Can I use snails to cycle?

Hello everyone!

I currently have a 5 gallon setup, but just got a new 10 gallon setup for my Betta, Murtagh. He's currently living with 2 nerites and 2 mysteries which I know is overstocked but it somehow cycles beautifully once I got the pH under control and added some Pothos. So I'm trying to move everyone to over to the 10 gallon. It's set up with gravel, filter, heater, lights and few new live plants. I've read about the different ways to do fishless cycling and it seems like there are a million things to be done. I'm wondering if I could go ahead and move over my snails? Would that be a good way to cycle the tank? I've also read about adding raw prawn...could that work? Just trying to figure out what will be the best method of cycling this tank without waiting for 3 months or sacrificing any of my animals. Thanks in advance!!

 

No, the snails have a small bioload, so the bacteria colony won’t be ready for fish at all.

I’ve cycled tanks using fish food.

 

So you just want to transfer what you have from your 5 gallon to the 10 gallon, right?

The easiest way would be to actually just transfer as much over as possible. After all, the nitrifiers in your old tank is presumably handling whatever ammonia your live stock was producing, so over to the new tank it'd still work as is.

However, since you already set up the new tank with gravel and stuff, I presume you don't want to transfer the old gravel over. If so, you have two options - fishless cycling your 10 gallon, or transfer the filter media from your old filter over to the new one and hope for the best.

I personally would be more inclined to do the latter, and hope that the filter media you transferred over brought over enough nitrifiers. Meanwhile, keep your 5 gallon running, including the filter without filter media. If worse comes to worse, you can transfer your live stock and filter media back. Best case, there's enough nitrifiers on your filter media you transferred over and all is good.

 

I agree with Azedenkae. Move the media from your old filter to the new one, or if there isn't room for it move the whole filter and run both for a month or two. Then go ahead and move the fish over too.

You'll likely lose a little of your bacteria colony, but it should recover quickly. After all, it's not like you're moving 10 big fish into the tank. One betta doesn't have that much bioload. Of course it will be a good idea to test your water frequently for a while, but I'd be very surprised if you get any significant ammonia or nitrite readings.

 

Azedenkae and JettsPapa thanks! So my 5 gallon is a topfin retreat utilizing the topfin large filter cartridge that is housed within the tank...one of the things I hate about it and the filter I purchased for the 10 gallon is a multi stage internal filter that is much smaller. How can I add the media?

I also have an infestation of bladder snails in the 5 gallon...so definitely trying to avoid that by carefully moving the plants when I do!

 

Well that's... no fun. D:

Hm. This is certainly slightly more difficult than I anticipated it to be lol.

Can you tie the cartridge to the inlet of the internal filter? It should work, though may not be super effective. :/ I'd recommend trying that and see if your betta is fine in the 10 gallon.

Like JettsPapa said, one betta does not have much of a bioload, and we can kinda not count the snails as they'll just scavenge whatever is leftover anyways, so not exactly contributing additional ammonia necessarily.

 

Azedenkae I know right? The cartridge is about 7 inches long, and the entire new internal filter is around 5 inches. I'll try and attach a picture, maybe you can tell me where to tie on the old cartridge? I've also stuffed some filter floss in front of the old cartridge to save it's life, so maybe the filter floss would suffice, I could put it where the sponge is in the new filter maybe? Here's the new filter and pic of cartridge for reference.

 

Azedenkae I know right? The cartridge is about 7 inches long, and the entire new internal filter is around 5 inches. I'll try and attach a picture, maybe you can tell me where to tie on the old cartridge? I've also stuffed some filter floss in front of the old cartridge to save it's life, so maybe the filter floss would suffice, I could put it where the sponge is in the new filter maybe? Here's the new filter and pic of cartridge for reference.

Yeah, that would be a pain. I was not sure if it was the one that had one pad or two pads. Was hoping it was the one pad lol. But two pads... argh. >_<

The inlet of your internal filter is underneath, right? I'd just shove the cartridge underneath if possible, so like at least one of the two pads is directly under the inlet.

To be honest though, I tend to use a different type of filter media that's way easier to move back and forth (MarinePure gems), so this is not something I'd normally have to deal with. Perhaps someone else could chime in on how they'd do this.

 

Yeah, that would be a pain. I was not sure if it was the one that had one pad or two pads. Was hoping it was the one pad lol. But two pads... argh. >_<

The inlet of your internal filter is underneath, right? I'd just shove the cartridge underneath if possible, so like at least one of the two pads is directly under the inlet.

