Need some advice on my crazy tank

[Ryanlr88]

To start off I have a 20 gallon high tank. One larger piece of driftwood in the middle. A bit of water sprite. Sand bottom. 5 panda corys. Roughly 100 cherry shrimp. Unknown number, but definitely over 10, snails of some sort (small).

Basically I started this tank as a casual tank that wasn't going to have any issues or chaos. I wanted corys bc they are awesome and a few other friendly fish. I bought two cherry shrimp to just float around. That was it. Well the cherry shrimp multiplied quickly, which I thought was awesome at first. Now they are literally everywhere. I didn't ever buy a snail, but perhaps one got in one of the bags of fish I purchase and about 4 months later I noticed a 1" snail surface out of the sand. No big, one snail. Well it disappears for weeks at a time and now there are several little snails. Is that typical for snails to stay under the sand for long periods of time?

Corys are still doing fine. Problem is I am going through filters about every 2-3 weeks due to the heavy bio load. I change the water plenty but the filter just fills up with brown algae looking stuff. I want to control the number of shrimp first and foremost.

It was always my intent to get a pair of a slightly larger centerpiece fish but never got around to it. Couple questions. What would be a good centerpiece fish? Is there an option that would help maintain the number of shrimp? Am I best off selling 80 shrimp back to the lfs? Can anything be done about the snails? My first concern is the health and well-being of the corys, so please don't recommend anything that would want to pick on them. If you need anymore information let me know. Thanks!

 

[brennae]

What brand and model number is your filter? I'm assuming you mean you are replacing the filter media every 2 to 3 weeks or do you mean the entire filter?

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[Ryanlr88]

Yeah definitely replacing the media, NOT the entire filter...

 

[Delapool]

Just wondering if you are rinsing the filters out in old tank water and they are still no good after three weeks or so? Also how many filter pads (?) does your filter have that you are replacing?

 

[Ryanlr88]

This isn't really a question about my filter. My filter is fine. I've had it for years and its never filled up like this. If someone could offer me advice on my original post that'd be great.

 

[Gillie]

Do what you want with the shrimp, but the way you are handling the filter situation will ultimately spell doom for the catfish you hold dear.

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[Delapool]

This isn't really a question about my filter. My filter is fine. I've had it for years and its never filled up like this. If someone could offer me advice on my original post that'd be great.

I would try selling some shrimp back to lfs and also try a snail trap and just see how many you have. Malaysian trumpet snails and others would tend to come out at night so this may be why you are not seeing them. Chances are there are more snails in there as you would know.

Snails I find also crap a lot. You can particularly see this in a bare bottom tank. Unfortunately I know it sounds like we are harping on this but your filter sounds under stress. Your third sentence above is still discouraging me from being too gung-ho with stocking suggestions in case it is too much. If your nitrates are 5ppm or something or you are completely not worried about the filter, then no worries - this is only my view from the posts.

IMO I would trap snails, sell shrimp, be happy the filter is handling the load and then imo I would stock some male guppies for something different and a bit of colour.

 

[gilpi]

Maybe I missed something but why change the filter media instead of just rinsing it?