# A few questions from a fellow newbie



## ~*Bella*~ (May 25, 2010)

Hello all!

Just wanted to say a quick hello, I'm new here and fairly new to the whole aquarium life. 

I have a 33 gallon fish tank, I have had it set up for a good month now and my fish are finally surviving! Right now I just have 5 tetras and soon I will be adding more fish to my collection, which I must say is quite exciting!

I do have a couple of questions for all you pros out there, and sorry if it's a repeat question I did search but I couldn't find anything.

We bought some live plants and they had a couple of snails on them, the fish store we bought the plant from told us that they would help with the algea in the tank but also warned us that they would multiply fast... being the newbie I am I didn't think that they would multiply that quickly, so needless to say I have quite a few snails now and I was wanting to get rid of most of them. I did read that the best way is to put a clean empty salt shaker and some lettuce in the tank and the snails would go in to feed then discard them. However if I wanted to keep a couple to help with the algea, would it really be worth it or will it be more of a pain to keep only a few?

Also I haven't changed my water filter inserts yet and I was wanting to do that in the next few days. I read that you shouldn't do a partial water change and change the filters at the same time because it could mess with the helpful bacteria that's in the tank. So should I do a partial water change first and wait a couple days before doing the filter or should I do the filter first and then do a water change? 

Thanks for the tips its appreciated!

Bella:fish:


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

I don't change my filter cartridges except maybe once every FEW months. If the filter is still running fine leave it alone for now. Now that you have snails, good luck getting rid of them. You can get rid of them by putting a piece of lettuce and lifting them out, or get a fish that eats them. It is nearly impossible to keep just a few of this type of snail alive. Soon they would once again become hundreds. Get a snail that isn't asexual if you want one.


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

I got a plant and it had a snail on it too. I didnt know until I put it in the tank. I only see one and have only seen one for months now. I left it in there but keep a close eye on it. I recently did a tank swap, moved everything into a bigger tank. I moved the snail and washed all the items going in the tank. I know there are no other snails at this time. I asked on these forums how snails breed because I wanted to know if they need a partner or if they can do it themselves and some people think that one snail can breed but so far I'm only seeing the one snail. If you do keep any just keep a close eye on it. Scrub the inside tank walls often to maybe get rid of any snail eggs. 

The water change and filter cleaning should be done at different times. If you change the water every week then pick a between time and change the filter cartridge. I think any water you put in the tank should have adjusted by a couple days so to be safe maybe wait at least 48 hours after a water change before doing a filter cartridge swap. If you are using tap water to swap into the tank use the chemical for that too. 

Instead of the snails to help with algae you might want to look into a fish that can do it. Maybe a Bristlenose Pleco or a Rubberlip Pleco. Those two kinds only grow to a few inches rather then their cousins like the Common pleco that can get to almost 2 feet. They are not the answer to all algae problems but one of those will maybe help a little bit and look great in a nicely stocked tank.

Good luck with your setup. The tetras are a good start. Some tetras can be fin nippers from what I've read so just make sure you get other fish that can hold their own with the tetras. But over all you can have a great looking stocked tank with the tetras and others.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

To understand snail breeding better let me explain it a little. Contrary to popular belief snails are not asexual. If you have only one snail, it will not reproduce. Most snails are hermaphrodites, meaning they are both male and female, but can not reproduce with themself. However it does mean that they can mate with any snail of the same species. 

A snail will commonly carry about 100 eggs at a time. These eggs are sticky. Many aquarists will get snails in their tank from eggs that have been laid on the plants. The numerous amount of eggs, means that the snails will reproduce very quickly. Snails also reach sexual maturity very quickly. It is very common for a tank to be over run with snails in a few months. 

There are snails that are not hermaphrodites. Apple snails are the most common example. Apple snails are non-hermaphrodite sexual snails. There are specific male and female snails, and the two must breed with eachother to reproduce. Apple snails are commonly kept in aquariums because they are not prolilfic enough to overrun a tank.


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## Peeps (May 24, 2010)

Change your filter cartage when it looks yucky, really yucky. All your good bacteria is on it and when you clean your tank gently wash the filter media in tank water, not tap because it will get rid of all the good bacteria that you want.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

most filters can be cleaned and reused by taking them out, and giving them a good squishing, swishing, dunking, and general aggitation from water that you pulled from the Water Change you just did. i.e. when you do a water change, before you throw out the water, wash yer filters in that water.

As for your snail problem, your saltshaker thing should work just fine. They'll still be plenty left to eat algea if you do that.


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## ~*Bella*~ (May 25, 2010)

Thanks everyone for all the advice!
I ended up cleaning the fish tank and took out all the ornaments and washed them off to get rid of all the fish eggs. I picked out the snails, or at least all the ones I could see. 

Sure enough shortly after that whole process I ended up seeing tons of little snails.... I was not impressed! So I ended up putting the lettuce in the salt shaker and I imagined that I would have quite a few snails in the glass shaker in the morning but apparently I was wrong. It's been quite the process and I only get about 4 (at the most) in the salt shaker, so at that rate I will never be rid of these things! Serves me right to even put them in the tank to begin with........ :?


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

What kind of filter do you have? I think it's easier to advise of proper filter maintenance if we know the brand/type.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

best way to swap filters is to put the new filter infront of the old filter for a week to allow the bacteria to build up on the new one that way you can do water changes and never have to worry about working your filter changes around it. Most any one will tell you buying new filter carts is worthless in a well established tank unless they are really bad however IMO i just like having the piece of mind of having a new filter cart. every so often.


