A whole slew of problems

Ok, so here’s my first problem. I ahev an infestation of either pond snails or bladder snails. They like to eat my plants, and are kind of an eyesore (at least in my tank) but they will not die. So a I bought an assassin snail to kill them. He died (I think) because I haven’t seen him in about a week. I tester my ammonia; it’s at 1ppm. How are these bladder snails survininf at these levels. (Don’t worry, everything else was good

This brings me to my second problem. My tank, WILL NOT CYCLE! It’s been running for over a year, and it will not cycle it. But, it’s this might be because I’m not quite sure what people mean when they say wash your parts with aquarium water. Does it mean clean my parts with treated water or the water that is being cycled out? I found an API product called Ammo lock that claims to remove all ammonia, is that a good product that I could use sporadically. Finally, what would I do to get this tank to cycle and keep it cycled?

Next, if I get multiple assassin snails, will they reproduce? Could I keep them under control? Also, what should I feed them? I really want to get some nerites as well, but will the assassins eat them?

Thank you so much for fixing my problems, it is greatly appreciated.

 

Ok, so here’s my first problem. I ahev an infestation of either pond snails or bladder snails. They like to eat my plants, and are kind of an eyesore (at least in my tank) but they will not die. So a I bought an assassin snail to kill them. He died (I think) because I haven’t seen him in about a week. I tester my ammonia; it’s at 1ppm. How are these bladder snails survininf at these levels. (Don’t worry, everything else was good

This brings me to my second problem. My tank, WILL NOT CYCLE! It’s been running for over a year, and it will not cycle it. But, it’s this might be because I’m not quite sure what people mean when they say wash your parts with aquarium water. Does it mean clean my parts with treated water or the water that is being cycled out? I found an API product called Ammo lock that claims to remove all ammonia, is that a good product that I could use sporadically. Finally, what would I do to get this tank to cycle and keep it cycled?

Next, if I get multiple assassin snails, will they reproduce? Could I keep them under control? Also, what should I feed them? I really want to get some nerites as well, but will the assassins eat them?

Thank you so much for fixing my problems, it is greatly appreciated.

Toss a piece of veggie in the tank and let the snails crawl all over it overnight. Remove them all. I kept an infestation in check with manual removal and then eventually nuked them with Planaria Zero before adding stock. Are the snails the only living things in there? Even at 1ppm ammonia, a low pH can neutralize it, rendering it pretty harmless.

What are all of your readings? Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and pH? Very curious about the pH, as a low pH can stall a cycle. How frequent and large are your water changes? What do you treat your water with? What kind of water do you use (tap, distilled, RODI)?

The parts that you shouldn't be cleaning are the filter media. Just leave it alone. If it gets too gummed up with waste, rinse it in a bucket of used tank water when you do a water change, and then put it right back. Don't use new water, use the old stuff. And only rinse enough to free up the gunk.

Never add a chemical to the tank without understanding your problem first. Let's figure out why the cycle is stalled before considering ammo-lock or similar. Let's also hold off on adding new livestock until the tank is cycled.

 

40 years ago, I thought getting the gravel out, washing it crystal clean and then boil before putting back in to the tank was the way to clean a fish tank. Of course, all the ornaments would get the same treat. I am pretty sure you are not doing that. The most important part is to keep your filter alive, a gentle squeeze in the same tank water that you are about pour out would do the job. You could use a toothbrush to clean excess algae on your ornaments (or parts) in a bucket with tank water but that is about it.

Assassin snail may stay motionless for a while, don't worry. They need a male and a female to breed, so if you get more they may breed. That is not a bad thing, they don't breed too fast and everyone would love take them out of your hands if you don't want them.

No snail will be safe with the assassins, so I wouldn't anything that I care about with it. They are perfectly fine with eating fish food when you run out of snails. It is a bit overcredited though, you will not run out of snails if you keep a couple of assassins.

 

Maybe we should start with what you have done to cycle your tank in the first place? How did you set it up? What ammonia source did you add, and how often? Have you ever had fish in there?

1ppm ammonia actually isn't all that much so it isn't surprising pest snails, which are very hardy, survive long term. It sounds like you have undertaken steps to kill the snails - have you been adding things to your tank?
What kind of plants do you have in there and how many? Picture of the tank perhaps?

