A Platy and A Snail

[spacepops]

You don’t have to completely change the water. Only 30-60% and moving your fish back and forth could stress them. Especially if your doing water changes with a fish in cycle. You should be changing the water everyday or every other day to keep the ammonia down. Ask your lfs if they can give you some cycled media even if it costs you 5 bucks. Put that in the filter . It will kick start the cycle. Also buy a master test kit if it haven’t already and test the water daily. And when I do water changes I fill my buckets slowly and I drop the thermometer from my tank in there. And I try and get it within -2/+2 degrees it will balance out with the other 50 percent of the water

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Okay. Well I have the tank essentially cycled since I am using the filter the original owner gave me and she had them for about 6 months (she said she just lost interest in the fish) so the tank should be cycled. I already have a Master API kit. The issue is the filter is tiny and doesnt seem to have another slot for a new filter media. Can I just attempt to partially squash another one in there for a week and hope for the best? And then after I get the new media completely in the filter then possibly get 2 or 3 more platy females?

 

[spacepops]

Test the water to make sure it’s cycled . And I would pull that cartridge out and drop a sack of media in there instead . Maybe put floss on one side of it “the side the water hits first “ as for a sack you can use a panty hose

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Sack of media? Are you saying use panty hose as a sack and use what is in the cartridges (but take the cartridge apart)? And what is floss?

 

[spacepops]

Sack of media? Are you saying use panty hose as a sack and use what is in the cartridges (but take the cartridge apart)? And what is floss?

ok Here’s the lesson everyone in the hobby gets eventually. In an aquarium we use 3 forms of filtration.
1st is mechanical- meaning it physically filters the water for physical bits and pieces normally seen as the “fuzzy white material on the filter cartridges” (Floss)
2nd is biological- meaning it biologically filters the water. This is literally beneficial bacteria that lives in your aquarium that helps break down the nitrogen process by consuming ammonia and nitrites
3rd is chemical- meaning it chemically filters the water normally is in the form of activated carbon this helps with discoloration and smell of the water

All of this is what’s in your filter cartridges when you buy them... you can do this your self for a fraction of the cost in the long run. And personally I feel it’s easier this way.
The filter you have is very basic. If you didn’t want to buy a better one. I would pull the stuff out of the one you have and try the new method out. It should last longer than the cartridges.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

All that is good to know, but now I have another problem. The snail is laying on its side and not moving. Could it be dead? I can see what I assume to be his eyes and the bottom of his foot but the rest of him is in his shell (Picture). Platy seems fine, but is still hiding although I can see more of her than what I could before so I hope that she is adjusting.

Update: I did smell him and he smelled fine, but didn't really move when i picked him up. I put him back down on a plant and now i can see his little stalk things moving around. Could it be actually him or water movement?

The old owner did say that she thought he had died multiple times but then would surprise her by moving around. I guess "playing dead" may be a typical behavior of his? Thoughts?

 

[spacepops]

Snails do tend to play dead for even days at a time. Id drop some food next to him see if he reacts chances are it’s just playing dead. Even if it doesn’t react. Leave him alone for a few days. If he’s dead after a few days you should be able to tell. You definitely don’t want to throw your buddy away if he’s still kickin

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Okay. I just panicked a lot because he was fine yesterday and moving around a lot. And then this morning he was like the photo above. He even ate the entire algae wafer that I gave him the day before (I assume he was hungry) so I was worried that I literally let him eat himself to death. He was moving his antennae/stalk things around so maybe he's still going strong. I definitely don't want to throw him away if hes alive, especially as my son already adores his snail friend. When should I be concerned? If he hasn't moved in a week? Longer? Shorter?

Also what are your recommendations on feeding him and making sure he has enough to eat? I read online to feed him some type of gently boiled dark green veggie (spinach, broccoli, zucchini, etc) a few times a week along with algae wafers, and then he will eat tropical fish flakes regularly. Is this correct? And then to also drop cuttlebone in there once a week as a calcium supplement.

 

[King Fisher]

I'd say you probably overfed him. It will actually kinda push them out of thier shells. Just let him feed for about 5 minutes then remove the food.

All of those ideas you put for food is what you are supposed to do.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Okay. So 5 minutes per day of him actively feeding? Good to know. I'm assuming that it is a bad idea if I get another snail friend for him, due to the whole mating and then baby snails everywhere issue as I don't want snails everywhere.

 

[King Fisher]

Yes actively feeding. You could get another snail and remove the snails you don't want if they breed.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Good to know. Thanks!