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## ~*Bella*~ (May 25, 2010)

pinetree said:


> What kind of filter do you have? I think it's easier to advise of proper filter maintenance if we know the brand/type.


Its an Aqua Clear power filter....


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

If it is this type of filter

http://www.marinedepot.com/filters_hagen_aquaclear_power-ap.html

the only kind of media that you would want to change in one of these is the carbon. If you change out the entire sponge or the biomax, you will lose your biological filtration and you might end up with a cycle blip or have to recycle your tank completely. I think the sponges on those are a little thick, so I cut mine in half lengthwise and add more biomax beads in for more surface area. I change the carbon about every 2 weeks, but a lot of people don't even use the carbon.

I clean the filter by just rinsing the sponge and biomax beads in some old tank water in a bucket to get the gunk out and then just putting it back into the filter. I also use a thin bottle brush to clean out the plastic parts of the filter just to remove the slime and algae, but otherwise you want to leave the media alone to keep your nitrifying bacteria thriving.


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## ~*Bella*~ (May 25, 2010)

pinetree said:


> If it is this type of filter
> 
> http://www.marinedepot.com/filters_hagen_aquaclear_power-ap.html
> 
> ...


Thanks pinetree, thats exactly the filter that I have. That makes lots of sense and I have been rinsing the sponge and the biomax beads just need to change the carbon still. I appreciate the help and I suppose had I mentioned the type of filter before I would have had this answer a while ago haha

So I have another issue... I just bought 6 more fish to add to my collection. I had 5 tetras for quite sometime before I thought about adding more. Having had the tank up and running for 2 months and the fish seemed happy and my water testing turned out good I decided to add more fishies. 
I went to the fish store and the girl told me that I could add 6 more fish with no problems. So I bought a Powder Blue Gourami, 2 sunburst wag platies, 2 red wag platies, and a sunburst mikey mouse platy. Also I decided to get a rubber lip placo.
I tested the water before I put them in and it came out normal, except my pH was around 8.4 and my Alkalinity was around 300 (I haven't found that water changes help too much or maybe do I need to do more per week. I have been doing a water change every week). The ammonia was normal as well as NO3 and NO2.... So I added them and they all seemed to be doing good. Now they seem like their gills are red and they are swimming more at the top... Should I be worried and what can I do. 
Thanks again everyone!


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

~*Bella*~ said:


> Thanks pinetree, thats exactly the filter that I have. That makes lots of sense and I have been rinsing the sponge and the biomax beads just need to change the carbon still. I appreciate the help and I suppose had I mentioned the type of filter before I would have had this answer a while ago haha
> 
> So I have another issue... I just bought 6 more fish to add to my collection. I had 5 tetras for quite sometime before I thought about adding more. Having had the tank up and running for 2 months and the fish seemed happy and my water testing turned out good I decided to add more fishies.
> I went to the fish store and the girl told me that I could add 6 more fish with no problems. So I bought a Powder Blue Gourami, 2 sunburst wag platies, 2 red wag platies, and a sunburst mikey mouse platy. Also I decided to get a rubber lip placo.
> ...


did you aclimate the properly?


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## Peeps (May 24, 2010)

It sounds like chemical poisoning, is there any way chemicals can get in your tank? Even cream you wear on your arms or tobacco smoke on your hands.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

Have you tested the water AFTER you added all those fish?

You say ammonia was normal, but is it zero? What about nitrite? Is that zero?


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## ~*Bella*~ (May 25, 2010)

Revolution1221 said:


> did you aclimate the properly?


I believe I did yes. I left them in the bad for 30 minutes and then added 1/4 aquarium water ever 10 mins for about 30 mins... thats what they told me to at the store....



Peeps said:


> It sounds like chemical poisoning, is there any way chemicals can get in your tank? Even cream you wear on your arms or tobacco smoke on your hands.


No I don't usually have lotion on hands and no one smokes here... I make sure I was my hands when I do put my hands in...



pinetree said:


> Have you tested the water AFTER you added all those fish?
> You say ammonia was normal, but is it zero? What about nitrite? Is that zero?


Yes I have tested it after as well, everything was still good. The ammonia did go up a tiny bit but was still in the "safe" zone (according to my test kit) the nirtrite was at zero. I am going to do a water change today and hopefully that will help. I did notice today that their gills are looking much better, so could it have been just stress?


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

A water change is probably a good idea and you might want to increase your aeration. Maybe that would help with the gasping.


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## ~*Bella*~ (May 25, 2010)

I have two bubble walls up that goes pretty much from one end of the tank to the other, that should be enough shouldn't it?


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## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

~*Bella*~ said:


> I have two bubble walls up that goes pretty much from one end of the tank to the other, that should be enough shouldn't it?


Yes, that should be more than enough.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

~*Bella*~ said:


> I have two bubble walls up that goes pretty much from one end of the tank to the other, that should be enough shouldn't it?


the bubble walls dont do anything unless they are creating a lot of surface movement you can have a lot of bubbles but depending on what kind of wand it is they can end up not creating a lot of movement i know wands that create smaller bubbles just kind of fizzle as they hit the surface but ones that make big bubbles create waves at the surface this = good!


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