20 Gallon Tank My Childrens 20G Color Frenzy

[Flyfisha]

The snails are nothing to worry about.
The umbrella or palm tree looking things are I believe hydra.

You could search for pictures on this forum?

As the name implies they can’t easily be removed by scrapping as each “ arm/ head ) will grow a new tree from being broken. Best to kill them with deworming medication .

They are dangerous to shrimp and very small fry. They sting fish and only a very very hungry fish will eat a couple.

Do not panic. They are no big deal but you want to keep them to a minimum. Don’t try and scrape them off.

 

[StarGirl]

We removed 7 big snails yesterday and there are like ten more I see today.. I’ll be removing more today. I also am now seeing this on the glass.. anyone have any idea what the heck these are?!

The bearer of bad news here......those are hydra....

 

[Huckleberry77]

We removed 7 big snails yesterday and there are like ten more I see today.. I’ll be removing more today. I also am now seeing this on the glass.. anyone have any idea what the heck these are?!

I think they are Hydra.

 

[Kareninpa]

Where do those come from?

 

[Flyfisha]

They would have probably been on some plants?

Or anything that was in another aquarium when you brought it.

 

[Kareninpa]

So I called the aquarium store and they recommend to get a blue gourami.. this is all new to me and now I’m worried about our shrimp/fish.. what would be your recommendations?

 

[Flyfisha]

A blue gourami is a six inch fish. When I search this site for “ blue gourami “

The dwarf gourami comes in a few colours with one of the common colours being blue.
I had a bad experience with mine as have many others that sell them at auction. Although it’s called a dwarf gourami it’s still a big fish for a 20 gallon. Most sold in shops are males as the females are not as colourful.

I can’t speak about a blue gourami as I have not kept one , but the dwarf gourami has a bad reputation as aggressive. They are a cousin to the betta/ Siamese fighting fish. i definitely would not recommend buying a fish to eat a pest .

I have a little hydra from time to time.
40 minutes after my routine deworming medication it’s dead.
The member posting on post #4 of this thread below has the blue variety of dwarf gourami as a profile picture.
The comments about aggression are also in some of the replies in this tread.
Dwarf Gouramis | Aquarium Stocking Forum | 428353

 

[StarGirl]

I wouldn't get a dwarf gourami either. They are pretty aggressive from my experience.

I have heard Spixxi snails will eat them. I think devsi Used them in their tank. They are pretty too.

I don't remember if you said you have pet snails? The de wormer or planeria zero are options. It may kill snails though. It will kill hydra fast.

 

[Kareninpa]

I wouldn't get a dwarf gourami either. They are pretty aggressive from my experience.

I have heard Spixxi snails will eat them. I think devsi Used them in their tank. They are pretty too.

I don't remember if you said you have pet snails? The de wormer or planeria zero are options. It may kill snails though. It will kill hydra fast.

The snails we have came unwanted.. they are pond snails that came on the moss… we also have two cherry red shrimp as well.

 

[Flyfisha]

At the recommended dosage the deworming medication I use does not kill cherry shrimp or pest snails. Mystery snails ( the big yellow guys) don’t survive deworming as I found out not so long ago.

 

[Kareninpa]

What medication do you use?

 

[Flyfisha]

Worms kill fish , we are writing about internal parasites.
I have used three different kinds of deworming medication and not killed any cherry shrimp, livebearers fry ,juvenile fish, bacteria or pest snails.

I would not risk medication on tiny tiny egg laying fry the size of a grain of sand so don’t know what the outcome would be with those fry.

 

[StarGirl]

What medication do you use?

Panacur dog dewormer or Planeria Zero. You have to order the planeria zero online. The Panacur dog wormer you can get at a pet store.

richiep has the dosage. I'm at work so I can't find it right now.

 

[TClare]

We removed 7 big snails yesterday and there are like ten more I see today.. I’ll be removing more today. I also am now seeing this on the glass.. anyone have any idea what the heck these are?!

They look like hydra. Not really harmful except to very small fry.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Hello, new poster to your thread(up-to-date on things )

So I called the aquarium store and they recommend to get a blue gourami.. this is all new to me and now I’m worried about our shrimp/fish.. what would be your recommendations?

A blue gourami is a six inch fish. When I search this site for “ blue gourami “

The Blue Gourami(Trichopodus trichopterus), I imagine was suggested because they are known for eating Hydra. However like stated here they grow to around 6" and on top of that are quite aggressive while also being social. So a much larger tank would be required to keep a group.

I guess I'm lucky right now, my daughter is only around 7 months and doesn't really get much of a say in what we keep. She does seem to enjoy the fish shooting around though.

 

[smileyshrimp]

We were told to use Seachem prime every time we do water changes. They told us to keep an eye on the ammonia and if it started to creep up to do every other day 20% water changes and then do 20 Drops of prime each water change.

