Little Guys Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 I have a wonderful 7 gallon planted tank with tetras, Ramshorn snails, cherry shrimp, Corys and Oto. I have had big time snail outbreaks and algea on my plants. I have been told that at one time I over fed leading to the snail bloom. I was also told to vaccum the substrate. I now have Green Spot Algea and have lowered the light and fertilized the plants. Along the way of discussions re: the algea I have received conflicting advice regarding the cleanliness of the substrate and schedule of cleaning the tank. My prior cleaning schedule was only when the filter (back tank filter with bio balls and a sponge) needed to be cleaned (brown water cycling through it). Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 You will always get conflicting info. Always. What works for me may not work for you. What works for you may not work for me. Aquariums are part science, part personal experience, and part art. You’ll have to try some things and find out what works for you! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 I doubt you will get unanimity in responses to this query…. There seems to be all sorts of opinions from aquarists… I have had the best experience keeping algae under control with keeping a clean tank, clean substrate, manual removal of as much algae as possible to include pruning away infested leaves followed by a deep water change followed by significant fertilization and ensuring gh, kh, fertilizer levels, lighting stay pretty stable and consistent.. Healthy vibrant plants defend themselves well against algae, struggling plants do not… But there are all sorts of differing opinions, and I followed differing advice earlier and did not get the results I was looking for… I follow the rule of looking at the tanks of people who give advice and follow the advice given by people who have tanks I like the look of… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Guys Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 Well I have to figure out what is right for me, and I need some help doing so. In the last month I have lost 2 shrimp. Could have been natural but I am not sure. One of them turned completely black and that is how I found it on the bottom of my tank (I have red cherry shrimp). Everyone seems to be eatin well. I feed twice a week with Shrimpee, nano balls and fish flake ground to powder. I give a good feed on Wednesday and a smaller feed on Sat or Sun. Today when I fed the powder it fell slowly and looked like it was suspended. As I looked around it I could see whispy cloudy forms, they are not big so I think this has just begun. It is not distinct enough to take a picture. What I am really getting at is that after months and months of no issues the environment seems to be changing. I want to figure this out and get ahead of it if this is not a good change. If it is not a harmful change, I want to understand it. I have learned a ton in the last 9 months however I am still only 8 months a newbie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Your environment could and probably should be changing. You’re going to go from a cycled tank to a seasoned tank. That’s normal. But do you have any parameter numbers so we can help you figure it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Avoiding extremes is always the best idea. An absolutely clean, sterile tank is bad, as is a tank that more closely resembles a backed-up septic system. Anything in the middle between those two extremes is typically the best option. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumplkrum Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Based on your first post, it sounds like you mostly fixed your problems already. It's kinda hard to tell what you mean by "whispy cloudy forms". I'm assuming the tank has at least some water circulation from the filter. A 7 gallon tank is pretty tiny volume-wise. If it was just a shrimp tank, I'd say leave it. But with the fish in there too, I'd say do a small water change and see if that helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meep556 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 This is a topic that’s touchy. What works for me might not work for you. But I can say from my experience. I’ve never cleaned any of my tanks. The most I do is top up water due to evaporation. And I also welcome all the pest snails. To be honest I ran my 20 gallon and never cleaned a thing. I didn’t even change the filter in the HOB filter. But it’s like I said. What works for me might not work for you. I run all my tanks the same way. Once your plants are established with plenty of plants from what I can see they kind of take care of there self’s. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I have a fishless tank with a small snail population and a few plants. No fish means no fish food. An over abundance of snails caused by overfeeding is probably the most consistent advice you will ever get. Overfeeding snails includes decaying plant matter and other detritus as well as fish food. Unless there is a chemical explanation, the "whispy cloud forms" are likely a bacterial formation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Guys Posted June 19 Author Share Posted June 19 On 6/11/2024 at 7:40 AM, Tanked said: I have a fishless tank with a small snail population and a few plants. No fish means no fish food. An over abundance of snails caused by overfeeding is probably the most consistent advice you will ever get. Overfeeding snails includes decaying plant matter and other detritus as well as fish food. Unless there is a chemical explanation, the "whispy cloud forms" are likely a bacterial formation. Good Bacteria? