I think I actually may have pond snails. I had noticed some of my plant leaves were looking lacey like they had been munched. Now that Crunchy (my largest non purchased snail) is bigger I see that their antenna are more conical which I understand may mean that they are a pond snail. Its my understanding pond snails eat plants? Other than pruning/refreshing my plants for looks anything I should do about the pond snails if I want to keep them around? I've become oddly attached to the 2 biggest. Right now they seem ok with my nerite snails, generally are they happy companions? Ok help. I made the bad choice of ordering plants not from Aquarium Co—Op and now I have pest snails. I was highly confused by these new creatures since I know nerites don’t breed in fresh water. what are they? Will they harm my other snails? Tank only has plants and nerite snails now (the betta died earlier this week).

Yes, I've decided on nerite snails instead for the next time. I dont think I have space for the Otocinclus (its only a 5 gal and the betta has Broken back syndrome so I dont want any chance he'll be picked on.) We have started shortening the light time, the scraper sounds like a good idea.

Hi, I have 1 very inactive Betta fish. For plants I have the Java fern and yes 3 Marimo moss balls.

Hey all. So I've got some green dust algae happening. Started to really pick up when my Java fern started multiplying like crazy. It was also the time we switched snails (Gary 1 died and Gary 2 came in), so who knows. Ive gone with the wait it out 3 to 4 weeks then clean. Im just about at that time, so some questions after doing a little research: 1) I know I want to go down to a low amount of water, but will going too low start me going through cycling the tank all over? Is this just a given due to the situation? 2) What to do about the gravel. Do I remove that top layer thats covered and rinse really well? 3) How Do I go about cleaning off the leaves of the java ferns? 4) Q-Tips will work well for the vents in the heater and filter right? I plan on adding more plants and some floating plants, I think the floaters will help with the high amount of light (another possible cause). Also, we need to replace the snail again*see below. Should I do all these right after cleaning? Or wait a bit? Ok, snail Question. We are now on our 2nd snail since thanksgivng. First snail, I have no idea, he was super active my numbers were good (PH varies), but I may have overdosed the easy green. This second snail was aciddentaly dropped from not very high and his shell just shattered,and he didnt move after. Both snails were from the same place and I wont be going there again, but any other ideas on how to help? Cuttlebone? Ok thanks all.

Hi All. Maria, he is about 1 1/8" long in the body (not counting his tail). Not exactly sure how old he is, didn't get to pick him out myself due to Covid. He was a curbside pickup at the small fish dealer. Maggie, I have started to feed him twice a day based on your advice. Unfortunately he only seems to want to eat 2 to 3 pellets per feeding. But he may be getting a little bigger. Ryan, yes he does have a C shape to his body pretty much most of the time. Not ideal, but he's ours and we will do the best to take care of him however long he lives. Its only a 5 gal tank so we weren't planning on adding any more fish or snails. 1 of each seems to be the max amount. I'll add more plants if I want to add interest.

Hey all, Im wondering if my bettas body shape is normal. He has been this way since we got him. Due to COVID we picked him up curbside from the small independent fish breeder near us. He is a Plaka (spell?). I did wonder if he was constipated and starting towards swim bladder issues so I did do a salt bath for him; he did have a large poop after and seemed more energetic but no change in body shape. Is this just him? Thanks all. Ps. We did recently have our snail die, and I reached the parenting milestone of switching out a pet and pretending nothing happened.

Ryan F: Newbie question is a pre filter the same as an intake sponge? When I search both come up and I don't know if the terms are interchangable.

Ok, So I did my research and picked a Topfin tank from Petsmart which all youtube videos said had a filter that would be able of variable strength. Vids said oh yeah I turn it all the way down and my Betta does great. Guess what, not a feature any more. Frustratingly the housing outside of it is still the same but there is no mechanism to regulate the strength. So my Betta is getting pushed around. I contacted the store and they said yeah, we've got one it can be switched out for, but I A) would need to go into the store and thats not happening right now and B) it will be an over the edge kind and thats not the same as what i've got. So Im looking at getting a replacement off amazon and so I'd love advice from you all on this idea, brands that have worked, sizes I should get. How slow do I want it to go down to for a Betta Ill attach some pics of what Im trying to talk about (new to filtered tanks). As another idea, could I add one of the sponges to the output spout to diffuse the strength of the current? https://www.petsmart.com/fish/starter-kits/top-fin-retreat-aquarium-5230342.html?lsft=utm_source%3Agoogle%2Cutm_term%3A5230342%2Cutm_medium%3APLA%2Cutm_content%3AGSC - Medium - Specialty - Fish - LIA Only | *Catch All%2Cutm_campaign%3AGSC - Medium - Specialty - Fish - LIA Only&utm_id=432|pg1050590301|766749893206&utm_source=google&utm_medium=PLA&gclid=CjwKCAiAuoqABhAsEiwAdSkVVFr5-9H4JprR8X7RzUAZdDlaU_A1nG_oUqluyJrAO569Gov7w83l3RoC0ysQAvD_BwE https://www.amazon.com/PULACO-Submersible-Aquariums-Hydroponics-Fountains/dp/B07YLHVZ4Q/ref=sr_1_19?crid=3RGF34COSUYH3&dchild=1&keywords=5+gallon+water+filter+aquarium&qid=1610809248&sprefix=5+gallon+water+filter%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-19

Hi all! Thanks for all the great advice. Several Updates. On the 21st I picked up the water test kit and tested the water, the Ammonia and Nitrite levels were good and later that day the fish got a bit spunkier (he still may just be a kinda chill fish). Soo glad I had the test kit, cuz here's what happened next! Christmas eve I did a partial water change (1gal, tank is 5) since we had to remove some water to get the tank into its new location. Christmas morning my kiddo was soo excited about the fish and snail. About 2 hours later it was a bit TOO quiet over by the tank annnndd... She says "Im helping Im feeding my fish!" I had not put the food out of reach and the poor fish looked like one of those people in those money wind tunnels at a car dealership and the snail retreated into its shell (In my head he was saying "you people are asking too much of me to clean all this up!" Kiddo had basically fed them about 2 months of food. We vacummed a lot out with the siphon and thought it was pretty good, but by the evening the water was cloudy and when i tested both the ammonia and nitrite levels were very high. So we took a risk putting them in a punch bowl (with heater) in water that had been treated with Prime only 12 hours earlier. Well luckily it worked, we fully cleaned the tank and 20 hours later got them back into it. Phew! We now have the food locked under the tank as well as the mantra "A little, not a lot". The fish remains pretty chill and the snail gets the zoomies a couple times a day, kinda the opposite of what I expected their personailties to be. Oh also, this fishes name is Pumpernickel and the snail is Gary.