A bunch of questions

[Stef]

Sorry for the random questions, but I gotta know:

Background: I have 4 nano tanks. A 3 gallon with just a small mystery snail. Another 3 gal with just a male betta. A 5 gal with a male betta and two mystery snails, and a 10 gal with a male betta and two otos. All four tanks are planted and well cycled. 
 

Random question 1:  All four tanks water test with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates using API master kit. I do weekly water changes At 30-40%. The 5 gal with the betta and 2 snails gets extra poopy since the snails are large, so I probably do more of a 50% water change as I gravel vac thoroughly. Aren’t I supposed to have some nitrates? Should I skip a week of water changes? Or are all zeros Nirvana?

 

Random question 2: The plants in my 10 gal with 1 betta and 2 otos are loaded with green algae (thick like tennis ball fuzz). Do the otos not like it?  Thought they’d make quick work of it but maybe I’m being impatient. They’ve only been in there for a week. The plants are vals, java’s, anubias, swords. Seriyu stones are getting coated too. Nicrew light is on for 6 hrs tho not on a timer. Do I need to supplement the otos with some algae wafers or blanched zucchini?  They seem healthy, happy and have full bellies. 
 

Random question 3:  In the 5 gal betta tank with two snails, the snails always seem to be “gettin it on”. The larger snail will completely engulf the smaller one. There’s been no eggs. I don’t want babies and keep the water level up. Just curious if this behavior is actual mating or something else. I’ve had the snails for about a year. 
 

Random question 4: In the 3 gals I am using the tanks’ built in filter that utilizes cartridges. Both are Marineland contours. I want to stop changing the cartridges because isn’t that stuff gold?  I’d like to just swish them in tank water to de-gunk them. Does anyone else do this and re-use the “seasoned” cartridges?  I’m assuming they’re gonna have to be swapped out at some point but what do you think is the max life span?  The cartridges are the small z size. 
 

Appreciate any and all comments. 

[CalmedByFish]

Pretty sure that if a tank reads 0, 0, and 0, that's a red flag that it might not have cycled (or the cycle crashed and needs re-done). I could be wrong. I do know for sure that plants need some nitrates though, so this is definitely something to look into.

A tank that's epically balanced can often just do evaporation top-offs. So yeah, I'd put a pause on water changes, and keep up with the water testing to make sure nothing is going wrong.

Sorry - that's all I got.

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi Stef! I can speak to a couple of things. 

Question 2: The tennis ball fuzz algae is likely hair algae and no, the Otos won't eat it. I've had issues with it, but since I've balanced my light level/time, amount of plants (lots more) and clean up crew (Otos, Mystery snails and Nerites- Nerites are the ones I notice eat the hair algae) I don't have that issue in my bigger tanks anymore. You may want to consider manually removing as much as you can as the hair algae can get out of control and suffocate some plants. I had to remove and toothbrush a lot of my plants for a while. I know that can be a pain, you can also try and do it "in tank" but can be more difficult. 

As far as food I'd recommend supplementing the Oto diet. I feed Hikari Algae wafers. I've also recently started with cucumber. Zucchini didn't work for me but does for others. The next veg I want to try is green beans. 

Question 3: Yes they are indeed fertilizing eggs. Mine are very rarely unattached to each other (I have 1 boy and 2 girls in a tank). Keeping the water level up prevents them from leaving egg sacks but they can also lay on the lid (mine do). It's no big deal, just take it down and you won't have any babies. 

[HH Morant]

I have a 20-gallon quarantine tank that often tests 0-0-0. I am pretty sure it is cycled because I have a bunch of plants in there and it is overrun with algae and plant debris, which I do not try to prevent. For the last 10 days it has had 4 new "giant" otos in it (they are small) and it has stayed at 0-0-0.

But you also need to make sure you are doing the nitrate test correctly - Mix in the first 10 drops, shake bottle #2 for 30 seconds prior to the 2nd 10 drops, and shake the tube for 60 seconds. Not shaking bottle #2 is a common oversight and can cause inaccurate results.

[Stealth Aquatics]

1 hour ago, CalmedByFish said:

Pretty sure that if a tank reads 0, 0, and 0, that's a red flag that it might not have cycled (or the cycle crashed and needs re-done). I could be wrong. I do know for sure that plants need some nitrates though, so this is definitely something to look into.

A tank that's epically balanced can often just do evaporation top-offs. So yeah, I'd put a pause on water changes, and keep up with the water testing to make sure nothing is going wrong.

Sorry - that's all I got.