To be honest though, I tend to use a different type of filter media that's way easier to move back and forth (MarinePure gems), so this is not something I'd normally have to deal with. Perhaps someone else could chime in on how they'd do this.

Yeah honestly I was thinking of just cutting up the filter maybe and placing it in there. Or maybe I'll try the filter floss first, that way that won't affect my current setup.

 

If you put it anywhere where there's flow it should be okay. Again, it's just one betta. There isn't going to be a ton of bioload.

 

I agree with everyone else, just transfer the old filter media to your new filter, and let it cycle. If you want to do fishes cycling, you can just dose ammonia to the tank, and since you'll be using mature filter media, it shouldn't take too long for the tank to be cycled.

There are lots of different methods of cycling the tank. While some people use fish food, some people (me included) use ammonium chloride or raw ammonia. I believe some people do use snails and it worked out fine for them, though I'm not entirely sure of it.

I have a HOB filter, and am really not great with my filter knowledge, so I don't really know what to suggest for the other issues.

 

JettsPapa it's a betta, two very large mysteries and 2 nerites...does that make a difference in bioload at all?

I just tested out the new tank and it has a boat load of nitrate...no idea how or why. There's nothing in there to degrade it's only new gravel, a couple of brand new plants, a piece of wood that had dried between uses from the old tank, and new filter, heater, etc. Everything was brand new besides the wood! Any idea?

 

JettsPapa it's a betta, two very large mysteries and 2 nerites...does that make a difference in bioload at all?

I just tested out the new tank and it has a boat load of nitrate...no idea how or why. There's nothing in there to degrade it's only new gravel, a couple of brand new plants, a piece of wood that had dried between uses from the old tank, and new filter, heater, etc. Everything was brand new besides the wood! Any idea?

How much nitrate was present? If there's no inverts or animals in the tank, then it could only be from your water used to fill the tank, or if you added fish store water to the aquarium, it could've been from there, though I doubt a lot of nitrate would be present...

 

How much nitrate was present? If there's no inverts or animals in the tank, then it could only be from your water used to fill the tank, or if you added fish store water to the aquarium, it could've been from there, though I doubt a lot of nitrate would be present...

I tested the tap several months ago when I was struggling with some pH problems (acidic) in my 5 gallon and it was neutral toward basic, and no nitrates but I'll definitely check on it. I just went through some other threads and read that 5 ppm (thats where it's sitting) is safe! I have NEVER had any nitrates at all in my 5 gallon so this is new territory for me. I was having a hard time getting it to cycle because the acidity being out of whack. The pH is good and matches the tap in the new tank, so I'll slowly introduce things this time to see what's causing that acidity increase.

 

Yeah, 5 ppm is definitely safe. Most people do water changes when their nitrate levels reach 20, and even still, nitrates aren't toxic to the fish.

I just went through some other threads and read that 5 ppm (thats where it's sitting) is safe! I have NEVER had any nitrates at all in my 5 gallon so this is new territory for me. I was having a hard time getting it to cycle because the acidity being out of whack.

Nitrate levels can also depend on how many plants are in the tank. The more plants there are, especially stem plants, the more nitrates and fertilizers the plants will take in. Some people are so heavily planted that they rarely do water changes, if at all. How many plants do you have in there and in your old tank? Anyway, nitrates are definitely not a problem, just do a water change accordingly.

 

I tested the tap several months ago when I was struggling with some pH problems (acidic) in my 5 gallon and it was neutral toward basic, and no nitrates but I'll definitely check on it. I just went through some other threads and read that 5 ppm (thats where it's sitting) is safe! I have NEVER had any nitrates at all in my 5 gallon so this is new territory for me. I was having a hard time getting it to cycle because the acidity being out of whack. The pH is good and matches the tap in the new tank, so I'll slowly introduce things this time to see what's causing that acidity increase.

I don't worry if nitrates are at 40 ppm.

 

Yeah, 5 ppm is definitely safe. Most people do water changes when their nitrate levels reach 20, and even still, nitrates aren't toxic to the fish.

Nitrate levels can also depend on how many plants are in the tank. The more plants there are, especially stem plants, the more nitrates and fertilizers the plants will take in. Some people are so heavily planted that they rarely do water changes, if at all. How many plants do you have in there and in your old tank? Anyway, nitrates are definitely not a problem, just do a water change accordingly.

Revan I have a couple of anubias, java fern, sword fern, dwarf grass (i think that's the name) red tiger lotus, another taller plant, can't remember the name and several pothos vines rooting. I think for a 5 gallon it's relatively planted! That's probably why!

 

Yeah, that's pretty heavily planted. Seems like you have a lot of epiphytes, and a few stem plants.