Ruud Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Just found another one, his fat brother I think but looks thesame otherwise. Whats the smart thing wit these type of snails, keep them or weed them out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 The snails will help to keep your tank very clean. That's the positive side. The negative is that they have probably already laid egg clutches in your substrate, on the leaves of plants and on your glass. They are quick! LoL! However, they are a good indicator of whether you're over-feeding. The snails only multiply if there's enough food to feed them. So, to keep them under control, you'll have to feed carefully. For most people, we try to control them after they've already invaded in great number. A few things you can do to control them: a few loaches will eat them. (pygmy chain loaches, for example), food traps (they will gather in huge numbers on food, vegetables, etc. and you can scoop them out, or snail catchers: Dennerle Snail Catcher WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM To remove unwanted snails simply drag the snail catcher across the aquarium glass and guide the snails (max. size6mm) through the rollers and into the trap. The extendable telescopic handle (max: 31 cm) stops your hands... It's really up to you. I like them now that I have the chain loaches to keep them under control. And I've learned to feed carefully to not let them over-multiply. Hope that helps a bit. Alesha (akconklin) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Thanks @akconklin, frankly I have already seen more babies than just these two and removed a few. Its a miracle how they get in with just a few plants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Tested the water this morning with a test strip: NO3 - 100 NO2 - 0.5 GH - 10 KH - 5 PH - 7.2 not really sure why my NO3 stays that high, did a 30% water change over the weekend and have plants and substrate in it. Looks like I need to do another water change to lower this before getting ready for fish. Also, I have been adding a bit of fertilizer, this might also add to the NO3 I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dyer Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 The nitrates can definitely come from the fertilizer and if you have a plant substrate they frequently leach from that as well (or driftwood as it slowly breaks down). Nothing that time, plants, and a few water changes won't sort out for you 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 (edited) Yup got about 15kg of substrate in it! Edit: My swords keep on floating, already put them back in the soil 3 or 4 times! Edited November 16, 2020 by Ruud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 (edited) Did a 40% water change today, fully tap water, to get Nitrate level down and GH/KH a bit up. Will test tomorrow how the water is. My guess is that the substrate is releasing quite a bit of nitrates still. Shot two pics just because I liked it. There's a tiny bit of algae on the glass and the Swords. Anubias is doing great, rest of the plants aren't dialed in yet I think. Edited November 18, 2020 by Ruud 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dyer Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Coming right along and looking great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 (edited) So I did a quick test and come to the next parameters NO3 50-100 NO2 0.5 GH > 14 KH between 10 and 15 PH around 7.6 So this was after a 40% tap water change, and tap water is quite bad here (hard and high ppm). I am wrapping my head around this, as I always had (back in NL) tap water that was perfect for keeping south american fish right from the tap. Never worried about my water paremeters as long as I kept NO2 and 3 under check. So what KH/GH figures should I aim for ? It is clear I need to mix a bit more mineral water with the tap water when doing changes. Current thinking for fish is Swords, Mollies along with some sort of tetras or something like that and some Caries most likely. Maybe Apisto's instead of Swords or Mollies. It all depends what I can find as the choice is limited here. So what would be generic values for KH/GH to aim for? Anybody got any suggestions on mixing tap water with mineral water or RO? Thanks! Every day a school day, right? Edited November 18, 2020 by Ruud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) Did a 20% water change with mineral water only: NO3: 50 NO2: 0 - 0.5 GHd: 12 KHd: between 8 and 10 PH: around 7.5 This is driving me a bit nuts. Can't get the NO2 to 0, GH and KH stay high as well as PH. Maybe the cheap mineral water I got is higher in KH than the previous one which was sold out. Does anybody have any advise for mixing mineral water with tap water to come to a bit of an OK average water? Edit: did a drop test for PH, GH and KH and updated the values Edited November 20, 2020 by Ruud 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) Any ideas @Daniel - do you think its okay to start adding some fish? I am not sure if adding fish carefully, maybe a pair of Swords or some small tetra's would elevate the NO too much at this point. Then again, the snails seem to be happy with the water, I see more of them each day! As said, this is a whole new world for me. How blessed I was with water from the tap ready to go in Netherlands.. ugh Edited November 20, 2020 by Ruud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Personally, I would go ahead and add fish, and the first fish would be swordtails instead of tetras. Even though the swordtails are bigger and produce more waste, they are also tougher and will be able to help complete the establishment of your nitrogen cycle. And isn't it always that way in life when you do not realize that you have a good thing until it is gone! