a few questions

[tetrasangelssnailsohmy]

hi everyone i have a bit of a problem with my tank

i've had a small explosion of snails, from the 2 sizes i'm guessing the second batch of eggs just hatched. there are over 10 of them spawned from 2 snails. is this a bad thing? what is the optimal level of snails in my tanks?

here is what i'm running; 40gallon tank, with an airpump/stone, ug filter with a powerflow pump. and a top fin powerfilter 60 or something. i keep the powerfilter on the low setting.. is this right? the fish seem like they're struggling to swim when it's on high. i have 5 or so neon tetras, 5 mollies, 2sword platys, 5 plain tetras, 2 angelfish and 5 of soe other tetras + 10 or so snails.. there is a dying plant also. i've been running this tank since may

lately my angel fish seem to have internal bloodspots in their nostril area, and at the base of their fins. i've done a 50 percent water change and added more cycle. one of the mollies died suddenly a few days ago, we just found him floating around. i'm thinking of taking out the dying plant and maybe some snails if they are detrimental to the health of the fish... i think it may be an ammonia problem or nitrates but i haven't the test kit. ph is 7. i'm not quite sure how to proceed, i heard i should add some salt but i have no clue how to battle the ammonia levels. any help would be much appreciated.

mike

[ilovenickle]

Take out the dying plant. It's decomposing and releasing ammonia. Your tank features plenty of filtration, but I'm new to the hobby (going into my second month, heh) and I am unsure. Adding a live, healthy plant may help with aeration.

I had a snail problem in my tank until recently. I assume they smuggled in on one of my plants (remember to RINSE your plants when you bring them home!). I read to take a slice of cucumber, attach it to a string, and put it in the tank overnight. There should be MANY snails on it. Do it again for a second night if necessary.

Unfortunately, one of my fish got sick so I had to medicate my tank. This killed all of my snails, and I was devestated, even though they were pests. I wanted to be humane about it.

If you don't really care about the humanity, I'm sure there are many ways to get rid of snails, certain products.

Make sure you're doing weeky water changes.

Good luck with your tank.

[kimmers318]

I have to second ilovenickle on that. I would also recommended getting a test kit so you know for sure if you have ammonia and/or nitrite issues or if something else is possibly going on. It does sound like you have good filtration...and that along with regular water changes will go a long way towards keeping a healthy tank.
As for snails....I personally don't have a problem with them now that I have come to terms with them....especially since my dwarfpuffers love to munch on them when they start to overrun things. But snails can and do overrun pretty quickly, especially if there is left over food that the fish aren't eating. At first I wanted to eradicate all snails from my first tank...but it was a losing battle since I didn't want to use chemicals. Then I got my first dp and she (along with her tankmates) takes care of any snails I can easily reach from any of my tanks at any given time. The zucchini or cucumber method works great for attracting loads and then you just pull them all out with the vegetable. I wouldn't recommend hanging it from a string though because I have heard horror stories of fish getting wrapped up in it. I use a small baby spoon stuck thru it...it weighs it down nicely...no sharp edges and easy to grab once it is full of snails. You may find that many of your other fish also enjoy the veg treat when you put it in...most of ours do!
Another option is to look into whether you can or want to have any loaches in the tank...alot of them stay small and like to munch on snails which helps to keep them under control. I have never seen my kuhli's eat snails....but have heard the botia groups do.

[gwenkat]

My dojo occassionally snacks on a snail. Not enough to control the population all by himslef, but he helps.