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View Full Version : ammonia spike! will my snails be okay?


aquadonkey
11/21/2009, 12:16 PM
Hi everyone. I just finished the fifth week of cycling my 29g. Right now I have 7 snails in there (had them for a week). I just tested the water and the ammonia seems really high! I'm sure I know why - I put in a piece of raw shrimp for the snails and then the next day when I went to take it out, I couldn't find it. Oops.
I put the piece of shrimp in on Tuesday. Thursday the ammonia was at .2, and these are my readings from today:
temp. - 77.6
ammonia - .75
nitrite - .05
nitrate - 7
sg - 1.0255

Also.... my sg is a bit high since I topped off with salt water. oops again.

Anyway - my question is - should I take my snails out?? I've grown quite fond of them and don't want anything bad to happen!
Thanks!

jherrin215
11/21/2009, 12:22 PM
Well, I can't say rather they will make it or not, but I can tell you that you don't have to feed snails. They will eat algae from the tank and there is no reason to feed them anything else. Also I don't see that your salinity is out of hand either. I would leave it at this level and just do a couple water changes and don't feed the snails.

aquadonkey
11/21/2009, 01:37 PM
I guess I shouldn't have given the snails anything. They just looked hungry and I didn't know if there was enough algae for them.
Also.... it's pretty cute to see the nessarius snails come up out of the sand for food - like little dogs....
Any more advice anyone?

Michael
11/21/2009, 01:41 PM
ammonia spike! will my snails be okay?

i hope so, but its not definate you wont lose some, all inverts are sensitive to ammonia, im suprised you have some in the tank already as you havent cycled yet, good luck with them, and please dont add anything else untill ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for several days, all my best, good luck

aquadonkey
11/21/2009, 01:51 PM
The snails are already in the tank because I thought it had cycled. It had already cycled for 4 weeks with LR and LS. My ammonia was at .1 and the lfs guy (who always takes time to help me and answers my questions) said that was completely fine.
I thought I was doing things in the right order - cycle for about a month, then start very slowly adding a cleaning crew......

Michael
11/21/2009, 02:03 PM
yeah ok fair enough, unfortunately the lfs guy doesnt know what hes talking about, still never mind whats done is done now :)

aquadonkey
11/21/2009, 02:21 PM
So... I just redid my ammonia test. Now it looks more like .2
Should I redo the test again? Or take some water to the lfs for them to retest?
I was thinking about stopping by there this afternoon anyway.....

Michael
11/21/2009, 02:25 PM
i wouldnt worry too much about it, the tank is still cycling, however as there is inverts in there id suggest under the circumstance you do a water change to give them a chance

tom atchison
11/21/2009, 05:57 PM
So... I just redid my ammonia test. Now it looks more like .2
Should I redo the test again? Or take some water to the lfs for them to retest?
I was thinking about stopping by there this afternoon anyway.....

definetly have the lfs check it.could be the test

lougotzz
11/21/2009, 06:04 PM
Why do you have nassarius snails in a tank with no fish? They eat detritus.

one4gatr
11/21/2009, 07:13 PM
Why do you have nassarius snails in a tank with no fish? They eat detritus.

They also eat freeze dried shrimp too...lol... lost my fish but have been dropping freeze dried shrimp (rolled between my fingers and made into VERY small bits) into my tank and havent lost a snail due to starvation... I would think he can "feed" the snails and keep them alive but obviously his params will ebb and flow depending on what he drops in....

How many snails do you have in the tank Aqua?

tspors
11/21/2009, 07:34 PM
Tanks aren't ready for anything until at least 2 months. Good Luck....... Those snails shouldn't even be in there yet.

lougotzz
11/21/2009, 09:31 PM
Tanks aren't ready for anything until at least 2 months. Good Luck....... Those snails shouldn't even be in there yet.

I dont agree with that. From that answer your saying that TBS tanks are all wrong when someone orders a "package".

aquadonkey
11/21/2009, 10:12 PM
So... I took a water sample to the lfs today and he got about .2 for the ammonia. I think I may have just done something wrong with the first ammonia test today. And... he thinks the ammonia being at .2 (instead of 0) is because I haven't change my carbon on the HOB filter I'm running. I've been using the same filter for the full five weeks - ack! It's tricky being a newbie! I feel like I've done a lot of research and am going slowly, but still make stupid mistakes.....
I have 7 snails in there:
3 nassarius
2 bumble bee
1 cerith
1 astrea
Are you guys saying that yes, I should be feeding them a little something?? They Loved the raw shrimp I put in :).
Anyway - plan of action is now: 20% WC tomorrow (prepared the water today) and change the filter pad the next day. Sound good??

lougotzz
11/21/2009, 11:18 PM
I would just let the bacteria grow off that ammonia instead of pulling it out manually and short changing yourself. If adding a piece of shrimp or snails or what ever increased your ammonia like that, then you weren't fully cycled to begin with. I don't like using animals to cycle, but they're already in there so just let nature take it's course. Good luck.

lougotzz
11/21/2009, 11:22 PM
Oh and hob filters will eventually cause nitrate issues. I would be relying on rock than mechanical filters, other than a skimmer.

ANC
11/22/2009, 12:35 AM
I use an HOB filter also but took out the actual filter pad and replaced it with a filter sock full of carbon. I change the sock every 3-4 weeks. Seems to work for me. Before I took the filter pad out I was noticing a little problem with algae and nitrates.

aquadonkey
11/22/2009, 03:01 PM
How is the sock with carbon different than a carbon filter pad?

one4gatr
11/22/2009, 08:05 PM
So... I took a water sample to the lfs today and he got about .2 for the ammonia. I think I may have just done something wrong with the first ammonia test today. And... he thinks the ammonia being at .2 (instead of 0) is because I haven't change my carbon on the HOB filter I'm running. I've been using the same filter for the full five weeks - ack! It's tricky being a newbie! I feel like I've done a lot of research and am going slowly, but still make stupid mistakes.....
I have 7 snails in there:
3 nassarius
2 bumble bee
1 cerith
1 astrea
Are you guys saying that yes, I should be feeding them a little something?? They Loved the raw shrimp I put in :).
Anyway - plan of action is now: 20% WC tomorrow (prepared the water today) and change the filter pad the next day. Sound good??

Well except for the Astrea you have all omnivores so in moderation I would think you would need to feed them as my guess is you dont have enough algea for them to consume over the long haul... My biggest worry would be the Astrea... being a herbivore i am not sure where its going to get its food source from... my fist addition (a hitch hiking Turbo) died within a couple of weeks in my "new" tank as it had NOTHING to feed on.... Maybe someone here can answer for the herbivore but my Nas snails are VERY much thriving on 2-3 freeze dried shrimp feeds per week..... freaking eggs everywhere I swear.... but yeah like some have mentioned you jumped the gun a bit with your additions (so did I FWIW with only 1 out of about 20 inverts lost so far)... you can always take them back tho...