Something on side of tank....

[new2betas]

I do not know which category to post this in, so moderators please move it if necessary.
I was out of town for the past few days over the 4th of July. Hubby stayed home and took care of all of our critters and my fishies....
When I got home (I had noticed a small amount of this before leaving though) I had this strange gelatin like spots inside my tank walls in different places. It was not all over the sides just here and there. When I went to do a pwc I felt it and it felt gelatin/slimy like. I don't know how else to describe it, but it is in patches throughout my newly cycled 10g tank. My betta and cories seem to be fine. What could this stuff be and is it dangerous...(fungus, etc). Could it be coming from the dag gone pond snails? They are going nuts in there. I keep taking out a bunch each time I do a pwc. In the middle of the slimey stuff there appear to be little dots.....geez...any help would be appreciated. The slime/gelatin is clear in color and sometimes when wiped off of the side it is solid and other times it just disperses into the tank. Any ideas? Also, on a side note....for some reason my hubby decided to raise the blind behind the tank while I was gone. I NEVER do this and didn't ask him to do it, but leave it closed.....could the light coming from outside made this stuff grow faster?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

That was my 1st guess is snail eggs(then I read the entire post and seems concrete proof to me). If you look closely you should see some tiny "air bubbles" that are the eggs.

I have had a few small snails in my tank lately, believe they are pond and I thought I saw a couple ramshorn. I've been taking them out daily when I see them, well I try to take them out and most of the time I squish them against the glass.

 

[fluffyntex]

yeah my guess is snail eggs, the dots are the snails developing inside. I do the same as
Speed, squish them and the fish and shrimp eat them.

 

[new2betas]

Ahh....thanks so much. I did just notice that it looks like the snails had a reproducing party while I was gone. There are a million in there. Well, not quite a million but a bunch. I know I read a thread somewhere on here about using lettuce to attrack them and disposing of them that way....may try that tonight!

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

If you really want them out of there, then try the lettuce. Also frequently(not just at PWC, more like daily) remove them or squish them. Like I said I tried to remove them(using a piece of paper towel) but most of the time they get squished in the process. I think I've removed/squished ~20 very small ones in the last week, they are all very tiny so I hope they cant breed when still so tiny.

Oh and Good Luck!

 

[new2betas]

ok...I put in some lettuce overnight and it hasn't done anything. It is hydroponic lettuce though and floats, didn't sink. Should that make a difference? I am bummed about all of these snails!

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

well since snails dont swim(AFAIK) I'm pretty positive you need to secure it to the bottom for it to work.

I'll tell you I noticed snails after my latest plants came, I was very unexcited about them also. I had 2 clear sack like things on the plants, I wasn't sure what they were but then I saw a tiny snail so I quickly got rid of it. Over the last week I have still been seeing these tiny snails and squishing them, but seems I see another everyday.

How many do you have?

Another thing is copper should kill them, since it hurts all inverts. If you dont have any maybe look into that. I know there is some medication that has it and some ferts.

 

[new2betas]

lol....will try to secure it or find some lettuce that will sink.
How many snails do I have....geez, it is too hard to count them all...I would say at least 30 in my 10g if not more...they blend in to my tank so well that it is hard to count them all.
I hate to add copper even though I don't have anyother inverts...at least I don't think I still have any live CRS.
I will try sinking the lettuce and if that doesn't work... i dunno.

Hey....and isn't possible I have millions of eggs filtering through my filter at this moment? Agghhh....what to do. I will NEVER buy plants from lfs again because I know that is where they came from. I got some kind of wort from Petsmart before I finished cycling my tank. I told him I didn't want ANY snails coming home with me and noticed them just days after I put it in the tank. Grrrrrr....

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

heres a good thread on getting rid of snails
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/snail-invasion-102546.html

 

[new2betas]

heres a good thread on getting rid of snails
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/snail-invasion-102546.html

Yea...I read this last night. The lettuce method is the only thing I can really do. I can't move my fish out because I don't have anything big enough to put them in right now and I can't move any loaches or other snail eating fish in there because I only have a 10g and I don't think my betta would get along with any of those fish. For some reason I have an aversion to crushing them. I don't know why. I don't have a problem taking them out in my pwc water and feeding them to my plants, but I just hate crushing them. Weird me.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Well at 1st I was not trying to crush them either, just remove them with a piece of paper towel, then it just happened and it smeared on the glass. Since then thats all I do, they squish very very easy(at least the tiny ones).

The last post in this thread has info about a snail trap.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/snails-tank-101182.html

 

[new2betas]

Well at 1st I was not trying to crush them either, just remove them with a piece of paper towel, then it just happened and it smeared on the glass. Since then thats all I do, they squish very very easy(at least the tiny ones).

Oh yeah...I have squished a few also inadvertantly. I guess it just makes me feel bad that I am killing them. I wish I could just do it and it not bother me. However, I know that throwing them outside into my plants with the pwc is killing them also, it is, I guess, more passive....lol. Like I said, weird me.

 

[Purrbox]

You could always use a small stone to weight down the lettuce.