Nerite snails die within 24 hrs

[Tony s]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:42 PM, EricksonAquatics said:

not to trust them for nitrates bc my drop test always reads at least twice as high as my strips

Yeah, that’s what I notice, I’m good with my strips until something gets off. Then I’m back to the drops

[Tony s]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:40 PM, j2Raptor said:

Is a 5 gal tank appropriate for them?

Coop recommended a 20 gallon. Her’s are in a 15. With the blue gravel they’re usually visible. The main problem with them is they can be very shy and often bury themselves. But not in bright blue gravel 🤣

[j2Raptor]

On 6/7/2024 at 9:36 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Mom & pop shops usually educate better to set people up for success.

In my Petco's defense, the girl that helped me seemed very passionate about her fish and tried to educate me. She tried to tell me about the nitrogen cycle, and suggested two weeks before introducing animals. I was the eager one.

Everyone is suggesting "Prime". Is this it?

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/seachem-prime

[Tony s]

Yes. Supposedly it binds up the ammonia and nitrite and makes them less toxic. Sounds like your sales girl was trying to be very helpful. At least you have an idea what’s going on now. When I started I had no clue. Had to learn all this the hard way.  Didn’t even know anyone to ask questions. YouTube is great for learning new things. Coop has a great channel. So does Primetime Aquatics and Kgtropicals. Girl talks fish also, but she’s taking a break for now.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:23 AM, Tony s said:

Girl talks fish also, but she’s taking a break for now.

And also she works as a content creator for Aquarium Coop. She writes blog posts and makes videos. Hope she returns from break soon. She has a few kids and her life gets hectic, I think.

On 6/8/2024 at 12:23 AM, Tony s said:

YouTube is great for learning new things. Coop has a great channel. So does Primetime Aquatics and Kgtropicals

I also will mention Kaveman Aquatics. He has a lot of great tips and in general keeps his videos short. Like this one.

And his cichlids are gorgeous. 

[Sacah]

I've had good success with Seachem Stability to get a tank cycled quicker, might be worth adding that too if you can.

[j2Raptor]

They ded.

I was going to move them to a bowl before changing out some of the water. I lightly pushed on their trap door and got a whiff of ammonia. ☹️

Is the morale of the story is to wait until nitrate is detected? Is it okay to have "some" ammonia and nitrite? Or should there be zero ammonia and nitrite before adding critters? 

I tried to lightly scrubbing all the surfaces before adding new water, and the pink paint from the castle started coming off. I'll have to get something else.

One last question, once the water is good, should I stick with a nerite snail or should I try amano shrimp? Any recommendations for this beginner are greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all for your input and help. 

[Tony s]

On 6/8/2024 at 4:00 PM, j2Raptor said:

Is the morale of the story is to wait until nitrate is detected

Yeah. That’s really the key. There’s a couple of steps to the cycle. Ammonia to nitrite. Then a couple of weeks later. Nitrite to nitrate. It’s possible to do it with live animals but takes a lot of water changes. Keeping the nitrite down is key. I believe it’s more poisonous than ammonia. 
 

I use mystery snails. They’re so much goofier than nerites. If you keep one you’ll be fine. If more than one, they’ll breed. But just pop off the clutch and discard. 
 

to aid in cycling I use fritzyme7 bacteria starter. Seachem stability also works. Takes about a month for most tanks to cycle. Unless you know someone who has one running. Then you can put your filter material in their tank for a couple of weeks. When you add it back to your tank your tank is almost instantly cycled. But keep testing and use prime when needed 

[johnnyxxl]

I have tons of pond snails that my Tiger Barbs love.

[Tony s]

On 6/8/2024 at 4:00 PM, j2Raptor said:

I tried to lightly scrubbing all the surfaces before adding new water, and the pink paint from the castle started coming off

Yeah, that’s the beauty of a cycled aquarium. Use to be you’d completely take apart and scrub clean the stuff in an aquarium. With a cycled tank, you really never do that. You use algae eaters and they help keep your surfaces clean. You’re really building a self inclosed ecosystem. The majority of bacteria live on the surfaces of your tank. So it’s self defeating to scrub surfaces. You’ll have to learn about algae prevention. Remembering that most algae in some ways is beneficial also. Even brown algae, which snails love and disappears over time.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/8/2024 at 4:00 PM, j2Raptor said:

Is the morale of the story is to wait until nitrate is detected? Is it okay to have "some" ammonia and nitrite? Or should there be zero ammonia and nitrite before adding critters? 