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 How very true my friend, and I have experienced that more than a few times already in life (haven't we all). Yes my preference as well would be to start adding a pair of swords instead of Tetra's, also because they can deal better with the harder water I guess. Problem is.... can I find them here. I do like fancy Mollies or Plates as well but don't really want a baby factory whilst I only have 1 tank (and no space). Either way, the fish I can buy here are small anyway. Thank you @Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 If confinement allows, I might go check out this store in Barcelona as they seem to have decent stock. It really is in downtown Barcelona, just off the famous tourist spot La Rambla In case you are interested in assortment and prices here in Spain Peces de agua dulce - DAUER ACUARIOS WWW.DAUERACUARIOS.COM Peces de agua dulce y salobre. Pedidos para recoger en tienda física y envíos a toda la Península. Las fotos son genéricas de archivo, si te interesa foto o video del ejemplar concreto, por favor consultar y se... (I assume it is okay to share for informational purposes as nobody from the states will order at this shop anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Went to Barcelona (illegally but oh well..) and got me a pair of Swordtails. Wasn't planning on it but they had big neon tetras so added 5 for now. I know these fish are nothing special but pretty chuffed with it anyway, my first fish in over 5 years. It reminds me of my uncle's tank back in the 80s, who had a big planted tank with Altums, Neon tetras and swordtails. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 That is so cool! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Fish are in the tank with the lights out currently and seem to be adapting well so far. I will get some more Tetras obviously, but will give it one or two weeks. They also had green neon Swords, pretty fish... might get a pair later. I notice the external filter isn't pumping that much water out, prob cluttered by all the dust bits still floating on. I ordered a foam pre filter and will be adding a small sponge filter to deal with the crap better. Will leave the tank alone for now and in the next few days do a small water change and clean the external filter a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 HELP! I just noticed my external Eheim filter (700l/h for a 100l aquarium) is putting out low volume of water. I figured it was maybe a bit full with remains from the substrate dust. Pulled it apart and cleaned it in aquarium water, it wasn't that bad. Put it back together and its still piss poor. Now I am also noticing my water isn't as clear as before. It seems a bit as its getting air from somewhere but no idea where. No bend in the lines or anything else simple as far as I can see. Pulled apart the filter twice and now a bit afraid I am killing my bacteria culture (allready added a bit Seachem stability). What can I do? I just added the first fish a few hours ago 😞 . I have an internal mechanical filter right now pumping in a bucket of dirty aquarium/filter water, would it makes sense to plug that one in? Any ideas? don't want to loose my fish overnight ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) @Ruud, can you try 'burping' your canister? Give it a little shake at an angle, and tap it on the surface that it is sitting on. You might be able to free up the any remaining bubbles. Sometimes turning it off and back on again can help too. Edited November 21, 2020 by Streetwise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Streetwise said: @Ruud, can you try 'burping' your canister? Give it a little shake at an angle, and tap it on the surface it is sitting on. You might be able to free up the any remaining bubbles. Sometimes turning it off and back on again can help too. Tried that all several times without luck. Even cleaned the shaft, rotor etc - nothing. Put it higher up (it was on the floor) so it would have to work less to pump out the water, neither works. Its bloody 4 weeks old and can't figure it out. Though my first wory is keeping my fish alive overnight 😞 . Does it makes sense to put in the internal mech filter to support? I guess better than just the canister working at 10% capacity Edited November 21, 2020 by Ruud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 any ideas @Daniel? Im getting stressed out by this bloody canister filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Don't stress. If your aquarium were a shipping bag how long would the fish last? Quite a while. The internal mechanical filter won't hurt and might help. But back to the shipping bag analogy. If I had fish in a bucket without filter for many days, I would add an airstone. So what I would do is add an airstone while you sort the Eheim filter problem out. So sorry this happened so soon after getting fish! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Is your canister overstocked with media? For my Eheim Classic 150, I don't use the polishing pad or the fine foam, just the course foam and little bio balls. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Cheers @Daniel that is making me feel a bit better. I have double ayirstone in the tank so not too concerned in that regard, just afraid to get an ammonia spike because the filter is not working properly. I ordered new rubber gaskets just to be sure, its the only thing I can think off at the moment. It seems to be taking air somewhere somehow. Just afraid I am killing my bacterias by shutting down and opening the canister so many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Streetwise said: Is your canister overstocked with media? For my Eheim Classic 150, I don't use the polishing pad or the fine foam, just the course foam and little bio balls. Yes its quite stocked, actually my latest thought was getting rid of the fine foam. I have the coarse blue filter in it, twice with ceramic tubes. Thank you @Streetwise for the help! Much appreciated! Edited November 21, 2020 by Ruud 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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