jump-starting new 5.5 gal. for my snail

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Tostada

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jun 20, 2006
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Location
dayton, oh
I have a 30 gal. which is fully cycled. I decided to make a new 5.5 gal. tank to put on my nightstand. I've got all the parts together for the 5.5 gal. except the substrate.

I have a Penguin 200 on my 30 gal, and I got an AquaClear 20 for the 5.5 gal. I figured it would be a good idea to put the AquaClear on my 30 gal. along with the Penguin until the AquaClear can build up some bio-filter. I've had both filters running on the 30 gal. for a day now. Should I just wait until I start seeing gunk on the AquaClear's bio-media? How long should that take?

I have a big mystery snail in my 30 gal. who is really being picked on by my swords. He's looking worse everyday. He used to have the brightest gold shell I'd ever seen, and he was always running around the glass with his feelers all the way out. Now he doesn't move much, and when he does he's ready to jump back in his shell at any time. His shell is looking pretty bad. It has little cracks in it, and a pretty big chip out of the edge. The swords keep biting at him, right at the edge of his shell where it shuts.

I was thinking of going and getting some gravel in the morning then putting water from my 30 gal. in the 5.5 gal and just putting the snail in there by himself without a filter.

Am I going about this wrong? I guess I don't even know what my snail eats except for algae. Should I put flake food in there?

I was also wondering just exactly how the cycle on my 5.5 gal. is going to work. I mean, I'm not going to have much in the tank. I'll have the snail, maybe a couple shrimp, and then either a betta or a couple guppies. That seems like a really low bio-load to me, so I assume there won't be much bacteria in the filter. Will this create any problems? I'll also have some plants in there.

Thanks!
 
I would run the filter on the 30 gallon for a week and then move both snail and filter to the 5.5 gallon at the same time. Inverts (including snails) are highly sensitive to Ammonia and Nitrite. You'll want to keep a close eye out for for a mini cycle and be prepared to do water changes if needed.

I would recommend skipping on the Betta, as these will often harass a snail just as badly as your other fish are doing. Perhaps make it just an invert tank with the snail and some shrimp. If you really want some fish, Dwarf Cories would be a nice addition that wouldn't pick on the other inhabitants.

Make sure to feed your snail a high calcuim diet. Reptile Sticks are a great prepared food for this purpose. This combined with water that is harder (which contains more calcium), will help your snail repair it's shell although it will never be perfect again.
 
Not to contradict purrbox, but my bettas live with pond snails, and they don't harass them at all. Of course, my snails are tiny and the betta may consider them "beneath" their notice. But my first betta would just go up to the snail and look it over, then leave it alone.
 
I think it's just because fish have different personalities... My betta seems a lot more peaceful than most, and my swords are a lot meaner than most. If I tried a betta in the 5.5 gal, I would probably just move him over from the 30 gal.
 
you can also take a handful of substrate from your established tank to help speed up the cycle. the substrate will very seeded with bacteria. using the tank water won't help that much--but the filter media and substrate will definitely shorten the cycling time.
 
Purrbox said:
Make sure to feed your snail a high calcuim diet. Reptile Sticks are a great prepared food for this purpose. This combined with water that is harder (which contains more calcium), will help your snail repair it's shell although it will never be perfect again.

All the reptile sticks say they float. Will he actually get them and eat them?

I guess I've never actually seen a snail eat anything except for sucking on algae or plants.
 
Your snail, as Purrbox said, needs its own feedin'. It will enjoy algae tabs, flake food, boiled green bean/other veg. Floating reptile food can be soaked first in tank water to make it sink.

You can put a chunk of cuttlebone (they sell it for birds) in the tank itself or in the filter box to add some calcium. They will even cruise over it and eat it. Check the pH in the little tank and try to keep it as high as you can; this will help the snail's shell, too.

I've heard different things about bettas and snails; in my 5 g the female betta snipped off all the delicious snail antennae. The antennae on snails larger than pond snails looks way too much like a wee worm, at least for my bettas!

Check out

www.applesnail.net

for a lot of great info-they are very snail-smart over there. Good luck, and good for you for looking out for all your aquatic creatures.
 
for the cracks in his shell, make sure he gets some calcium, you could try those 7 day feeder things that i think are just calcium rocks
 
Snails can eat food from the surface if the want to. Mine could cruise the surface and get things that way. They can also hang onto the wall at the surface and funnel the water such that it brings the food to them.
 
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