# My snail tank!



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Feel free to let me know if you think I'm doing something wrong, I'm new to this and it could be helpful! 
It's about time I start a tank journal.

I have a 10 gallon tank with assorted ramshorns and trumpet snails, and a few small pond snails.
Altogether there is around 50 snails. 
I'm hoping to breed them! 
I keep the temperature at 80F, the pH at 8 or 8.5, the kH at 200, and everything else at 0. 
I have assorted blue colors decorative substrate and lots of it in there! With a little snail ornament, and a blue bridge ornament. 
I also have two marimo moss balls I got at petsmart, and a few floating plants. 
Other than the heater and lights, I have a small aerator plugged in to help them get oxygen. 
I've only had the tank for around a month, but I test the pH every day and everything else every week. 
I also do a 25% water change every week.
I turn the aerator off at night, and I feed them algae wafers: One or two per day. 
Edit: Oh! I forgot to mention there's one baby pleco in there, a spotted one. He doesn't seem to bother the snails, though. 
I'm looking at getting another 5 or 10 gallon tank to put some more different kinds of snails in, if anyone has one for sale under 20 dollars message me! Must have a lid that a light can be plugged into & be clear. 
So I just cleaned my tank out today, April 5th, and I noticed the corners of my tank are just flooded with patches of eggs. I wonder how long until they hatch, exciteddd!

So I've now noticed maybe 5-10 baby snails snailing around in there. They're barely big enough to see without a magnifying glass, and hard to ID, but it looks like a few trumpets and some pond snails. I'm so excited for them to grow bigger! I'm going to hold off on cleaning the tank for a week or two to try to allow them to grow a bit.

This morning, Sunday the April 7th, I woke up to find a bunch of wiggling parasite-looking thingies on the glass. I'm so scared! Like are these harmful to humans or snails or what if they overpopulate? Ugh. I'm looking for a way to get rid of them without vacuuming up all my baby snails that have just hatched! Any tips please? 
People have suggested certain water drops and such, but most of these I think will kill my snails, too, and I have eggs/babies in there I can't move. 
Picture:







Most of them went away after I turned my aerator on, but these were the few that stayed.

This Friday I'm picking up a gravel vacuum because it's getting pretty dirty in there.
Edit: I picked up the gravel vacuum and the thing is godly! I'm so glad I got it, makes water changes waaay easier. I highly recommend it. I got the size small from Petsmart for 11.99.

Haven't updated in a while! 
My eggs have started to hatch, there's many many tiny snails around in there now! But I also notice those harmless parasites getting worse. They come out when I turn off the aerator. I think this morning I'll try to catch a few with the net. 
I've noticed the pond snails seem to grow really fast, as oppose to the trumpets and the ramshorns who seem to start off tiny and grow even slower.

I also got a brand new tank set up yesterday! I went to buy a used one from user Brisch, but me and my mom being inexperienced broke it in the car on the way back x.x 
However, she gave me free gravel, and there was a lid to the aquarium, so for just 12 dollars I went to Walmart and got a lidless aquarium that I fitted the gravel/lid on at home! 
Still way better than paying 40 dollars for an aquarium starter kit and another 20 for the gravel. 
I also paid just 6 dollars on clearance at Walmart for a large-ish ornament that fit perfectly in the new tank.
I had had an apple snail sitting in a measuring cup all week, and I've added it to the new tan and it seems happy and lively now! I'll be getting more apple snails later on today hopefully. 
and don't worry, I remembered to put water conditioner into the new tank! I also added some baking soda to raise the pH, a weekend feeder for the little guy in there, and later on I'll be scraping cuttlebone dust into it hoping to raise the hardness. 
Pictures of the second tank soon, and updated picture of old tank! So many plants in there now .

Anyone have any advice? Any easy way to get rid of the annoying parasites?


----------



## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Where is the picture? Lol


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

I haven't taken it yet, gotta leave for school too soon so I will post after I'm home!


----------



## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Those are some lucky snails, as long as you have at least one of each species, you will have many more in no time. 

Curious as to why you keep GH at 0? I know snails are more tolerant of conditions than fish/shrimp, though they may benefit from a higher GH level. 
(eg: I keep my community tank at GH:100mg/L, KH:50mg/L, crayfish tank is at roughly GH:220mg/L, KH:120mg/L)
I've always felt that snails have a large bio-load for their size, it may be beneficial to add a filter to help keep the water clearer, especially if there's going to be a couple hundred snails in there.
I'm not saying your doing anything wrong, just suggestions 

Have fun with it, snails can be very interesting at times


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Sploosh said:


> Those are some lucky snails, as long as you have at least one of each species, you will have many more in no time.
> 
> Curious as to why you keep GH at 0? I know snails are more tolerant of conditions than fish/shrimp, though they may benefit from a higher GH level.
> (eg: I keep my community tank at GH:100mg/L, KH:50mg/L, crayfish tank is at roughly GH:220mg/L, KH:120mg/L)
> ...


I've only figured out how to get the kH up, I don't know how to get gH up yet, but I have cuttlebone in there for them!