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggaz Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 (edited) Having any bacteria in the water column, in large enough quantities to be visible, is not a good thing. "Good" bacteria, the ammonia and nitrite eating types, colonize surfaces. If they are up in the water column, they will be landing on your fish's skin and gills and your fish now has to pump out extra mucous and put its immune system on overdrive to keep healthy and clean. That stresses the fish. That's true for any bacteria, by the way. Getting those good bacteria in the water column is also not very likely, if you didnt just dump your filter bioload into the tank during a cleaning. Its far more likely to be other types that feed more directly on food waste. In this case, it indicates you need to cut down on the amount of nutrients (food, rotting plants, animal waste) in the water column, and/or you need to increase your filtration. Edited June 19 by daggaz 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyxxl Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 I don't vacuum my sand substrate because the Cory cats keep it pretty stirred up alongside the kulhi loaches. I do small water changes from the lower level keeping the water to fairly clear other than the tannins which I want. My tank seems pretty good and stable which is what I aim for. I worked on the numbers aiming for stability and adjustment of fertilizer and lighting to obtain low algae levels. You have shrimp which graze on algae and biofilm. The clouds I would vacuum out before your fish gets sick. After you are sure that they are healthy and not getting sick I would focus on the method of maintenance you want to go. I am doing weekly water changes because I dose fertilizer. If I didn't I would just keep my weekly testing and change based on the results. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 On 6/19/2024 at 12:16 AM, Little Guys said: Good Bacteria? Your "whispy cloudy forms", algae and snails are caused by too much of something. Without a microscope, there is no sure way to know what you are seeing. Researching a similar topic yesterday, I found several articles on something I had never thought of: water molds. The descriptions run the gamut: streamers, cloudy, whispy, foggy, etc. Formerly know as fungus, most water mold is said to be harmless, and some fish and shrimp will eat it. It will also go away when it exhausts its food source. I agree with @daggaz. If there is enough to see, I would try to remove it. It's better to be safe than sorry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggaz Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 Ooh, never even thought of mold. That sure is interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 On 6/19/2024 at 10:32 AM, daggaz said: Ooh, never even thought of mold. That sure is interesting! That was another rabbit hole I fell into yesterday. Another topic here involved what my eyes saw as a cylindrically shaped growth just above the substrate, extending across the front of the aquarium. Searching for similar images eventually lead me to mold. I never found anything close to what I was looking for, but it was educational. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOtrees Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 I like to change perspectives. Makes for good conversation. Do you vacuum your carpet (or clean your bathroom, or pick another analogy) when it's dirty, or to prevent it from becoming dirty? Or do you subscribe to the notion that dirt makes us healthy, therefore never clean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Guys Posted June 19 Author Share Posted June 19 On 6/19/2024 at 7:30 AM, Tanked said: Your "whispy cloudy forms", algae and snails are caused by too much of something. Without a microscope, there is no sure way to know what you are seeing. Researching a similar topic yesterday, I found several articles on something I had never thought of: water molds. The descriptions run the gamut: streamers, cloudy, whispy, foggy, etc. Formerly know as fungus, most water mold is said to be harmless, and some fish and shrimp will eat it. It will also go away when it exhausts its food source. I agree with @daggaz. If there is enough to see, I would try to remove it. It's better to be safe than sorry. Thank you Tanked. My whatever it was seems to have gone away. I will do some research and keep an eye on things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyxxl Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 On 6/19/2024 at 11:53 AM, TOtrees said: On 6/19/2024 at 12:20 PM, Little Guys said: My whatever it was seems to have gone away. I will do some research and keep an eye on things. I am curious about it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 On 6/19/2024 at 11:53 AM, TOtrees said: I like to change perspectives. Makes for good conversation. Do you vacuum your carpet (or clean your bathroom, or pick another analogy) when it's dirty, or to prevent it from becoming dirty? Or do you subscribe to the notion that dirt makes us healthy, therefore never clean? I clean, vacuum, pickup, because it is dirty already. Everything is in a constant state of decay unless artificial measures are continuously taken to prevent it. Dirt might not make us healthy, but exposure to dirt might. I have an unfiltered aquarium that almost never gets a gravel clean. Something is keeping the snails healthy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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