Nitrate should be present, and ammonia and nitrite need to be zero because they are quite toxic.

I’m sorry for your losses..

Do not scrub things down. Water changes are ok. The goal is to breed the beneficial bacteria which eat the ammonia and nitrite. These bacteria live on surfaces of ornaments in your tank, on your gravel, and in your filter.

On 6/8/2024 at 4:27 PM, Tony s said:

Keeping the nitrite down is key. I believe it’s more poisonous than ammonia. 

Ammonia is the most toxic, followed by nitrite. Nitrate is fine if kept under 40 as a general rule of thumb.

On 6/8/2024 at 4:00 PM, j2Raptor said:

One last question, once the water is good, should I stick with a nerite snail or should I try amano shrimp? Any recommendations for this beginner are greatly appreciated.

I’m not sure if Amanos would clean glass? I think they mainly clean objects. We can ask @nabokovfan87.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/8/2024 at 4:27 PM, Tony s said:

I use mystery snails. They’re so much goofier than nerites

I love mystery snails but would not recommend them for a 5 gallon tank due to their high bioload. That’s liable to cause more ammonia issues.

On 6/8/2024 at 4:27 PM, Tony s said:

to aid in cycling I use fritzyme7

I really like this product and always keep it stocked. It helps if bacteria slow or die (due to using medications etc) or when starting new tanks.

Edited June 9 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[johnnyxxl]

I used fritz while Cycling my tank but I was super slow with adding fish because I was establishing my plants because cories and kulhi loaches root in the substrate.   I wonder if you may have had another issue especially if the paint was coming off your decorations?

[Tony s]

On 6/8/2024 at 10:49 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

love mystery snails but would not recommend them for a 5 gallon tank due to their high bioload

Yeah, i hear that, I’m not seeing that in real life. They put out less bioload than they consume. Like everything else. They just eat a ton. At one point I had 40+ in my 75g. With its normal compliment of fish. (Accidental clutch hatch, but very cool to watch. And I gave half to my lfs). Never saw any signs at all of ammonia spikes or excess nitrates. Bit more detritus to clean. That’s it. I think they get a bad rep for some reason. Same thing I think for the bristlenose. They’re more beneficial than harmful to ecosystems. 

On 6/8/2024 at 10:42 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I’m not sure if Amanos would clean glass? I

Amanos don’t clean spot algae well. But do an excellent job of cleaning hair algae and other forms that rise from the surface. 

[Tony s]

On 6/8/2024 at 4:00 PM, j2Raptor said:

was going to move them to a bowl before changing out some of the water. I lightly pushed on their trap door and got a whiff of ammonia. ☹️

Yeah. Now you know. That’s one of the worst smells ever. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/8/2024 at 7:42 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

On 6/8/2024 at 1:00 PM, j2Raptor said:

One last question, once the water is good, should I stick with a nerite snail or should I try amano shrimp? Any recommendations for this beginner are greatly appreciated.

I’m not sure if Amanos would clean glass? I think they mainly clean objects. We can ask @nabokovfan87.

They can graze off the glass just like other shrimp, but that's only going to really happen when all of the other algae is gone.  They might peck at longer string algae on the glass, but they definitely won't "clean" the glass.

The best glass cleaner I had was a rubberlip pleco. (Also called a bulldog pleco)

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/9/2024 at 1:00 AM, Tony s said:

They’re more beneficial than harmful to ecosystems

I think it depends on tank age, tank size, maintenance schedule, etc. A very well established tank tends to handle things like these better than new tanks.

On 6/9/2024 at 1:00 AM, Tony s said:

Accidental clutch hatch, but very cool to watch

Congrats!   They are so adorable, especially when you have a bunch of babies “parasnailing”, raining down off the glass at the same time. 😍