----------



## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

I had some pond snails make their way into my saltwater tank,they are breeding like crazy in there but never really did in my freshie tank. Parameters are all similar to yours so I guess your on the right track for breeding those.
Even in a 10g theres no need to check ph dailly so you could save yourself some time there. I would suggest something to increase flow to keep it from getting too dirty,like a small filter or powerhead over time the debris on your sandbed will penetrate it and cause some issues,Im no snail expert but I know some are sensitive to water conditions.

What a cool idea doing a snail tank....pictures or it never happened lol


----------



## Swope2bc (Feb 8, 2013)

If you want a cheap solution to the filtration issue google diy filters and choose one of the air bubbler ones.. I could find the plans I saw for one if you need but they are very easy to make and would work off of your current air stone. You can leave that running 24/7 with no trouble too... Looking forward to pics.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

dabandit1 said:


> I had some pond snails make their way into my saltwater tank,they are breeding like crazy in there but never really did in my freshie tank. Parameters are all similar to yours so I guess your on the right track for breeding those.
> Even in a 10g theres no need to check ph dailly so you could save yourself some time there. I would suggest something to increase flow to keep it from getting too dirty,like a small filter or powerhead over time the debris on your sandbed will penetrate it and cause some issues,Im no snail expert but I know some are sensitive to water conditions.
> What a cool idea doing a snail tank....pictures or it never happened lol


ohhhh do you have any pond snails to spare? ive been looking all over to get a few more! 
and yeah im picking up a gravel vacuum on friday as most of the waste is sittin on it!


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Swope2bc said:


> If you want a cheap solution to the filtration issue google diy filters and choose one of the air bubbler ones.. I could find the plans I saw for one if you need but they are very easy to make and would work off of your current air stone. You can leave that running 24/7 with no trouble too... Looking forward to pics.


would it suck my snails into it or kill them if theu cralwed on it? im resistant to put a filter in there because theyre so small


----------



## Swope2bc (Feb 8, 2013)

snailies3 said:


> would it suck my snails into it or kill them if theu cralwed on it? im resistant to put a filter in there because theyre so small


The type of snails you are raising are nearly indestructible.. The filter would be powered by air/water current rather than a mag drive pump or the like so I think they would be fine. They may even decide its a good place to lay eggs


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree with the GH needing to be raised.

A small sponge filter would be a good bonus for your snails. They wouldn't get sucked in with one of those.


----------



## Swope2bc (Feb 8, 2013)

There are many diy sponge filter designs online, i liked the one that used a clear cup with lid... It provided space for bio ceramic material too.. But google diy sponge filter and you will get the basic idea. Pic one that is wihin your skill lvl and bammo.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Swope2bc said:


> The type of snails you are raising are nearly indestructible.. The filter would be powered by air/water current rather than a mag drive pump or the like so I think they would be fine. They may even decide its a good place to lay eggs


Ohhh, thank you! I will look into that!


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

effox said:


> I agree with the GH needing to be raised.
> 
> A small sponge filter would be a good bonus for your snails. They wouldn't get sucked in with one of those.


How do I raise that?


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

You can purchase Seachem's Equilibrium from most LFS's, I've heard good things about it. There are other GH boosters too though.


----------



## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

I am using a nutrafin african cichlid conditioner, it's liquid and raises gh and has some other minerals in there too. Equilibrium is a great option aswell, cheaper due to being in dry form. I have some on hand as backup for if/when I run out of liquid additive. 
Also I add minerals to the water change water, not directly into the tank. 
A large sponge filter should work well enough for the snails, I don't really see a need to use carbon or biomedia. I would recommend a "bio-sponge" filter, I am using the large size (diameter), they have a lot of surface area for beneficial bacteria. 
These are the two sizes I use (short and tall);













Everywhere I have seen them they are $12 or less.

Seeing as you are trying to make the environment so the snails thrive, you may just end up with MTS just to control the population in the tank... 

I have seen some very neat behaviours from the snails that were in my old invert-only tank, that they don't display when there's fish around, I'm sure it will be even more interesting in a snail-only tank.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Why would I end up with MTS only? I hope not! I love my ramshorns, and the pond snails are my favorite although I only have one or two!


----------



## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

I meant MTS as in Multiple Tank Syndrome, not Malaysian Trumpet Snails 
I knew I shouldn't have abbreviated it...


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

He was referring to Multiple Tank Syndrome, not Malaysian Trumpet Snails.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Oh hahaha woops. Shhhh I'm new! 
Yesss I'm currently looking for another tank, but for assassin/apple snails! (I haven't decided which yet, tough choice! ) 
My snails haven't laid eggs yet, or I haven't seen any. I think they were mating a bit the other day, though. So I hope they do soon!


----------



## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

A sponge filter is an excellent idea. My snails are constantly laying eggs on or near the filter and they can feed off food bits stuck on the sponge. I'd back of the algae wafers a bit - maybe 1 every other day, it will keep your water cleaner. Try blanched veggies too, they'll go nuts over that. Zukes, yams are favourites.

