30 Gallon Tank Has My Heater Been Killing My Mysteries?!

My Black Mysteries have been dying in multiples almost everyday now, for the past two weeks, at least! I had 3 clutches hatch between December and February. Had some gold mysteries in the tank as well. Of late the Black Mysteries seem to be dying off! None of my fish (except the little yellow Neon my Angel attacked ) have died, however my Garras did have white blotches on their sides (they weren’t cottony) that cleared up with a Mela & Pima treatment.

Today I just noticed this corrosion(?), living organism(?) on the backside of the heater! I immediately removed it and replaced it with a backup. My water has been this strange yellowy color, for a few weeks now, too, even after water changes. I’ve added Prime, Remediation, even Acurel, and still the water never clears up.

I’m thinking these issues must be related to this stuff on the heater. I’ve attached pics of the tank, two pics of the heater (you’ll see the difference in color from wet to dry in both), one of my older Mysteries’ where its internal organs turned GREEN (they’ve never been green like that!!), and close up of the Mysteries I removed this morning. The recently deceased have very little odor and the largest hung on for weeks before dying! Many times I thought he was gone but I saw movement in his foot so I’d put him back in the tank.

My Plan of Action for today was going to be a quarter to half tank water change, followed by Equilibrium, Acid Buffer/Alkaline Buffer, Prime, Remediation and AlgaeFix because I’ve been having a hard time controlling the green algae. It even grows on some of the Mysteries’ shells!

Answers, suggestions, opinions are desperately needed and most appreciated!
Many many thanks in advance!,

 

So a few things, it looks like your heater may have melted or something extremely corrosive happened. The shells all look corroded as well. What is the pH in this tank?

Also I'd stop with all of the quick fix products. They cause way more harm than good. It looks like you're adding a ton of quick fix products (or plan to today) which makes the water unstable. Most things can be fixed with water changes. You really should also consider more filtration as mystery snails have HUGE bioloads. That sponge filter I am sure is struggling to keep up.

 

In The white build up part on the heater can you get a closer picture ? The dots on the outside look normal everywhere else except inside that white part , it almost looks like holes.. it could just be the picture of course. Does the gunk wipe off ?
That’s a lot of snails , what’s the tank size ? And as posted above what’s the ph but I’d like to know kh/ gh too.

again to echo as above , don’t add the quick fixes , instead of a 25% change do 50% at least.

I wonder if the heater gunk and bioload of the tank built up too high, combined with a lower water change schedule ( what’s the nitrates please ?) is causing water issues . your snails may be out competing each other resulting in a die off in population. What do you feed the snails specifically ?

 

So a few things, it looks like your heater may have melted or something extremely corrosive happened. The shells all look corroded as well. What is the pH in this tank?

Also I'd stop with all of the quick fix products. They cause way more harm than good. It looks like you're adding a ton of quick fix products (or plan to today) which makes the water unstable. Most things can be fixed with water changes. You really should also consider more filtration as mystery snails have HUGE bioloads. That sponge filter I am sure is struggling to keep up.

Thank you! Couldn’t agree with you more about the sponge filter! I’ve also got Seachem Matrix BioMedia, MarineLand Black Diamond Media Premium Activated Carbon, and an Algone Aquarium Water Clarifier & Nitrate Remover pack (replaced weekly). The pH is 7.8 - 8.0 and temp between 80 - 82 Fahrenheit.

You’re saying their shells look corroded but if you look closer you’ll notice the deterioration starts at their whirls and works out from there. Is there some sort of bacteria or parasite that could be eating their shells? I’ve tried researching this but information is limited.

I hadn’t expected the plethora of Mysteries with which I’d ended up. The stores I usually sell to have decreased their numbers, hence, my over abundance of snails. I’m changing the water (spring water) at least every two weeks at this time: 30-gallon tank, replacing 10 - 11 gallons a change.

Suggestions on additional filtration options?

In The white build up part on the heater can you get a closer picture ? The dots on the outside look normal everywhere else except inside that white part , it almost looks like holes.. it could just be the picture of course. Does the gunk wipe off ?
That’s a lot of snails , what’s the tank size ? And as posted above what’s the ph but I’d like to know kh/ gh too.

again to echo as above , don’t add the quick fixes , instead of a 25% change do 50% at least.

I wonder if the heater gunk and bioload of the tank built up too high, combined with a lower water change schedule ( what’s the nitrates please ?) is causing water issues . your snails may be out competing each other resulting in a die off in population. What do you feed the snails specifically ?

I’ve enlarged one of the pictures originally included. The portion of the build up that’s dry, is white, while the wet portion is brown. At closer look, you’ll see the build up has the appearance of coral. It seems almost porous. It rubs off like dust when it’s dry.

Tank is a 30-gallon, pH 7.8 - 8.0, the kh /gh I’ll have to get back to you but they’ve been running 18-20. I recently changed from a fluorescent bulb to a Finnex 247 Planted CRV LED light and keep it on the automated 24/7 cycle. I do notice a difference in intensity and color but I’m sure it’s not the light making my tank appear s

Snails eat same as rest of tank: New Life Spectrum Naturox Optimum Flakes and Aquatic Arts Sinking Pellets. I add natural cuttlebone which they love. I’ve also used Waco Wonder Shell Natural Minerals, which seem to dissolve much faster.

Nitrates and ammonia have been on the high side, which I’m sure all the snails dying doesn’t help. Plants have had it rough, too. The algae is just relentless.

Speaking of potentially out competing each other, I will say that there have been NO CLUTCHES since February this year. The last time I had a Mystery explosion (Gold Mysteries) they went without laying a single clutch for two years! I waited til they all had died as I learned a valuable lesson in “What Happens When Mystery Snails Inbreed, Three, Four Generations?” the hard way. In both cases seem to understand “Overcrowded” and “Self Population Control.”

Sorry this took a bit but I tried to get as much information together as possible. Thank you! Thank you for any and all suggestions.

 

Hmm. It truly is a mystery ( pun intended !) I’m not wholly surprised on the self population control, natures pretty amazing.

Personally I’d up those water changes for a while , 50% upwards. Snails are notoriously messy and with a couple of die offs on top for the ammonia, higher % would help.

could you add a veggie to there diet ? I believe others have said the wonder shells raised gh ( I haven’t used them myself so can’t 100 be sure ) but if it sat around 18-20 to start with it might be worth a check.

I wonder with the new light and abundance of ammonia / nitrates is causing your algae issue . The tank seems a little imbalanced ( been there, still there ) Try the higher water changes for a bit and see if it helps at all, it certainly won’t hurt the tank .

I’m out of ideas for what’s on the heater but if it is corrosive be careful touching and handling it! I hope you get a better answer than mine