Ammo-lock is a terrible product for cycling. It doesn't 'remove' the ammonia but binds it so that it cannot be used by the bacteria that must colonise the tank for it to cycle. Then after a while the ammonia is released again. So it prevents your cycle from growing and doesn't even get rid of your ammonia problem. Don't use it.

 

I just want to mention as well that these snails will not eat healthy living plants. Only dead or dying plant tissue. If they're eating your plants there is something else killing your plants and the snails are just cleaning up.

 

Assassin snails burrow under sand too so that could be a reason for not seeing it. Also one isnt enough to clear an infestation. What else do you have in the tank other than snails?

 

Ok, so here’s my first problem. I ahev an infestation of either pond snails or bladder snails. They like to eat my plants, and are kind of an eyesore (at least in my tank) but they will not die. So a I bought an assassin snail to kill them. He died (I think) because I haven’t seen him in about a week. I tester my ammonia; it’s at 1ppm. How are these bladder snails survininf at these levels. (Don’t worry, everything else was good

This brings me to my second problem. My tank, WILL NOT CYCLE! It’s been running for over a year, and it will not cycle it. But, it’s this might be because I’m not quite sure what people mean when they say wash your parts with aquarium water. Does it mean clean my parts with treated water or the water that is being cycled out? I found an API product called Ammo lock that claims to remove all ammonia, is that a good product that I could use sporadically. Finally, what would I do to get this tank to cycle and keep it cycled?

Next, if I get multiple assassin snails, will they reproduce? Could I keep them under control? Also, what should I feed them? I really want to get some nerites as well, but will the assassins eat them?

Thank you so much for fixing my problems, it is greatly appreciated.

So, what you should do is get a slice of cucumber or zucchni. Blanch it and drop multiple pieces in a tank. After 20 minutes the snails should infest the veggies and remove and dispose of the snails on the veggie. Also, the assassins will eat nerites. For the cycling part, mattgirl can help. mattgirl , a bunch of people call you to threads, sorry. If the veggie trick doesn't work you can get the sera snail trap.

 

So, what you should do is get a slice of cucumber or zucchni. Blanch it and drop multiple pieces in a tank. After 20 minutes the snails should infest the veggies and remove and dispose of the snails on the veggie. Also, the assassins will eat nerites. For the cycling part, mattgirl can help. mattgirl , a bunch of people call you to threads, sorry. If the veggie trick doesn't work you can get the sera snail trap.

Ew I have these white snails that are Pests that I think are a huge help with algae (I mean why else is that one tank showing none and my others showing tons) so I won’t get rid of them.

 

Ew I have these white snails that are Pests that I think are a huge help with algae (I mean why else is that one tank showing none and my others showing tons) so I won’t get rid of them.

Ohhh, yeah, Snails are good with algae, I just can't stand them. Except for male nerites. Male nerites are cool. I don't like the females cause the female lays eggs EVERYWHERE.

 

So, what you should do is get a slice of cucumber or zucchni. Blanch it and drop multiple pieces in a tank. After 20 minutes the snails should infest the veggies and remove and dispose of the snails on the veggie. Also, the assassins will eat nerites. For the cycling part, mattgirl can help. mattgirl , a bunch of people call you to threads, sorry. If the veggie trick doesn't work you can get the sera snail trap.

PascalKrypt asked some very good questions. Once we get some answers hopefully we will be able to help.

 

It’s normal for assassin snails to disappear for a while. They like to burrow. Others have already talked about the cycle, so I won’t touch on that. Bladder snails don’t tend to eat healthy plants, but I have seen pond snails do that. If they have translucent gold spots on their shells, they’re bladder snails. If the shells are solid brown, they’re pond snails.

 

Maybe we should start with what you have done to cycle your tank in the first place? How did you set it up? What ammonia source did you add, and how often? Have you ever had fish in there?

1ppm ammonia actually isn't all that much so it isn't surprising pest snails, which are very hardy, survive long term. It sounds like you have undertaken steps to kill the snails - have you been adding things to your tank?
What kind of plants do you have in there and how many? Picture of the tank perhaps?

Ammo-lock is a terrible product for cycling. It doesn't 'remove' the ammonia but binds it so that it cannot be used by the bacteria that must colonise the tank for it to cycle. Then after a while the ammonia is released again. So it prevents your cycle from growing and doesn't even get rid of your ammonia problem. Don't use it.

