2 Gallon Tank Starting Over With My 2.6g Tank

I had a 2 week old tank with a Betta, nerite snail and some live plants. this past weekend the snail died which I think is due to the parameters of the tank. It was at the point where the ammonia spiked. Then out of nowhere, an infestation of snails. I have a feeling it came in on the moss ball I had in there. I cleaned off all the pants real good and make sure there was nothing on them. The moss ball had white things all over it prior to the outbreak.

I removed the plants/mossball from the tank and decided to see if things would clear up. Sure enough it didn't. I put the betta in another tank and completely emptied the tank and I'm waiting for the gravel and tank itself to dry out. I'm going to start the cycling process all over again.

However, while I wait for things to dry out, I've been doing my research on my Fluval Spec 2.6g tank and saw something others are doing differently and want some advice.

-Some are using 2 packs of the biomax instead of the typical carbon pack and biomax.
-Others are using 1 biomax and 1 Seachem Purigen. Apparently this highly spoken about in reviews.

What does everyone think of those 2 methods?
Is one better than the other?
Or should I stick to the regular carbon and biomax from the start?

I'm really debating on putting live plants back in there because I don't want this to happen again. Although the plants at Petco and PetSmart say they're "snail free", I highly question that.

 

I don't run carbon in anybof my tanks. I use extra bio media.
What I can't figure out is why you tore down your tank in the middle of cycling. Snails are a part of fish tanks. They are not difficult to remove or control. But it takes about a month to Cycle your tank which is what actually killed your Nerite snail. They are sensitive. Snail eggs are difficult to spot and remove so they are easily missed. Live plants are a must for me. As long as you don't over feed they won't be a problem for long.

 

Just like brondo I don’t run and kind of chemical filtration in my tanks and I only use carbon if I want to remove meds from a quarantine tank

 

I don't run carbon in anybof my tanks. I use extra bio media.
What I can't figure out is why you tore down your tank in the middle of cycling. Snails are a part of fish tanks. They are not difficult to remove or control. But it takes about a month to Cycle your tank which is what actually killed your Nerite snail. They are sensitive. Snail eggs are difficult to spot and remove so they are easily missed. Live plants are a must for me. As long as you don't over feed they won't be a problem for long.

I know its part of fish tanks but it was overrun by them. If I had a bigger tank then I'd be okay with it. but it was just everywhere. Since it was only 2 weeks out, I don't mind starting over again. This time, I wanted to start differently depending on what everyone suggestioned.

I loved the live plants. I had an Anacharis, Pennywort, Java Fern and a anubias nana. The Anacharis was growing like it was on steroids which looked awesome. The Anubias was holding strong too. But by the end, they were all infested with white dots (moving in some cases) and the Pennywort and Java Fern were starting to turn brown and grow black dots too. After speaking about it with someone at the local pet store, they confirmed what I thought and it was not enough light for those two. He was actually surprised that the Anacharis survived in the warm water.

back to my next question, how is the water clarity with your extra bio media? is it just as clear? Or would I have to keep an eye on things a bit more.

 

I don't have trouble with water clarity at all. I don't miss the carbon. I don't know what the pet store guy is talking about. I keep Anacharis in all my tanks from 78- 81 degrees and it grows great and Java fern is a lower light plant. It doesn't need high light. I bought Pennywort once from Petco and it slowly died so I haven't tried that one again. But the rest are easy to grow, hardy plants for me and I am very low tech. It is also very normal for new plants to melt back a bit after going into a new tank, being planted and in new water. I feel like you jumped the gun a little bit but its not the end of the world. The more I fiddle with my plants the more unhappy they are. Just be sure not to plant the Anubius or the Java fern in the substrate. You tie them to a rock or something abovw the surface. You can tuck Anacharis stems in the ground or float them. I find they will die after awhile where its planted. They feed from the water column also, like the Java fern and anubius instead of the substrate.
But I would personally ditch the carbon. Keep it around just incase you need to medicate at a later date. You can add it back in after to remove any medications used from the water.

 

I don't have trouble with water clarity at all. I don't miss the carbon. I don't know what the pet store guy is talking about. I keep Anacharis in all my tanks from 78- 81 degrees and it grows great and Java fern is a lower light plant. It doesn't need high light. I bought Pennywort once from Petco and it slowly died so I haven't tried that one again. But the rest are easy to grow, hardy plants for me and I am very low tech. It is also very normal for new plants to melt back a bit after going into a new tank, being planted and in new water. I feel like you jumped the gun a little bit but its not the end of the world. The more I fiddle with my plants the more unhappy they are. Just be sure not to plant the Anubius or the Java fern in the substrate. You tie them to a rock or something abovw the surface. You can tuck Anacharis stems in the ground or float them. I find they will die after awhile where its planted. They feed from the water column also, like the Java fern and anubius instead of the substrate.
But I would personally ditch the carbon. Keep it around just incase you need to medicate at a later date. You can add it back in after to remove any medications used from the water.

Thank you for the info. I appreciate it. I made sure the rhizome from the anubias was above the gravel. The java fern not so much but I learn something new every day. I picked up 2 biomax bags and will start filling the tank tomorrow. Everything is nearly dry. This time around I will use some of the tank water from the 1 gallon tank and put it into the Fluval to help with cycling. I will hold off on plants for now until the tank cycles.

I love the anubias so I'll most likely go for another nana or petite. I have heard and seen a youtube video about tying or gluing them to the driftwood. Don't know how I feel about gluing but I will definitely try tying them to the driftwood instead. I want to try something new/different this time around.

 

I have used the glue before and it hasnt been a problem at all. But it does seem to wear out after a while and if the plant doesn't have a good hold by then it falls off and the glue left behind isn't pretty.
As for the water, I wouldnt bother transferring it from the other tank. water doesn't hold any of that good bacteria that you are looking for. The only reason really to move the water over would be if you were moving a sensitive fish who may struggle if the water perameters are too different. Tanks can get build up or become deficient in different minerals, Ph can fluctuate for different reasons etc. I keep a bottle of Stability around and use it to start my bacteria colony and whenever I have to medicate any tanks I use some just incase the medication killed off any. I also would add the plants right away. That good bacteria grows on every surface and it won't make a difference to the plants, they only do good things.