xXInkedPhoenixX

Something else to consider @Cinnebuns, Mystery snails have very long antenae- this can be a problem when they are placed with nippy or aggressive fish like Bettas. I'd be careful. Honestly I'd scrap the Betta idea because you'd have to have a back up plan in place if the Betta you chose turns out the be a bully. You never really know until you put them in with the other fish. If you're concerned about the Guppy, I'd get more peaceful community fish. Embers I can highly recommend. Knowing what I know now about keeping Bettas (and I won't keep anymore- they aren't easy fish) I wouldn't keep them in less than 80 degrees and that's not always suitable for other fish. Now if you keep going with the Betta idea, Nerites will be better- their antenae are much smaller and they are better about tucking in when bullied. They have a better chance.

Nobody really eats poop in the snail department. Nerites are good at the Algae thing, cleaning glass, plants, hardscape etc (some Nerites seem to specialize in certain things- my spiked/horned Nerites clean plants better than the other Nerites), they are constantly Roomba'ing and DON'T generally take to commercial foods or veggies. Mystery snails they do some of that too but I've never noticed that they are really great at it- not like my Nerites are and they are generally a quarter of the size or smaller than a full grown Mystery- they will require you to supplement their food sources and are indeed better at cleaning up left over foods- but you'll want to consider something specifically for them- something calcium rich, like veggies or commercial foods high in this that they will take to- some are pickier than others- mine won't eat veggies.

Meh. TBH I've never really kept track but I'd guess a month maybe 2. It doesn't really bother me. Of my 12 Nerites in 5 tanks I maybe have 3 girls. One of my tanks that has my spiked Nerites (the best tank cleaners ever, not a speck of algae anywhere) Lock, Shock and Barrel- are all boys. You should check out the Snail Pic thread I started, I welcome everyone to post pics of their pet snails- all kinds are there: Just Snail Pics....

Here is my girl Curlyque, she's in a 4 gallon cube and she and her bladder snail friends keep the tank very clean I wouldn't trade her for anything. You can see varying stages of her eggs that I do nothing about:

Hi there! Welcome to the forum! We're here to help and share experiences!

Whoa....a sign that says stay back please.... ....all hands and legs inside the cart.....

I see Rummies....are there Embers in there too?

Mystery snails can/do eat veggies. @Guppysnail's seem to enjoy a variety. Mine however have never really taken to them. So they get Repashy, food for snails, catfish and algae wafers, calcium chews that I buy online from other snail keepers. Try a variety and you'll soon find out which foods your snails prefer. Yes, they absolutely can live together. In my 20 gallon community I have 2 Mystery snails (lost 2 in the last few months 😞) and 6 Nerites of varying types. They're all awesome.

Nerite snail eggs really aren't THAT bad. I leave them on most of my plants or hardscape and they take a while to fade. I'm not particularly fond of them being on glass so I just take a razor blade scraper made for tanks and scrape the glass. Mystery snails to me are more entertainment and fun, they are big bio loads compared to other snails and can get huge, they have lots of personality- but they aren't great tank cleaners IMO and you should supplement their diet. Nerites on the other hand are awesome tank cleaners. If eggs bother you a lot ask the LFS BEFORE you buy and ask if they'll exchange if you get a girl (impossible to sex). I only have 2. They are so invaluable as tank cleaners to me they can lay wherever they want. I LOVE them.

You can't really tell male from female when you get them at the store as they're often small. You usually find out when one has mounted the other. There is a way to tell though when they are moving about...

Mystery snails and Nerites are easy to control population. Yes, Mystery snails lay clutches above water, mine sometimes on the lid of my tanks. I just removed them whenever I see them. Some fish when knocked into the water will eat them- but typically fish of larger varieties not usually smaller community fish. Nerites lay individual eggs that are small, hard and white. They don't hatch ever as Nerites need brackish water. Some people don't like them because they'll lay everywhere. I just call it tank glitter- and my Nerites are priceless tank cleaners for me so they can do what they want. These are Mystery snail clutches, as you can see they can be big or small...

@Torrey never been on the site but have seen others quote here from it. I'll put it on my list of "to dos!"

@Mmiller2001 I'm still trying to grow the AR the seller gave me as a freebie, lol, it's pretty sad. I have 2 small tired pieces left that I stuck in this tank after pulling it from another (one piece is floating out of view). Thought maybe if the Ludwigia liked it.....it isn't hopeful.

Keeping in mind people like @Mmiller2001 could rock this plant better than my tanks because I'm LOW tech, I love my Ludwigia Super Red. It's a stem plant that I have in other tanks, cut a piece and put it in my, again LOW tech Aquatop with a cheap light and it's grown like crazy for a plant that gets NO ferts, NO co2. It's not super red in my tank- but a pretty purple/pink and I really like how it grows.