Ok, this will probably be kind of long, so buckle up. I had a carbon filter when I bought the tank, and I replaced about a year ago with a sponge filter with ceramic beads on the bottom. I will attach a photo for reference. I currently have two male guppies and 5 neon tetras, 1 cherry shrimp (hopefully going to get more soon) and 1 amano shrimp, along with the assassin snail in a 10 gallon tank. Every time I do a water change I use API water conditioner and API bacteria supplement.

I tried to add a lettuce leaf to the tank and leave it overnight, but the snails didn’t seem to have much interest. I will happily try again though! I have aponogeton plants, and had two java ferns which were absolutely murdered by the snails. They got eaten completely — there’s nothing left of them. I have just been picking out snails to remove them. I don’t really know what else to do. So I got an assassin snail. It’s interesting that you say that though, because when I had a nerite with .25ppm of ammonia in my tank it instantly killed it. I’ll will attach a photo below.

Yeah, I like to stay weary of API products that make claims like that. They never seem to work as advertised, but just wanted to check here

Assassin snails burrow under sand too so that could be a reason for not seeing it. Also one isnt enough to clear an infestation. What else do you have in the tank other than snails?

1 RCS, 1 Amano, male 2 guppies and 5 neon tetras.

Hope this helps!

Edit: Sorry for the late reply, I had tennis and school. I forget how quickly people respond on this forum

 

Ok, this will probably be kind of long, so buckle up. I had a carbon filter when I bought the tank, and I replaced about a year ago with a sponge filter with ceramic beads on the bottom. I will attach a photo for reference. I currently have two male guppies and 5 neon tetras, 1 cherry shrimp (hopefully going to get more soon) and 1 amano shrimp, along with the assassin snail in a 10 gallon tank. Every time I do a water change I use API water conditioner and API bacteria supplement.

I tried to add a lettuce leaf to the tank and leave it overnight, but the snails didn’t seem to have much interest. I will happily try again though! I have aponogeton plants, and had two java ferns which were absolutely murdered by the snails. They got eaten completely — there’s nothing left of them. I have just been picking out snails to remove them. I don’t really know what else to do. So I got an assassin snail. It’s interesting that you say that though, because when I had a nerite with .25ppm of ammonia in my tank it instantly killed it. I’ll will attach a photo below.

Yeah, I like to stay weary of API products that make claims like that. They never seem to work as advertised, but just wanted to check here


1 RCS, 1 Amano, male 2 guppies and 5 neon tetras.

Hope this helps!

Edit: Sorry for the late reply, I had tennis and school. I forget how quickly people respond on this forum

Nice looking tank! Very clean. I was wondering if the set-up has been like this for the whole year? You said the tank came with the carbon filter but that it was replaced a year ago with a different filter -- was that shortly after setting up the tank?
The vast majority of the cycle will be in your filter. If you replace it (without seeding), you will be throwing out your cycle and likely starting over.
How long have you had these fish in the tank? Have you perhaps added the guppies or tetras recently? Suddenly adding a bunch of new fish to a tank that had far fewer inhabitants before means the cycle has to grow slowly to catch up to it. Until it does, you will see ammonia form.

However it seems a little odd you have ammonia but no trace of nitrates in a 1-year-old tank. It suggests that the current situation has not been stable for the past year in some kind of way, or the cycle is repeatedly destroyed. What kind of test do you use to measure your parameters? If a liquid test, do you make sure to shake the test bottle really well? The nitrate test is notorious for not working properly unless shaken like your life depends on it.

How have you been cleaning your filter until now? Since you asked a question about it in your first post, I was thinking that maybe you have been accidentally wiping your cycle every cleaning? How often do you do water changes?

What might help is if you could also try to answer my original question a bit more specifically - how did you originally cycle the tank - that is, make the bacteria colony grow? For how long did you take these steps? (Btw It's okay to say you don't know what is meant by that if that is the case, I'm trying to help you identify the problem so you can resolve it and make the hobby a pleasant experience rather than a frustrating one, not by any means to judge )

 

The first thing I would do is fill the tank up. Since this is a 10 gallon tank and it looks like there is quite a bit of water displaced with decor it looks like there can't be over 7 or so gallons of water in there.

We really need all the numbers (temp, pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) to get to the bottom of the problem. What are you using to test the water? From all I've read, any amount of ammonia is deadly to cherry shrimp. The fact that you have one in this tank has me questioning whether or not you truly do have ammonia in there.