I am not home currently but will take a picture of the food we were given, it's a tropical fish flake.

We were thinking of adding in some driftwood.. should we add in a live plant or two as well?

We were told to start feeding once a day which we have been but I'm not sure I'm feeding enough as the fish seem like they are famished when we feed.. so I'm wondering if A- I'm feeding enough in one feeding (they told us their stomachs are about as big as their eyes so we've been doing a pinch) and B- should we add a second feeding in.

As far as their names.. my Daughter chose "Minnie and Mickey" for the candy canes and my son chose "Donald and daisy" for the x-rays.

That's really sad to hear about the Glo Tetras.. when I was in college I worked at Vets offices and people would bring in the newest "crossbred" dog (example: golden doodle or bernie doodle) and then could not understand why they would spend thousands on vet bills for hip dysplasia or chronic skin infections... So I do understand that.

My daughter wanted the green, pink, and purple glo Tetra's but again.. We are in no rush to add more to the tank until I know the tank is safe and good.

The driftwood sound like an awesome idea to me, and live plants are always the best, they help keep the water cleaner (shouldn’t be a substitute for water changes tho) and give the fish cover, I’d definitely recommend them

 

[Fisch]

I have a hard time to see the snail in the picture, hard to make an identification.
The most common snails are Bladder Snails, Ramshorn Snails, or Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Feed a bit less, remove any new ones by hand, and if you see any jelly like egg packets on any surface...remove.

 

[Kareninpa]

I have a hard time to see the snail in the picture, hard to make an identification.
The most common snails are Bladder Snails, Ramshorn Snails, or Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Feed a bit less, remove any new ones by hand, and if you see any jelly like egg packets on any surface...remove.

We got an assassin snail to try and reduce the pond snail population, there are literally at least 30 babies that we cannot seem to scoop up.

As far as the hydra, were going to try something to see if it works.. we got 3 test tubes and we were told to poke a hole in the top and add some brine shrimp into the tube. Then drop them into the tank and see if it can make kind of a trap for the hydra. If not we will try the dewormer, but we have to remove the assassin snail first...

 

[Flyfisha]

The trap you describe sounds like the kind of thing used to catch planaria . A white flat worm looking thing that we get in aquariums that looks like and moves around like a flat worm?

Who am I to say the trap won’t catch hydra that lives a life like a plant ? Maybe they do move around I am interested to hear how the trap works? It could be as useful as the 6 inch fish suggestion?

 

[Kareninpa]

The trap you describe sounds like the kind of thing used to catch planaria . A white flat worm looking thing that we get in aquariums that looks like and moves around like a flat worm?

Who am I to say the trap won’t catch hydra that lives a life like a plant ? Maybe they do move around I am interested to hear how the trap works? It could be as useful as the 6 inch fish suggestion?

That looks like what the guy suggested.. Kelly, who we usually deal with wasn't there yesterday but she'll be there tomorrow so I plan to call her and see what she recommends...

 

[Kareninpa]

So is this a molt or a dead shrimp?

 

[ProudPapa]

So is this a molt or a dead shrimp?

I believe that's a dead shrimp, but I'm not sure. Molts are typically more or less clear. You should be able to tell if there's flesh inside it.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Looks like a molt to me but it's always hard to tell in photo's.

 

[Kareninpa]

Ok I think it’s a molt… I’m pretty sure these are the two shrimp
Update:
Its a molt.. both ladies are accounted for! Never seen one so complete!

 

[ProudPapa]

Ok I think it’s a molt… I’m pretty sure these are the two shrimp
Update:
Its a molt.. both ladies are accounted for! Never seen one so complete!

I'm glad they're all okay. I don't think I've ever seen one with that much color. That's what threw me off.

 

[StarGirl]

My dead shrimp are always pink. This is a molt!

 

[Kareninpa]

I'm glad they're all okay. I don't think I've ever seen one with that much color. That's what threw me off.

That’s exactly why I came to ask.. and I looked for the shrimp and couldn’t find them. We did decide to try some sparkling gouramis for the hydra. We spoke to the store and they told us if they try to go after the shrimp then we can take them back and they will put them in their display tanks and take care of them..

 

[Kareninpa]

So we ended up taking back the Gourami as they started attacking the shrimp and the shrimp spent the entire day hiding under the driftwood..

We did a 60% water change because we had to move the tank from the bay window to a stand as it’s starting to get fall here and the temp fluctuation would have been really bad. We also changed the filter and added more prime and stability.

Since the change we’ve not seen new hydra, so I’m keeping an eye out for that..
The tank just moved on to the stand without the light plugged in yet..

 

[Kareninpa]

So my husband surprised my daughter who was a bit sad about the gouramis (even though she's way more attached to the shrimp) with a albino xray tetra and two more shrimp. One orange shrimp and one candy cane shrimp.

