Snail Troubles and Driftwood

[JennaSimpson]

Ok guys I have two questions that I'm sure you could shed some light on . My first is that I came home and looked in my aquarium to check on all of my fish and my snail was at the top of the tank with a weird tube that I've never seen coming out of it's body and pointing towards the waterline . Is this how they lay eggs ? Also my other snail looks like it might be dead . Secondly on vacation I picked up some really cool prices of driftwood off of the beach . If I boiled these could I put them in my tank ?

 

[Homedog98]

The tube thing is how they breath I think. You can put the driftwood in. Just boil, scrub, and soak for about a week and you'll be good to go.

 

[jcolon]

If you feel the DW came from a reliable source ... scrub, boil it and then as a final step, one trip in the dishwasher ... minus the plates and detergent of course In all seriousness that's also to help cut down on the tannins which is sure to give your water a nice tea color.

 

[JennaSimpson]

I'm not sure the beach is the best source. Someone told me that the wood will rot in my tank. Is this true ?

 

[Homedog98]

I'm not sure the beach is the best source. Someone told me that the wood will rot in my tank. Is this true ?

Mine hasn't yet. It depends on the wood. Can you post pics?

 

[rich311k]

Generally soft woods will rot quickly, hardwoods should last for years.

 

[JennaSimpson]

I will post pictures later when I get home . Both peices are soaking in hot water which I've changed twice a day for the last three days . The wood seems to be hard ( as I poke it and prod at it and can't seem to get through the wood ) . I'm going to have my husband cut it because it's a really long piece . So I guess then we will see how durable it is .

 

[JennaSimpson]

Here's my wood ! Soaking for the 24684389th time

 

[Homedog98]

Looks good!

 

[daileene]

that looks like it will last a long time...pretty hardy looking!

 

[Shark_Bait]

That DW looks hard enough. Scrub and boil good!! The dishwasher idea is good to avoid the water changing color but run the dish washer once completely empty without detergent then put ur DW in WITHOUT detergent.

 

[JennaSimpson]

Yea I'm going to have to wait until my husband gets home to cute the larger one it's way to big for the dw . I would pull out his saw but for some reason I really love having hands , lol . Going look at backdrops today ! Really excited to get my tank looking perfect ! The waiting never ends ......

 

[Shark_Bait]

It takes time but little steps are good

 

[HalfMoon B]

Regarding your snail, it looks like you have an apple or mystery snail. That tube is a syphon that they can use to take air from above the water level and still avoid being eaten by predators.
How many of those snails do you have, they are sexual, so you have to have a male and female for them to reproduce, although, often females will lay eggs even though they are unfertilized. The eggs will always be above the waterline.

 

[JennaSimpson]

It is a mystery snail , I'm pretty sure it's a female , my black mystery snail died yesterday . Not sure why this happen everyone else is doing great . Water qualities good temps good . I'm baffled !

 

[JennaSimpson]

So my wood has been cut ! And is in the dish washer getting washed for the fourth time ! So excited to see it in my tank ! I bought some plant bulbs last week and all three have started sprouting, all I need is java moss and some ghost shrimp and my stocking will be complete ! I currently have


-6 dwarf gouramis 4 f 2 m
- 4 honey sunset gouramis ( sex unknown)
- 1 mystery snail
-5 bumble bee gobys
- 2 bettas (m&f)
- 1 pleco ( which is up for adoption)

Plants
Peacock fern
Anacharis
Java fern
Water lettuce
Nymphaea
Moss ball
Micro sword


All I have to do is wait for this wood to be finished and find a background that I like and I might be satisfied for a day

 

[daileene]

I am not an expert by any means....but I thought you can't have a male and a female betta in a tank together unless there are more females in ratio to males. But as I've said, I am not an expert so I might be wrong..

What size tank do you have again?

 

[Shark_Bait]

Yes you need to be very very careful and that is WAY too many DG. They are very territorial and you need to really keep an eye on them now!!! Even with the females being there the males will get very aggressive with each other.

 

[JoeyGGGG]

I'm not certain but I think peacock fern is not fully aquatic?

 

[Homedog98]

You have 10 gouramis?! There really should only be one... And the bettas also should be separated unless breeding... Which I don't recommend. It's a tricky process that doesn't always end well. Also, there's a serious risk that the betta or the gourami will turn on each other. In that tank there should really only be
1 dwarf gourami or betta
5 bumblebee gobies
1 Pleco (for now)
A group of 6 schoolers

And the snails. I get that there's no problems now, but the minute those guys reach sexual maturity... You're gonna have some serious problems.