When you do your water changes how much do you change each time? How often are you doing them? Do you both temp match and add your water conditioner to the fresh water before pouring it in the tank?

Once a tank is cycled bacteria will have grown on every surface in our tanks. After all this time your tank should be cycled so I have to wonder if maybe you are keeping the tank too clean. We want fresh clean water in our tanks but we don't want to keep the decor or filter spotlessly clean. Cycling a tank simply means growing 2 types of bacteria. One that removes ammonia and another than removes nitrites. If we over clean we will be removing that bacteria.

The more information you can give us the more likely we will be able to help you.

 

Nice looking tank! Very clean. I was wondering if the set-up has been like this for the whole year? You said the tank came with the carbon filter but that it was replaced a year ago with a different filter -- was that shortly after setting up the tank?
The vast majority of the cycle will be in your filter. If you replace it (without seeding), you will be throwing out your cycle and likely starting over.
How long have you had these fish in the tank? Have you perhaps added the guppies or tetras recently? Suddenly adding a bunch of new fish to a tank that had far fewer inhabitants before means the cycle has to grow slowly to catch up to it. Until it does, you will see ammonia form.

However it seems a little odd you have ammonia but no trace of nitrates in a 1-year-old tank. It suggests that the current situation has not been stable for the past year in some kind of way, or the cycle is repeatedly destroyed. What kind of test do you use to measure your parameters? If a liquid test, do you make sure to shake the test bottle really well? The nitrate test is notorious for not working properly unless shaken like your life depends on it.

How have you been cleaning your filter until now? Since you asked a question about it in your first post, I was thinking that maybe you have been accidentally wiping your cycle every cleaning? How often do you do water changes?

What might help is if you could also try to answer my original question a bit more specifically - how did you originally cycle the tank - that is, make the bacteria colony grow? For how long did you take these steps? (Btw It's okay to say you don't know what is meant by that if that is the case, I'm trying to help you identify the problem so you can resolve it and make the hobby a pleasant experience rather than a frustrating one, not by any means to judge )

Ok, I can’t give a test until I get off of school and tennis, so at about 5:30 or 6. I had used the carbon filter for about a year or so, but I (think) I kept killing the cycle by pulling out the filter, disassembling it and washing it with tap water. I added my guppies fairly recently (about a month or two) but the tetras have been in my tank the entire time. I was expecting to see the ammonia drop to be honest, because I used to have a female in there and about 50 to 70 medium to small guppies.

I can give another test once I get home and will make sure to really shake that test. I have definitely had nitrates, and I think still do have some. They are just at a managable level I believe, but I will still get you guys all my parameters soon.

I do water changes weekly, and I will give you guys a breakdown. I take out about 2 gallons of water, treat two gallons with API water conditioner, wait 15 minutes, then add API bacteria supplement. I will check to see if I think my filter need cleaning. I normally take it over the sink and squeeze it out, and wash it with tap water. But the last time I pulled it out (maybe a month?) I washed it with treated water, but not the water I had pulled out of the tank. Although, I have NEVER, except for when I disassembled my filter, taken the ceramic beads out. They have only left the water once.

I was a bit of a naive fish owner when I first got my tank, and so only used some of the bacteria supplement. (I did put quite a bit in though I don’t remember exactly how much.) So, I guess the correct answer is that I never really cycled the tank. Hope that helps!

The first thing I would do is fill the tank up. Since this is a 10 gallon tank and it looks like there is quite a bit of water displaced with decor it looks like there can't be over 7 or so gallons of water in there.

We really need all the numbers (temp, pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) to get to the bottom of the problem. What are you using to test the water? From all I've read, any amount of ammonia is deadly to cherry shrimp. The fact that you have one in this tank has me questioning whether or not you truly do have ammonia in there.

When you do your water changes how much do you change each time? How often are you doing them? Do you both temp match and add your water conditioner to the fresh water before pouring it in the tank?

Once a tank is cycled bacteria will have grown on every surface in our tanks. After all this time your tank should be cycled so I have to wonder if maybe you are keeping the tank too clean. We want fresh clean water in our tanks but we don't want to keep the decor or filter spotlessly clean. Cycling a tank simply means growing 2 types of bacteria. One that removes ammonia and another than removes nitrites. If we over clean we will be removing that bacteria.

The more information you can give us the more likely we will be able to help you.