If you notice what looks like white scratchy lines on the darker shells, it could be a lack of GH (Calcium/Magnesium) in your water. Since you're testing for KH, have you tested for GH? Equilibrium will help, Kent's R/O Right is good too, a cheaper option would be Calcium Chloride that you can buy from swimming pool supply stores and Epsom Salt for Magnesium.

Go apple snails! If you love your ramhorns and pond snails now, you'll love apple snails.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

hp10BII said:


> A sponge filter is an excellent idea. My snails are constantly laying eggs on or near the filter and they can feed off food bits stuck on the sponge. I'd back of the algae wafers a bit - maybe 1 every other day, it will keep your water cleaner. Try blanched veggies too, they'll go nuts over that. Zukes, yams are favourites.
> 
> If you notice what looks like white scratchy lines on the darker shells, it could be a lack of GH (Calcium/Magnesium) in your water. Since you're testing for KH, have you tested for GH? Equilibrium will help, Kent's R/O Right is good too, a cheaper option would be Calcium Chloride that you can buy from swimming pool supply stores and Epsom Salt for Magnesium.
> 
> Go apple snails! If you love your ramhorns and pond snails now, you'll love apple snails.


Yes I'm currently looking at buying a sponge filter. I have noticed my water getting dirty quite often, but since they poo so much I'm going to be cleaning the bottom of the tank every few days anyway. Although I noticed they've laid eggs ALL over the silicone corners of my tank, and I don't know how cleaning is going to go after those hatch!
Also I did test for GH. For some reason I can make my KH go up, but not the GH. I will for sure be looking for something to add to the water for that!


----------



## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

What are you using to raise your KH? 

Cutting back on feeding will help with the dirty water. I fed once weekly and the snails were still producing eggs. If you notice baby snails on your gravel - you can just stir up your gravel with your fingers and use the gravel vac to hover over the gravel and it should pick up a lot of the poop that way too.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

hp10BII said:


> What are you using to raise your KH?
> 
> Cutting back on feeding will help with the dirty water. I fed once weekly and the snails were still producing eggs. If you notice baby snails on your gravel - you can just stir up your gravel with your fingers and use the gravel vac to hover over the gravel and it should pick up a lot of the poop that way too.


I really don't know. I've added baking soda to raise the pH, which also seems to raise the KH quite high, but the GH stays very low! 
I've noticed a few baby snails snailing around the tank now. What looks like a few pond snails and a few trumpets, but I'm unsure as they're soooo hard to see! I'm going to try to take a magnifying glass and take some pics tomorrow! Luckily I've just cleaned the tank so I'll wait a week or so before I use the gravel vac again, hopefully giving these babies time to grow a bit bigger.


----------



## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate. Carbonate actually raises KH, which in turn raises the PH I believe. General Hardness involves different elements.

I'd suggest adding aquarium buffers instead of that though, but if you're going to for the "readily available at home" route instead, Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) raises GH as well. My dad used to use baking soda and epsom salts in the early 90's, I remember that as a kid.

I think it's recommended to use aquarium buffers, as their sole purpose is for just that, aquariums. They're likely packed with other minerals\elements, which I know are good for the osmotic regulation of the fish's respiratory system.


----------



## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

I agree with effox. KH is a measure of Carbonate Hardness so Baking Soda is increasing both KH and pH. With Baking Soda, pH tops out around 8.0, regardless of how much more Baking Soda you add. GH is a measure of Calcium and Magnesium so baking soda doesn't add to GH. I've never tried cuttlebone - but maybe in a high pH environment, the water isn't acidic enough to dissolve to add to GH?


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Just wondering, Epson salt - is it actually a salt and doesn't salt kill snails? At least non-aquatic ones?


----------



## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

You can gravel vacuum the substrate. Just put your finger on the other end of the hose to start/stop the water flow. You will pick up some snails but stop the flow and wait for them to drop back down. Also no need to test for pH, it's probably the last thing I'd check. If you are interested in getting a sponge filter I have a new one you can have for $5, or if you'd like one with bacteria in it that would be fine too.


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

Nicole said:


> You can gravel vacuum the substrate. Just put your finger on the other end of the hose to start/stop the water flow. You will pick up some snails but stop the flow and wait for them to drop back down. Also no need to test for pH, it's probably the last thing I'd check. If you are interested in getting a sponge filter I have a new one you can have for $5, or if you'd like one with bacteria in it that would be fine too.


Ohhh that would be great! I'll take it as long as it isn't too big? My tank isn't super large!


----------



## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

If Cloverdale is closer for you, I can let you have a sponge filter for $3, and I will throw in some hornwort. PM me if you are interested.


----------



## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Reckon said:


> Just wondering, Epson salt - is it actually a salt and doesn't salt kill snails? At least non-aquatic ones?


For household or everyday use, "salt" is sodium chloride ie. table salt, kosher salt, rock salt, pickling salt where the sodium will kill snails. In scientific terminology, sodium chloride is one of many "salts" that may or may not include "sodium". Epsom salt has no sodium - it's magnesium sulphate - maybe in dry form can do serious damage to snails, I don't know.

Just in case you really want to know:

Salt (chemistry) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## snailies3 (Mar 29, 2013)

I got a new tank! Pics soon


----------