I'm against them myself. Now I have to say- I've never had one for my fish and the only reason I have one for my cats is when I leave for a few days (my fish would be fine). The reason I'm against them is for the exact reason you mentioned, the potential for a dump. I run low tech tanks for that precise reason. The less I have on my tanks the less chance I have for a potential disaster. Plus, I enjoy feeding time anyway. 🙂 They like me and not a machine....no Matrix in my house. Hehe.

I've been shocked at how far a shrimp can jump. I don't keep them though. All of mine die. My water is suspect because of old pipes.... My Embers are mellow and social and have never tried to jump out of my Flex when I'm working in there. They are a beautiful orange when they are happy and healthy. I'm not positive if CPDs are jumpers but they've not tried so far, mostly hide when I work in the tank.

There are some pretty small nano sponges now, yes they do take up room but I have found them unobtrusive. Have a couple in my Aquatop 4.12 (only reason I have 1 is one is run by a lithium backed pump the other on a traditonal plug in- in case of power outages- would be fine with just 1)

Welcome to the forum! We like pics post some when you can!

Ember Tetra or CPD are my thoughts, depending on your parameters. I picture shrimp and snails climbing/jumping out.

I describe friends like a toolbox, not every friend can be a hammer- some are rulers, some are nails- everyone has a purpose. This is kind of how I feel about my fish friends. My "favorites" change daily but really they are in constant rotation of each other. There is no way I could choose. And Iike so many of the fish others keep here- I love to live vicariously through those who keep fish I can't have. 🙂

@Gator yes in fact I got 3 sadly 2 did not make it out of quarantine. 😞 In the end it turned out ok because the tank they were destined for didn't end up being the right fit for them and the tank that the surviving member went into would have only had space for 1. No Otos in there so the only eggs they could potentially eat are for the Ember Tetras as I only have male Endlers in there otherwise. They seem to be doing rather well. I named them Kirby, after the vacuum cleaner @GatorI'm not surprised places aren't shipping- it's stupid cold where a lot of them are based- they could do heat packs but I don't know if they'd survive some of this weather at the hubs we're having. My last shipment of plants that came from a city just an 8 hour drive south of me didn't survive despite being packed very well (granted without heat packs but lots of insulation). I could just about feel frost on them.

OTOCINCLUS VITATTUS: The Accidental Oto Tank and The Parent Tank So it's been a rough set of days off in the baby Oto department for me. I found 3 new babies in the Accidental Tank, wait there's more. I had 2 options: put in the breeder in that tank with 2 month olds that could potentially mosh pit the tiny ones to death (as I have seen happen) OR put them in another breeder in the Parent Tank where a couple are from there and are still small. I generally don't like moving babies from one tank to another until they grow but it was a chance I thought was the better one at the time and the parameters aren't too far off in the tanks. Sadly seems I was wrong in the last 2 days I've lost 2 babies. If the 3rd one dies I'll know for sure it was not a good idea. I happened to order 2 more floating breeders before this happened so if I see any babies in the Accidental tank before then I'll just leave them there- there are no predators in that tank. The babies in the Accidental Oto breeder are 2 months and 5 days old, they're getting big enough that a larger space would be good for them but not big enough by any stretch for the LFS (which require them to be 1"- takes at least 6mos for some of them). I've determined there is a need for a grow out tank. So over my days off I pieced together a 5.5 gallon tank. The tank has been set up with substrate, new wood- plants glued and rocks- plants glued- as I want all decor and plants to be removeable for catching later. Sponge filter and glass lid installed. Did a lot of running around in my city to find most of the pieces. Waiting on light which is coming Monday. I'm really happy with the pieces of wood and plants on rocks I found- I took pics but sorry they aren't great- with no light and lots of reflections around. (used a flashlight to try and get the tank pic- that didn't work well... THE NITRATE EXPERIMENT: Fun with Plants: The Accidental Oto Tank Well, after last week and the promising dip in Nitrate I was looking forward to a test this week and hoping for more movement. Sadly it just went back up again in the red no man's land. Oh well, maybe next week....or the week after... This week's test: Temp: 76.9 (down 1.1) pH: 7.2 (same) Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 40 (back up) KH: 4/71.6 GH: 143.2 (same)

OTOCINCLUS COCAMA (TIGER): The 2 Gallon QT 29 days after discovery of injury: Patient has been allowed some relaxation time- there have been no Epsom Soaks since the last one posted here. The water has gotten darker with the Indian Almond Leaf tea I made on my days off and new pieces of leaf. Every day I just remove old food and add new. It's hard to tell if there has been any improvement but it looks pretty good to me from the pictures I got today.

I get my new light for this tank on Monday, hoping to post a pic then- it's already turning tea colored since I put the wood in yesterday....

My snails were trying hard to entertain me on my days off this week. Pegasus climbing over a baby Spiked Nerite (careful there). The others are self explanatory (I think) 🙂