I am using the API master test kit to test the water. The one with the tubes. I usually change about 1 or 2 gallons each water change, and put water conditioner and bacteria supplement in. I do not temp match, and it’s usually cooler than the water going in (room temp is 60-65 degrees). Is there anything else you need to me to be clearer on? I’m trying to give you guys the most amount of information I have

 

One more question. What kind of bacteria supplement are you adding each week? Once a tank is cycled, and I have to think this tank is after all this time, something like that is not necessary. I know some products say add it with each water change but the only reason for that is to keep a steady customer.

The reason we need to know your pH level is because bacteria struggles to clean up the ammonia if the pH is much below 7. If you pH is low it will explain why your ammonia level isn't going down. When you run your test please run them on your tap water too. Knowing the numbers will help us help you.

Things other than just nitrates build up in our tanks over time. I highly recommend you change out close to half of the water each week. I would also fill the tank up. Things can go bad quickly in a tank this size. The more water you have in it the better it will be. By doing the larger water changes you should prevent what you are experiencing right now.

 

One more question. What kind of bacteria supplement are you adding each week? Once a tank is cycled, and I have to think this tank is after all this time, something like that is not necessary. I know some products say add it with each water change but the only reason for that is to keep a steady customer.

The reason we need to know your pH level is because bacteria struggles to clean up the ammonia if the pH is much below 7. If you pH is low it will explain why your ammonia level isn't going down. When you run your test please run them on your tap water too. Knowing the numbers will help us help you.

Things other than just nitrates build up in our tanks over time. I highly recommend you change out close to half of the water each week. I would also fill the tank up. Things can go bad quickly in a tank this size. The more water you have in it the better it will be. By doing the larger water changes you should prevent what you are experiencing right now.

I’m adding the top fin bacteria supplement. I’ll attach a photo... I got it from petsmart.

My tests game back surprisingly well, but also quite suspicious. I appear to be between 7.0 and 7.2 on my ph. I know 7 is good, but is 7.2 bad? How does it stand on the rankings?

All of my other tests came back at 0. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. And trust me, I shook that nitrate bottle like my life depended on it. I’ll attach a photo of my tests. Just seems suspicious to me... where did all my snail poop go!? (those things poop so much it’s crazy) After seeing a large snail though, it had the clear gold specks which means it’s a bladder snail, correct?

So you think I should change more water during water changes? Sounds good.

Also, slightly off topic, but I’ve been thinking about changing my substrate. I want to get more plants and don’t know what to get.

Anyways, I’ll get a test of my tap water to you guys soon but can’t do I right now. Sorry.

Thanks in advance!

 

Ph is a fairly wide spectrum. Most fish like it around 7.0-7.5, so 7.2 is fine. The gold specks mean bladder snail. I'm not sure about the nitrate question, but there are plenty of people here to answer that. For plant substrate, Fluval Stratum works well, as do ADA aquasoil, Seachem Flourite, and just plain sand. In sand, you'll have to use root tabs, but that's really not much of a downside.

 

Here’s an up close photo of some of the snails. I really want to get rid of them so I can get some more plants... I’m so excited

 

ph of 7.2 is good. Actually anything between 7 and 8 should be fine. To be totally honest as long as you are seeing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites I wouldn't be concerned about not seeing nitrates.

Plants will grow in just about any substrate. Some folks grow them in gravel. I grow them in pool filter sand. Just add root tab to either.

Here’s an up close photo of some of the snails. I really want to get rid of them so I can get some more plants... I’m so excited

I had an infestation of these for a while. I was assured snails only eat decaying plants. I hate to be argumentative but these snails eat plants. Fortunately for me though it was just my floating plants. I picked them out each time I saw them. These stayed mostly up in my floating plants so were easier to pick off. I removed the majority of them by removing most of the floating plants with a net and discarded the plants. I still see one from time to time. I squash it and occasionally feed it to my shrimp or just drop it in whatever tank I find it in.

The only way I have found to get rid of them is through diligence. Pick them out as you see them and look for them constantly. My assassins probably eat some of them although I've never witnessed them doing so. The assassins spend most of their time buried in the substrate. These snails seem to like the top better.

All of my other tests came back at 0. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. And trust me, I shook that nitrate bottle like my life depended on it. I’ll attach a photo of my tests. Just seems suspicious to me... where did all my snail poop go!?

I have to think you have finally grown enough bacteria to remove the ammonia the snail poop is producing. It is strange not to see nitrates though.

 

Agree with mattgirl.

