skinandbonesx
- #1
I am at a complete lost regarding my nerite snails.
I bought 2 over a month ago with the intention of having one in each of my 5 gallon betta tanks. I quarantined them together for two weeks, changing their water using the water from my tanks so that they would get used to the parameters that my tanks are kept at. When I moved onto finally putting them in the tanks, I encountered an issue. They accepted 1 tank and are totally thriving, but for some reason the other one, they refuse to take to it. When I put one in the tank it will immediately crawl to the surface and up out of the water, and unless I pester them, they will not forage for algae, so I'm forced to move it back to the other tank.
For the last month or so I've had them both in the 'working' tank, trying periodically to move one over with no success. Same issue every time.
Now this is strange to me, because these tanks should be literally identical. I get the water from the same source, they share the same plants and similar decor, have the same filter and heating system, and I tend to them the same way with the same water changes and whatnot. All my tests come up reading exactly the same. The only reading that is ever different is Ph. The working tank is ever so slightly more acidic (they both fall somewhere in the range of between 7 and 7.5 -- I chalk the difference up to the working tank having a larger piece of driftwood), but it's barely noticeably difference, I don't believe it would cause this much drama.
current parameters for both tanks:
- Ph: 7-7.5
Ammonia: <0.05 (lowest reading on my test)
Nitrites: <0.01 (lowest reading on my test)
Nirates: <0.5 (lowest reading on my test)
GH: ~4-7°d (less precise because this information comes from strips but I get consistent readings from the stripes)
KH: ~6-10°d (less precise because this information comes from strips but I get consistent readings from the stripes)
The readings are so identical within my tanks I can't even tell the difference between readings when I do test them.
THE ONLY THING I can think of, is the following.
During the snail's quarantine, I was treating one of my bettas with a fungal medication because he had developed some sort of growth on his forehead (it turns out it was just a sore, he probably hit is head something and the scales were growing over in white, making it look fungal against his mostly blue body). For referance the meds were eSHa 2000 which is made up of mostly "ethacridinI lactas".
I knew that a lot of fish medications were not safe for snails, so while I was treating, I was using the other tank's water to change the snail's quarantine water with so that the snails were not getting treated water. Since the treatment I've done multiple water changes, partial and full, and have even done a quite thorough cleaning of the tank (not a deep clean like bleaching and rinsing everything and starting a new cycle, but a good scrub of all the plants, decor and a thorough vacuum of the gravel) but still it seems that the snails are sensitive to something in the water. I would think that the treatment would be gone by now?
Is there something else I'm missing here?
I bought 2 over a month ago with the intention of having one in each of my 5 gallon betta tanks. I quarantined them together for two weeks, changing their water using the water from my tanks so that they would get used to the parameters that my tanks are kept at. When I moved onto finally putting them in the tanks, I encountered an issue. They accepted 1 tank and are totally thriving, but for some reason the other one, they refuse to take to it. When I put one in the tank it will immediately crawl to the surface and up out of the water, and unless I pester them, they will not forage for algae, so I'm forced to move it back to the other tank.
For the last month or so I've had them both in the 'working' tank, trying periodically to move one over with no success. Same issue every time.
Now this is strange to me, because these tanks should be literally identical. I get the water from the same source, they share the same plants and similar decor, have the same filter and heating system, and I tend to them the same way with the same water changes and whatnot. All my tests come up reading exactly the same. The only reading that is ever different is Ph. The working tank is ever so slightly more acidic (they both fall somewhere in the range of between 7 and 7.5 -- I chalk the difference up to the working tank having a larger piece of driftwood), but it's barely noticeably difference, I don't believe it would cause this much drama.
current parameters for both tanks:
- Ph: 7-7.5
Ammonia: <0.05 (lowest reading on my test)
Nitrites: <0.01 (lowest reading on my test)
Nirates: <0.5 (lowest reading on my test)
GH: ~4-7°d (less precise because this information comes from strips but I get consistent readings from the stripes)
KH: ~6-10°d (less precise because this information comes from strips but I get consistent readings from the stripes)
The readings are so identical within my tanks I can't even tell the difference between readings when I do test them.
THE ONLY THING I can think of, is the following.
During the snail's quarantine, I was treating one of my bettas with a fungal medication because he had developed some sort of growth on his forehead (it turns out it was just a sore, he probably hit is head something and the scales were growing over in white, making it look fungal against his mostly blue body). For referance the meds were eSHa 2000 which is made up of mostly "ethacridinI lactas".
I knew that a lot of fish medications were not safe for snails, so while I was treating, I was using the other tank's water to change the snail's quarantine water with so that the snails were not getting treated water. Since the treatment I've done multiple water changes, partial and full, and have even done a quite thorough cleaning of the tank (not a deep clean like bleaching and rinsing everything and starting a new cycle, but a good scrub of all the plants, decor and a thorough vacuum of the gravel) but still it seems that the snails are sensitive to something in the water. I would think that the treatment would be gone by now?
Is there something else I'm missing here?