aridiar
Aquarium Advice Regular
So first thing I need to tell is what's in my tank. 2 Adult Silver lyretail Mollies, 2 Baby Mollies from her first batch that are about the size of neon tetras that you find in the store (which oddly enough are a male/female pair), probably around 3 dozen baby mollies (probably around .75cm each).
I also have 1 Pleco that is ~3", but I plan on giving that to my sister to help keep algea down in her Cicilid tank and replacing with a pair of Otos, after the tank has been moved (if you know something that would be better please say, just not snails *see signature*)
I have a number of snails that is beyond my ability to count. I was planning on getting something to eat or kill them later.
I have duckweed covering the half of my tank that is not by my filter (an AquaClear 150). There are also a few plants but I don't know what all of them are b/c some of them I had bought from the store to feed my fish over spring break and they started to grow roots **my plants aren't as prolific as my fish, I've assumed b/c of the salt that I add for the mollies**. Ones that I DO know are Banana plant, dwarf Lily, Apongen (something like that, I bought the bulbs at WalMart, same thing for the lily), and a dwindling amount of microsword
My tank has an under the gravel filter with 3 tubes (all running) a AquaClear 150 with the sponge, carbon, and Amrid medias. And a 2.5" bubble disk and air stone (aside from the 3 airstones that I am not counting b/c they are powering the filter), an Ammonia Alert device from Seachem. I have a full hood light with a tube light that is supposed to enhance fish colors and plant growth, which I run 16 or so hours a day (to keep the water temp between 78 and 82 so the babies will grow faster) I've got one fake driftwood log, a glass/porcelain tree stump, and a fake rock archway.
I do water changes every week, sometimes only once every two weeks, sometimes more often. I usually take out one pail of water (~2gal). I've been gradually reducing the salt in my tank by not adding as much when I do water changes, I haven't added any the last 2 times and the plants are starting to look better. I've also started using Florapride.
I feed Spirulina Algea tabs for the pleco (the mollies sometimes eat it first and I have to add another). I feed a mix of crushed food for the baby mollies (TetraMin tropical Flakes, some of the algea tabs, TetraPro Tropical Crisps, freeze-dried Blood Worms and Shrimp). I had been feeding the adults the same types of food except that it wasn't crushed but they seemed to be eating the crushed food more anyway so I just started feeding that instead of both.
I do realize that the filters have pretty strong currents involved considering the babies, but I had them in a 2gal tank for a short period of time (a week, maybe a week and a half), and haven't noticed any significant decrease in the number of babies since i moved them to my 10gal.
I also realize that the easiest solution (and one I would like the most) would be to get a bigger tank, but I live in a dormitory with a limit to 10 gallons per person per room, and I was already breaking the rules with the extra 2 gal tank (which is now stored in my closet until I move out for the summer).
ANYWAY, my questions are:
1-Is my tank over-loaded with fish, even tho they all seem to be fine?
2-How can I get the fish and the plants to my dads alive, without bringing snails and snail eggs to reinfest my tank?
3-Should the tank get reinfested anyway what can I do about the snails?
4-Does anyone want baby mollies? and Can you come pick them up?
I also have 1 Pleco that is ~3", but I plan on giving that to my sister to help keep algea down in her Cicilid tank and replacing with a pair of Otos, after the tank has been moved (if you know something that would be better please say, just not snails *see signature*)
I have a number of snails that is beyond my ability to count. I was planning on getting something to eat or kill them later.
I have duckweed covering the half of my tank that is not by my filter (an AquaClear 150). There are also a few plants but I don't know what all of them are b/c some of them I had bought from the store to feed my fish over spring break and they started to grow roots **my plants aren't as prolific as my fish, I've assumed b/c of the salt that I add for the mollies**. Ones that I DO know are Banana plant, dwarf Lily, Apongen (something like that, I bought the bulbs at WalMart, same thing for the lily), and a dwindling amount of microsword
My tank has an under the gravel filter with 3 tubes (all running) a AquaClear 150 with the sponge, carbon, and Amrid medias. And a 2.5" bubble disk and air stone (aside from the 3 airstones that I am not counting b/c they are powering the filter), an Ammonia Alert device from Seachem. I have a full hood light with a tube light that is supposed to enhance fish colors and plant growth, which I run 16 or so hours a day (to keep the water temp between 78 and 82 so the babies will grow faster) I've got one fake driftwood log, a glass/porcelain tree stump, and a fake rock archway.
I do water changes every week, sometimes only once every two weeks, sometimes more often. I usually take out one pail of water (~2gal). I've been gradually reducing the salt in my tank by not adding as much when I do water changes, I haven't added any the last 2 times and the plants are starting to look better. I've also started using Florapride.
I feed Spirulina Algea tabs for the pleco (the mollies sometimes eat it first and I have to add another). I feed a mix of crushed food for the baby mollies (TetraMin tropical Flakes, some of the algea tabs, TetraPro Tropical Crisps, freeze-dried Blood Worms and Shrimp). I had been feeding the adults the same types of food except that it wasn't crushed but they seemed to be eating the crushed food more anyway so I just started feeding that instead of both.
I do realize that the filters have pretty strong currents involved considering the babies, but I had them in a 2gal tank for a short period of time (a week, maybe a week and a half), and haven't noticed any significant decrease in the number of babies since i moved them to my 10gal.
I also realize that the easiest solution (and one I would like the most) would be to get a bigger tank, but I live in a dormitory with a limit to 10 gallons per person per room, and I was already breaking the rules with the extra 2 gal tank (which is now stored in my closet until I move out for the summer).
ANYWAY, my questions are:
1-Is my tank over-loaded with fish, even tho they all seem to be fine?
2-How can I get the fish and the plants to my dads alive, without bringing snails and snail eggs to reinfest my tank?
3-Should the tank get reinfested anyway what can I do about the snails?
4-Does anyone want baby mollies? and Can you come pick them up?