I have to think you have finally grown enough bacteria to remove the ammonia the snail poop is producing. It is strange not to see nitrates though.

The aponogeton in there is quite the nutrient sponge. It's possible that, potentially combined with a recent water change, it's used up all the nitrates.

On a side note, you can stop dosing supplemental bacteria. There are doubts about how functional the product is in general but once your cycle is established there is simply no point in using them. Your bacteria colonies are grown and sustain themselves as long as you have stocking.

 

Silly question about the nitrates test. I have known some folks to not read all the way to the instructions for that one.

Are you adding 5ml water, 10 drops part 1 into the test tube, then shaking the tube while also shaking the part two for 30 seconds, then adding your 10 drops of part two and shaking the whole mixture for another minute?

I have encountered a (incorrect) zero when doing these tests with my youngest son a couple times if he forgot the shaking of part 2 before adding the drops.

 

Silly question about the nitrates test. I have known some folks to not read all the way to the instructions for that one.

Are you adding 5ml water, 10 drops part 1 into the test tube, then shaking the tube while also shaking the part two for 30 seconds, then adding your 10 drops of part two and shaking the whole mixture for another minute?

I have encountered a (incorrect) zero when doing these tests with my youngest son a couple times if he forgot the shaking of part 2 before adding the drops.

yeah, I followed all the instructions all the way. I also shook it pretty hard too, but if you guys want me to redo it, I certainly can.

ph of 7.2 is good. Actually anything between 7 and 8 should be fine. To be totally honest as long as you are seeing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites I wouldn't be concerned about not seeing nitrates.

Plants will grow in just about any substrate. Some folks grow them in gravel. I grow them in pool filter sand. Just add root tab to either.

I had an infestation of these for a while. I was assured snails only eat decaying plants. I hate to be argumentative but these snails eat plants. Fortunately for me though it was just my floating plants. I picked them out each time I saw them. These stayed mostly up in my floating plants so were easier to pick off. I removed the majority of them by removing most of the floating plants with a net and discarded the plants. I still see one from time to time. I squash it and occasionally feed it to my shrimp or just drop it in whatever tank I find it in.

The only way I have found to get rid of them is through diligence. Pick them out as you see them and look for them constantly. My assassins probably eat some of them although I've never witnessed them doing so. The assassins spend most of their time buried in the substrate. These snails seem to like the top better.

I have to think you have finally grown enough bacteria to remove the ammonia the snail poop is producing. It is strange not to see nitrates though.

Yeah, I have some root tabs for my gravel but I don’t like I swing them because they make my gravel look bad. I still put them in though, and they do just fine.

I agree with you on that they eat healthy plants. My java ferns were the pride of my tank, a nice deep green. I mean, some leaves would die if I went on a long trip (like plants do), so I guess they might have gotten a taste of java fern from that? Coincidence that I also got my snails from a floating plant! My floater didn’t last that long though, and when it started dying, I noticed a snail. I pulled it out. Then, I went on a trip. Came back, snails EVERYWHERE.

Yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ll just pull tons out every day. It’s a bit of a bummer you can’t just get rid of them permanently without copper or something.

I know this kind of goes against every thing I’ve been saying here, but if I were to take out the substrate, all the ornament and the filter, wash them thoroughly, and pick all the one off the glass, do you think that could get rid of all of them?

Thanks in advance

 

yeah, I followed all the instructions all the way. I also shook it pretty hard too, but if you guys want me to redo it, I certainly can

You don't need to redo it for me, some people read all the way through, some people do the first couple tests and just assume they're all the same. No shame from me for that, I've built many flat pack bookshelves without ever looking at the instructions lol. Was just putting an idea out there RE: nitrate testing that had been the case a few times in my few short years of this.

As far as the snails, I've never really tried to get rid of them with chemicals and usually welcome them. To reduce the numbers I add competing species (other types of snail, otto, shrimp etc) and/or adjust the type and amount of food introduced, as well as light cycle that creates algae you may not know you are growing (since the snails constantly keep it at bay).

I have been following along and don't think I have much else to add that hasn't been mentioned, good luck, I'm learning along with you.

 

yeah, I followed all the instructions all the way. I also shook it pretty hard too, but if you guys want me to redo it, I certainly can.

Yeah, I have some root tabs for my gravel but I don’t like I swing them because they make my gravel look bad. I still put them in though, and they do just fine.