 

Could also be that the plants are eating all the nitrates and the tank needs some feet’s too. I notice that my plant growth slows on my betta tank and there aren’t any nitrates and I need to fert more. 

[Stef]

Thanks all. Interesting on the test kit shaking. I shake but just a quick 3-4 times. Will try more shaking. Also the tank did cycle about 3 weeks ago. It had seriously high levels of ammonia, then came high nitrites and high nitrates. I did daily big water changes 70% for several days. Then magically zeros. 
 

As for the algae on plants, will try the toothbrush trick. I pulled one out and used one of those blue glass cleaner/sponges but it is stuck on there good. Ugh. 
 

And may try a few nerites. Thanks!!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Just be gentle using the toothbrush. There's also a hydrogen peroxide dip some people talk about to kill off algae on plants but I haven't tried it so can't speak to it myself. 

Edited June 6, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Guppysnail]

Your snails are mating. I separate mine by sex (boys are always the ones on top bottom snail could be either). I started separating because the mate almost. 24/7 and the stress on the females shortens the lifespan. And they don’t do their job being to busy being amorous.  The bottom snail may still be a boy. In my frat boys tanks they each still try at least once a day with each other. 

[laritheloud]

I have a 29 gallon heavily planted tank that hangs around 20 to 30 nitrates (with fertilizer). And then I have my 10 gallon tank... with primarily floating plants. My nitrates hang near zero all the time in spite of fertilization. Some plants are extremely efficient at sucking up nitrogenous wastes, so if you have a lot of fast-growing floaters and stem plants, that could account for low nitrates.

Also, retest after you shake the heck out of Nitrate Tester #2. The instructions say to shake vigorously for 30 seconds, I just hammer away at it for up to a minute, add to the vial, then shake for as long as I can manage until my arm feels tired. It's easy to get a false 0 reading if you don't shake it enough.

[H.K.Luterman]

Here's what mating mystery snails looks like. The males hook up to the right side of the female.
 

It can take a few weeks before the eggs are laid after fertilization. 

[Stef]

Very clear video. Thanks. I haven’t seen this quite as clear in mine. My larger snail completely covers the smaller one, blocking what’s going on under the shell. 

[H.K.Luterman]

1 minute ago, Stef said:

Very clear video. Thanks. I haven’t seen this quite as clear in mine. My larger snail completely covers the smaller one, blocking what’s going on under the shell. 

Might be trying but the little one isn't big enough yet. 

[Tanked]

Q2:  Buy a timer and try increasing your light to 8 hrs.  A precise in tank application of peroxide just before the lights go out may help.  Hardscape and plants can be removed and sprayed directly, wait 5 minutes and return them to the aquarium.  Some plants tolerate this better than others.

Q4:  There is no need to throw away cartridges after a single or multiple uses.  Mine get a thorough rinsing with a hand spray at the kitchen sink or a high pressure spray from the garden hose, than re-seasoned.  I throw them away when the filter material appears to be getting noticeably thin. 

[Stef]

9 hours ago, laritheloud said:

I have a 29 gallon heavily planted tank that hangs around 20 to 30 nitrates (with fertilizer). And then I have my 10 gallon tank... with primarily floating plants. My nitrates hang near zero all the time in spite of fertilization. Some plants are extremely efficient at sucking up nitrogenous wastes, so if you have a lot of fast-growing floaters and stem plants, that could account for low nitrates.

Also, retest after you shake the heck out of Nitrate Tester #2. The instructions say to shake vigorously for 30 seconds, I just hammer away at it for up to a minute, add to the vial, then shake for as long as I can manage until my arm feels tired. It's easy to get a false 0 reading if you don't shake it enough.

Did another test this morning and after shaking the heck out of the nitrate bottles and tubes, nitrates still zero or maybe 2.5 ppm. Attached photo of tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. 

[laritheloud]

It looks slightly above zero from this angle, so you do seem to have some nitrates, though they are low! The ammonia test always bothers me. It never seems to match the yellow on the card 100% even when it is zero, lol.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Maybe you're changing too much water? They are small tanks. If all the things we're mostly concerned with (nitrites, ammonia) are 0, why change water? Now if the answer is to clean the substrate of food or detrius that bugs you- do a quick sweep (10%) and be done with it. Keep testing on the regular and see if those numbers change. We want a little bit of those 2 bad things so they can be turned into the end product right? As long as it's never detrimental to the fish involved. I'd do the tests BEFORE a water change and change water only if you need to, or if that food they didn't eat this week bugs you that much. 😉