I need help1

[fishylee]

I have 2- 30 gallon tanks. One has mollies the other has Platys. I have an elite 802 on each that supplies air to two air rocks each. on each tank I have 2 aqua clear 300 filters. I have in the past 8 months switched fron fake plants to real plants. Since the switch I have a problem with snails. What my biggest problem is that my fish do not do well. If I buy new fish from the store they last about 2-4 months. I have also had babies born (27) I am left with 1. Also the babies do not grow bigger than 1/2 an inch. Berfore the fish die they start to swim funny. It seems like they get tired and sluggish. Just to let you know I preform tests on my tanks weekly and they are usually pretty stable. PH = 7.0 Nitrate = 0.1 Amonia = 0.6 GH = 40 mg/l KH = 20mg/l. I also clean and replace the water in my tank every 2 weeks as I was recommended to do. Can any one PLEASE help? Thanks in advance!

 

[Toirtis]

I also clean and replace the water in my tank every 2 weeks as I was recommended to do.

Can you please describe exactly how you 'clean and replace' the water, and how much of the water you do this to? What media are you running in those AquaClears, and how are you maintaining it?

 

[fishylee]

Every two weeks I replace half the water. When I replace the charcoal, I do not change the amonia. I change the amonia about three days later. I rinse the foam, charcoal and amonia every week. When I replace the water I use a conditioner. Also in Tank 1 I have Three adult mollies, Two Tetras, and one baby mollie and a sucker fish. The 2nd tank I have Four Platys, Two one week old babies, and a suker fish.

 

[Andos99]

First off, your nitrates and ammonia should be zero. I think your problem may be with water quality and not snails. (Next time you buy live plants give, make sure you rinse them will salt water to eliminate any snails and/or snail larvae). If your tank has been set up for 8+ months and you still have ammonia present there is something going on with either your filtration process, your bio load is way to high, or you don't do enough PWC's. How many fish do you have in each tank? You may also want to start doing water changes once or twice EVERY week of at least 20% to keep your ammonia and nitrites down. There are also several remedies for snails, one being the purchase of a few clown loaches (thats what I did but I don't know if you have room for them) or there is also the lettuce trick which I'm not sure about.....but I'm sure someone else here will! HTH

 

[Andos99]

Every time you "rinse" your foam with tap water you are killing off the bacteria that is growing on it to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels in check. Rinse it off with tank water (no chlorine) instead. What do you mean by change the amonia??? Do you vaccum your gravel during water changes?

 

[Toirtis]

Every two weeks I replace half the water.

OK, change this to 30% of the water every 5-7 days.

When I replace the charcoal, I do not change the amonia. I change the amonia about three days later.

OK, lose the charcoal and amrid and replace them with sponges....the amrid is masking your ammonia problem, and the charcoal is pretty much useless after 36 hours. Extra foam blocks will provide you with more area for biological filtration, which is what you want in a mature tank.

I rinse the foam, charcoal and amonia every week.

Rinsing in what? If you are rinsing in something other than water ypou have removed from your tank, or a bucket of new water that has been treated to remove chlorine, you are killing the bacterial cultures in your sponges.

 

[fishylee]

Well thank you. I do rinse my amrid and charcoal in tap water. About losing the charcoal and amrid, why do they recommend these products if they are not needed? And my tanks have been set up for more than a year, but I had bought them off people who did not take care of there aquariums properly. Yes I vaccum the gravel. And when I did originally buy the tanks I boiled the rocks to avoid any diseases that may have originally been there.

 

[Toirtis]

Well thank you. I do rinse my amrid and charcoal in tap water. About losing the charcoal and amrid, why do they recommend these products if they are not needed?

Because every time you buy them, they make money....but if you have three sponges in each filter that you rinse in tankwater weekly, the sponges will last for 2-3 years easily...not something Hagen makes money from. I have 40+ tanks running on AquaClears with this media configuration (three sponges each), and all are very happy and healthy...trust me, it works.


Now, as was asked earlier, just how many of each fish to you have in each of your aquariums? It is possible that part of your problem is an excessive bioload.

 

[fishylee]

In tank 1 I have Three adult Mollies One baby that won't grow bigger than 1/2 an inch , two 1 inch tetras and an eight inch sucker fish. In tank 2 I have Four platys two newborn platys and another eight inch sucker fish. And small snails that bother me. Also my husband suggests that I fill the tanks up with a hose as he says it would be faster. What do you think? Right now I use a four litre Spring water bottle.

 

[Andos99]

You have 40+ tanks Toirtis? Do you own a pet shop or something?

 

[Toirtis]

OK, swapping those 'eight inch sucker fish' (I am guessing a common pleco) for two bristlenose plecos (which are actually good, active algae eaters and grow to only 5") would be a good first move.

Second, if you wish to make those snails go away, you have a couple of options. One involves blancing a large lettuce leaf and placing it in the tank just before lights-out...just when the lights come on in the morning, it should be covered in snails...remove it with all the snails and repeat this process daily for 10 days or so. The second option is likely more successful overall. Go buy (only after you have your water conditions corrected and stable) a couple-three of 1"-2" clown loaches from your local fish/pet shop.....within 4-6 weeks, they will have likely eaten every snail in your tank, as well as grown a bit. Now since clown loaches will eventually exceed 12" in length (far outgrowing your tanks), either sell them or trade them back to the fish/pet shop, who will likely give you a good trade credit on them, as larger clown loaches are worth a few dollars.

Now your tanks (once you get rid of the big plecos) are well understocked, so you may consider (again, once water conditions are corrected) a small school (5) of corydoras catfish for each tank to help clean up any leftover food bits that accumulate on the bottom.

 

[Toirtis]

You have 40+ tanks Toirtis? Do you own a pet shop or something?

Just 40+ with AquaClears...I have a grand total of 62 tanks. And although I used to co-own a petshop a few years ago (back then I had about 100 tanks in my shop, but only 20 at home), I do not now.

 

[fishylee]

Here is a picture of my sucker fish. The other is black.

 

[Toirtis]

Here is a picture of my sucker fish. The other is black.

As I suspected....now realise, they are currently less than 1/3 grown....at mature-size, they should be 26"-36" long each....plus, they tend to be pretty poor at eating algae as they get larger.

 

[fishylee]

Well Thanks for all the help.I have to go now but if ever I need more info I'll definately try to get in touch with you. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again