Makes me realize how big the other two shrimp are..
The orange one loves to clean the assassin snails shell..

 

[Flyfisha]

The candy cane (red and white) shrimp is a caridina shrimp .
The cherry shrimp are neocaridina.

The needs of caridina are quite specific.
Neocaridina can put up with almost any water parameters including temperature.
The caridina is to difficult for me to try and keep alive. Apart from their water parameter requirements they need a lower temperature than I can provide in my summer.

A link that might help explain a little about the needs of caridina shrimp?

Neos and Caridina in the same tank? | Freshwater Invertebrate Forum | 447507

 

[Kareninpa]

The candy cane (red and white) shrimp is a caridina shrimp .
The cherry shrimp are neocaridina.

The needs of caridina are quite specific.
Neocaridina can put up with almost any water parameters including temperature.
The caridina is to difficult for me to try and keep alive. Apart from their water parameter requirements they need a lower temperature than I can provide in my summer.

A link that might help explain a little about the needs of caridina shrimp?

Neos and Caridina in the same tank? | Freshwater Invertebrate Forum | 447507

Interesting.. I was told these were bred from Cherry shrimp just like the blue dream

 

[Flyfisha]

I could be totally wrong. I am not familiar with what colours are being breed overseas.

 

[Blacksheep1]

No Flyfisha is correct. That is indeed a lovely caridina shrimp ( the red and white one ). The orange is just a colour variant of the red cherry shrimp you already have , it’s still a neocaridina. As he said , they require different water parameters.

I don’t know who told you this info at the store but you really need to be checking before you buy , you’ve had some bad advice again I’m afraid. You may lose that shrimp to the next moult.

were they the same price by any chance ?

 

[Kareninpa]

No Flyfisha is correct. That is indeed a lovely caridina shrimp ( the red and white one ). The orange is just a colour variant of the red cherry shrimp you already have , it’s still a neocaridina. As he said , they require different water parameters.

I don’t know who told you this info at the store but you really need to be checking before you buy , you’ve had some bad advice again I’m afraid. You may lose that shrimp to the next moult.

were they the same price by any chance ?

My husband said the candy cane one was about $2 more.

 

[Blacksheep1]

Sounds about right and is a good indicator to watch for in the future. As this shrimp was mis sold to you I believe you’re well within your rights to take it back and ask for it to be swapped, if you have the time to catch , bag , drive to the store that is.

 

[Kareninpa]

So we have been gone for the week and my husbands uncle was feeding the fish and shrimp and today when checking out the tank to amount for everyone, I noticed these on the driftwood.. any idea what the heck they are?!

 

[Motherlovebetta]

Hard to see but I’d say snails.

 

[StarGirl]

Do you have assassin snails in there? Any snails? They kinda look like assassin eggs. Little yellow dot in a clear pouch.

OR they are baby snails.

 

[Kareninpa]

I do have an assassin snail.. Just one though.

 

[StarGirl]

The first pic is what a assassin egg looks like. They only lay one at a time though. Are the dots moving?
Pictorial guide of hitchhikers | Fish, Snail, Worm And Pest ID Help Forum | 428501

 

[Motherlovebetta]

The first pic is what a assassin egg looks like. They only lay one at a time though. Are the dots moving?
Pictorial guide of hitchhikers | Fish, Snail, Worm And Pest ID Help Forum | 428501

Almost looks like tiny little bladder snails if you zoom in??

 

[Kareninpa]

Here are some more pictures..

 

[StarGirl]

Are they moving? That 1st pic definitely look like assassin eggs. There are just so many.....

 

[Kareninpa]

Are they moving? That 1st pic definitely look like assassin eggs. There are just so many.....

They don’t look like they are moving at all.. I only have one assassin snail.. How do I end up with all the crazy stuff?!? ‍♀️

 

[StarGirl]

Feohw richiep can they lay this many? Im trying to see but everything says one egg.

 

[richiep]

Although assissans only lay one egg at a time this one can accumulate into groups as seen in the picture, I've seen as many as 8ish in my tank, the fact you have only one assissan proves they can lay a lot more over a week or so.
I'm impressed

 

[Kareninpa]

Although assissans only lay one egg at a time this one can accumulate into groups as seen in the picture, I've seen as many as 8ish in my tank, the fact you have only one assissan proves they can lay a lot more over a week or so.
I'm impressed

Since I only have one… how is it laying eggs?!

 

[Silverleaf209]

Since I only have one… how is it laying eggs?!

It is the same way with nerite snails, even though they can't hatch in freshwater the nerite snails still lay eggs, even though the eggs might not be fertile it still happens.

 

[StarGirl]

Since I only have one… how is it laying eggs?!

It may have already been carrying eggs. Snails are famous for that.

 

[richiep]

How long have you had this Assissan snail