Question about ramshorn snails and cycling

Hi,

I have a few questions. I am about to set up a 5 gallon tank, just to play around with it and add different types of plants, and see how cycling progresses with those plants, and maybe add some ramshorn snails, too.

My 5 gallon tank is a rimless tank that I have used for betta keeping. It doesn't have a real lid, but a type of plastic cover with brackets that leaves about a 2 inch gap opening in the back to accommodate the hang on back filter.

Do ramshorn snails need a tight fitting lid to keep them from crawling out?

Can you cycle a tank using ramshorn snails as a "fish in" cycle, and not have to add any other ammonia source?

I've never done a fish-in cycle before, and I would like to try it without actually adding a fish, but rather snails, if that is possible.

I would appreciate any advice, and thanks in advance!

 

I dont have lids on any of my tanks and have have hundreds of ramshorn snails. Have never seen any on the floor. Last tank I cycled added some snails after a week or so with no problems.

 

I dont have lids on any of my tanks and have have hundreds of ramshorn snails. Have never seen any on the floor. Last tank I cycled added some snails after a week or so with no problems.

Great!! So did the snails provide everything needed for the cycle (enough of a bio load to cycle), or did you have to add something else for the ammonia, like fish food or ammonium chloride?

 

Doing snail-in cycling is just gonna be like fishless cycling. There's not much difference lol

In my experience ramshorns are a bit more sensitive to the cycling process than pond/bladder snails

 

Their poop will provide the ammonia.

I keep many ram'shorn snails in my 10g quaranteen tank to keep it cycled. I drop a few fish pellets in every 2-3 days, sometimes a wafer.

 

I would love if my Ramshorns would leave the tank....unfortunately they all prefer to stay
I cycled my QT with Ramshorns, but it took a while. They are definitely hardy enough.

 

Thanks to all of you who answered. I don't mind waiting a while for the tank to cycle. This is going to be one of those experiments with various types of plants. I just wanted to try cycling without using Fritz ammonium chloride for once, lol! Maybe when it is cycled, and I know how the plants are doing, I might want to add a fish...a betta or maybe 3 small male guppies. Or maybe I will turn it into a shrimp tank.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

Hey Rose of Sharon the snails poop will be enough to grow a tiny colony of bacteria, but not enough to build the numbers of bacteria for the daily poop load/ bio load of multiple fish.

Are you deliberately keeping the tank sterile and separate from your other tanks or do you intend to purposely add objects with bacteria from your other tanks?

If you have spare male guppies then adding them will give you a lot more ammonia than any dying plants.

 

Hey Rose of Sharon the snails poop will be enough to grow a tiny colony of bacteria, but not enough to build the numbers of bacteria for the daily poop load/ bio load of multiple fish.

Are you deliberately keeping the tank sterile and separate from your other tanks or do you intend to purposely add objects with bacteria from your other tanks?

If you have spare male guppies then adding them will give you a lot more ammonia than any dying plants.

I guess what I wanted was to be able to add new types of plants, and have the freedom to move things around a lot in the process of cycling without disturbing any fish. While I don't have any guppies right now, I can get them and add them to the tank in order to cycle it if the snails are not enough. Or, I can just go ahead and do a fishless cycle while working on the scape by using the ammonium chloride, and then get my guppies and add them when everything is completely done to my satisfaction.
I had to put down my last betta, and I don't like using the cycled media from a tank when I don't know really why the fish got sick. I guess I am really cautious after having gone through a cross contamintaion issue that caused me to lose all of my fish a few years back.

If I go ahead and cycle using the ammonium chloride instead of snails, will that hurt the new plants that I am getting? I don't want to spend a lot of money on plants, only to have them die in the cycling process.

I hope this makes sense!

 

It is best to combine newly purchased plants with plants from existing tanks for a walk in the park start of your new tank.

I'd wait with fish until you spot new plant growth of your newly purchased plants. Takes a few weeks probably.

I would not use an ammonia source.

Have a little faith in nature

 

No no need to buy male guppies just yet. I assumed you were culling dozens daily into the rubbish bin.

Plants prefer ammonia as a fertiliser but will make do with nitrates if that is all that is available.

I will have to leave you in the hands of ruud if you intend to build colonies of bacteria with plants. Of course plants from any established tank have some bacteria on them but I have zero experience expecting plants to feed bacteria.
As I wrote above plants compete for an ammonia source as there food supply don’t they?