Recent content by merlin777

ive heard about the cuttle bone and i give them cucumber but I like the idea of recycling the crab shell.

Can you give snails extra calcium by putting a crab shell in the tank? I have malaysian trumpet snails (or auger snails) in fresh water and a large clean crab shell.

I think I've mostly solved the mystery. I think the snails all surfaced because the water was manky. I can't account for why they all came up at the same time as there were no sudden environmental changes and they did seem to be mating as well. After 2 50% pwc's, their behaviour changed and...

I've done a 2nd 50% change so we'll see how that goes. Nothing sprayed. The only new thing is a reed diffuser near the tank which I can barely smell and pre-dates the snail exodus by a month. Aeration should be OK. It's a biorb and there's a healthy column of bubbles in the central tube.

Well, I did a 50% pwc and some of the larger snails have disappeared but many of the smaller ones have now gone up to the water line.

Thanks Autumnsky. Did you see the pix? Are they definitely auger snails?

Aha - i think I've cracked it. Some photos of the snails in question are attached hopefully. They have pretty much all disappeared now but they had been pairing off so i wondered if they had come up to mate?

I tried to send you a photo but the insert photo button asks me for a url and my photos are on my pc, not online. If I can work out how to post an image you might be able to ID them.

The room temp is a constant 19 to 20 c. No dead fish but although I can't see them there must surely be some dead snails with this population over a couple of years so I'll do some pwcs but I don't understand why the sudden appearance en-mass. I quite like having all these snails and I might...

I was given a few baby auger snails for my baby biorb a couple of years ago. I know they have multiplied because sometimes, usually at night, up to a dozen appear at once sometimes quite a few more. During the day I guess they hide in the substrate but its tricky to see any of them. Tonight...

I though i'd report back. The surviving zebra nerite is fine. Much more mobile after I cleaned the tank up. Still not eating wafers or cucumbers etc, though. Today I put some pea-sized golden apple snails in and they seem very happy but, bizarrely, another type of snail has appeared from...

well, I've popped a slice of cucumber in to my freshly water changed (50/50) tank but the nerite isn't interested. It doesn't eat pleco wafers either. What on earth is it existing on? It travels well enough. Do I assume it's eating a bio film I can't see?

that's the one! it kept falling out and eventually got lost. it joins the standard air pump sized hose to a smaller tube.

I've got an Algarde gravel cleaner. I've lost the little tube connector that joins the airline to the smaller tube that delivers the air to the bottom of the gravel cleaner. heres a link to it on amazon: Algarde Power Cleaner, Single: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies I need to replace the...

should have said, I have some tetra pleco wafers - would they be okay?