New Guy Needs Advice Please!

[sjsuper76]

Hello all,

I am new to the site and hobby. I just bought a 55 gallon tank from a couple that is moving. No need to cycle the tank, as I just took the whole thing as is.

Here are my problems now: THOUSANDS OF SNAILS. I read they are good for the tank, but yuck. Can I have a healthy tank without them? If so, how to I bring about a SNAIL APOCALYPSE? I also read they are hard to get rid of...

MY DREAM: Find all the existing fish in the tank a home. get rid of snails. Replace the tacky blue aquarium gravel with a white sand substrate (that I can also maintain plants in) Add: 1-2 pieces of driftwood and smooth gray riverstone. Fish: need help here. I love oscars and plecos. what other fish can I put with them in a 55 gal I just described?

also: any recommendations on what substrate to get? where to get rocks and driftwood safe for the tank? Is Pool Filter Sand really okay?

I know NOTHING about aquatic plants...any suggestions on what kind would be good in my "dream tank"?

10,000 more questions to follow. Thanks for all the fantastic advice I have already read on this site.

Scott

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

I'll take a stab at these, but in general you'll get more responses in the appropriate forum as not many folks browse the New Members forum.

Actually, I think I'll just move this to the FW planted section.

Now, onto your questions.

There's a few ways to get rid of snails. Try putting a piece of lettuce in the tank at the bottom overnight. In the morning, you should have hundreds of snails on the lettuce. Just remove, toss, and repeat.

Another way is to get an assassin snail. Appropriately named, these guys eat other snails. Once they get rid of them all, well there's nothing left to sustain them either.

You can have a healthy tank without snails, however there are snails that are beneficial and will help you keep the tank clean.

Just as an FYI, Oscars and planted tanks don't usually go well together. Oscars are big and clumsy and will tend to tear up your plants.

As for substrates we'll need some more information. How serious about keeping plants are you? If you want a hi-tech setup or a low-tech setup we'll make different recommendations accordingly. Overall though PFS (pool filter sand) is just fine for a basic setup.

Again, welcome to AA!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Pool filter sand is fine, but you have to rinse it very well. I used a hose connected to a utility room sink and put some sand in a rubbermaid 14g tote and blasted it using a spray nozzle for about 5 minutes, letting it settle and dumping out the water and repeating, until it ran clear. I had to repeat the process about 6-8 times to go through the whole bag, and be careful of the dust (when dry, pour slow, wear a mask is suggested). I got mine at Menards, but Home Depot/Lowes carries is seasonally, you don't have to get the Leslie's stuff because it's more expensive and exactly the same - they just get it 'pool safe certified' so they can say it's pool safe.

Get Clown Loaches. They eat snails and look cool. Your snails will be toast.

See if you have a local Cichlid group online, I got 500 (yes, 500) pounds of rock from one guy for free. He had 2000 gallons of tanks in his house and piles of rocks all over the place. He got them from a landscape supply company, they were left over from a job. You might want to contact a few of those places and see what they would give you or sell you cheap. Careful what you get though, certain rocks do not go well in aquaria.

As for driftwood, search your LFS for those, or buy from someone. Don't go picking up your own out of a lake or something. Driftwood also takes time to waterlog.

Welcome to AA, and throw us all the questions you want!

 

[sjsuper76]

Thank you for moving my post!

Ah, so Oscars are not good for planted tanks? Too bad, they are so cute.

What are good fish for a planted tank? I really want my tank to look natural, kind of like a picturesque river bottom.

Substrate: I will do what I need to do to make the tank work, but I have to do it in stages. I cant afford $300 CO2 systems right away.... I have a feeling I might have to replace the hood...it only has one long fluorescent bulb in it...

Can you give me low-tech suggestions for now? In time I'd like to upgrade to hi-tech piece by piece.

I am very interested in a canister type filter, my over the tank filters are kind of loud combined with the air stick...

 

[sjsuper76]

A clown loach? Haha..they do look cool! Assassin Snails? Isn't that kind of any oxymoron? LOL. Mental Image of a Snail in a Ninja outfit.

I will try both I guess. I think replacing the substrate will also help, but I don't want to replace or scrub my filters. I guess the predators can deal with the snails that come from there?

Any online recommendations for driftwood? I live in a S M A L L town in the middle of the desert... =(

 

[Dimitrios91]

Well I do it the old fashioned way. 90 % of my tank consists of Tetra's and they love snails. Since snails are pretty delicate, crunch the lil buggers against the glass and let em float to the bottom, before they reach the bottom a fish will swim by and devour it within the blink of your eye. Plus they are a good source of live food for the fish. But the fish will not eat a live snail due to the shell it creates, crunch n lunch, just my two cents

 

[Dimitrios91]

You can get a good canister filter from Petco for 125.00 or so. I have the Marineland 350 Magnum Pro w/ two bio wheels, mine came with my tank from Ebay. Check Ebay you may get it for way less, also most anything you need to run your filters will be there as well, excellent pricing as well. As for CO2 system, make your own. Check online for DIY CO2, tons of easy ideas. I do this myself and have excellent results with my plants. Will be posting pictures soon enough

 

[Dimitrios91]

As for Oscars and plants, they say the same about Gourami's. I have yet to see one plant disturbed by the 5 Gourami's I have. I have had Oscars years back, they never bothered my plants until they were simply to big and needed the room to move around, which is just why you upgrade the size of your tank or not bother with the big fish world. You want Oscars, be prepared for the huge size they will become and remember 1 inch of fish per gallon of water is the basic ratio, but for Oscars they recommend 2-3 gallons for each inch of fish

 

[dkpate]

I have assassin snails, and they are VERY good at their job!
I am selling them also ($2 apiece), let me know if you would like a couple.

 

[Hobnobelisk]

Unfortunately Oscars dont have many good tank mates as they like to eat everything =P A pleco would be suitable as long as it grows in ratio to the oscar. Tank mates to go with the Oscar need to be big enough to not fit in there mouths. Maybe a pirahna or something that gets the same size =)