I agree with you on that they eat healthy plants. My java ferns were the pride of my tank, a nice deep green. I mean, some leaves would die if I went on a long trip (like plants do), so I guess they might have gotten a taste of java fern from that? Coincidence that I also got my snails from a floating plant! My floater didn’t last that long though, and when it started dying, I noticed a snail. I pulled it out. Then, I went on a trip. Came back, snails EVERYWHERE.

Yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ll just pull tons out every day. It’s a bit of a bummer you can’t just get rid of them permanently without copper or something.

I know this kind of goes against every thing I’ve been saying here, but if I were to take out the substrate, all the ornament and the filter, wash them thoroughly, and pick all the one off the glass, do you think that could get rid of all of them?

Thanks in advance

No need to run the test again for me. It is whatever it is.

You could strip your tank but even that is no guarantee it will get rid of all of them. One missed egg and you will be back where you are now and would have killed all of your bacteria.

I seldom see one of these snails now. When I do I squash it. It took time and diligence to get to this point though. It took looking for and removing every day. I have to think my Assassin snails helped too. I actually started with a dozen assassin snails. They do reproduce but no where near as quickly as the bladder, pond, ramshorn snails do.

I am wondering why the root tabs make your gravel look bad. They should be buried as deep as you can get them in the gravel. I have actually started using Jobe's plant spikes instead of root tabs. They seem to be working really well for my plants.

 

No need to run the test again for me. It is whatever it is.

You could strip your tank but even that is no guarantee it will get rid of all of them. One missed egg and you will be back where you are now and would have killed all of your bacteria.

I seldom see one of these snails now. When I do I squash it. It took time and diligence to get to this point though. It took looking for and removing every day. I have to think my Assassin snails helped too. I actually started with a dozen assassin snails. They do reproduce but no where near as quickly as the bladder, pond, ramshorn snails do.

I am wondering why the root tabs make your gravel look bad. They should be buried as deep as you can get them in the gravel. I have actually started using Jobe's plant spikes instead of root tabs. They seem to be working really well for my plants.

Yeah, I got my snails ina good spot too, but then slack off when I got my assassin snail. I think I might have been over feeding, as I fed very little today and saw almost none.

Makes sense on why you wouldn’t want to strip your tank. Oh well.

My root tabs seem to gravitate to the glass when they are inside of the gravel. They work well, but make the substate look dirty and unclean.

 

So i will only attempt to help you with the nitrogen cycle because Im a microbiologist but 1- ammo lock will definitely screw your nitrogen cycle up do not use it. You seem to not understand the nitrogen cycle, I would definitely google it, there are lots of basic explanations to help you. You are talking about cleaning stuff in the same sentence as cycling- the nitrogen cycle is a bacterial process. Sterilising everything in your tank will not help. If your tank has been running that long and never cycled everything is probably too clean or being cleaned too often so the bacteria are not getting a chance to grow enough or they were never there in the first place. when starting a cycle you should set up your filter with a mix of mechanical substrates like sponges and ceramic rings or lava rock and LEAVE IT. I would even refrain from water changes completely, let the tank get dirty.

so in basic terms you need to do 2 things to get your cycle happening-

1- get the bacteria you need into your tank
2- feed them so they grow and dont add things that will kill them

how do you do this

1- you need to get the bacteria you want into your tank. Multiple ways you can do this- find someone who has a cycled tank and get an old sponge, substrate, dirty filter water, anything and put it in your tank. go to your fish store and buy a tank starter inoculum, many brands have these or last option, go to a local water way, grab some mud (like say a cup or 2) and put it straight in you tank, you risk getting so creatures like leeches etc but this does work.

2- for your bacteria to grow you need to feed them ammonium. you can get ammonium pretty easily from internet or stores and use a calculator to figure out how much to add according to the percentage of ammonium, aim for around 3ppm. 1ppm is not that much. every few days test your water, dont add more ammonium until you start seeing nitrites, then you can add a bit to keep everything going until the nitrites are converted to nitrates with the next set of bacteria, if you've inoculated you should have the right bacteria there, they just need time to grow. Dont do a water change until you have alot of nitrates. You can also add ammonium by adding some fish food and letting it rot in the tank. Things that will kill your bacteria- adding heavily chlorinated water and not using a water conditioner, cleaning your filter out thoroughly and if you have a very soft, acidic water tank this will slow down the bacteria growth quite a bit.

hope this helps