Stacey

One of my nerite snails is an accomplished escape artist........ and I'm getting a little tired of picking him up off the carpet behind the tank. I would like to cover the accessory holes in the lid with pieces of plastic canvas, (stuck on with the silicone, obviously.) Usually when I glue something for the tanks I leave it for a week. (usual water change interval) But obvoiusly that's too long to leave the lid off, unless, of course, I want to to find the cat swimming with the fishes. :bang1: Anyone know how long I should leave the lid off to dry? Or have any suggestions for a temporary tank cover while it's drying? thanks

I spent all this time typing out my big, long post. Then sharug1 comes along and says something so much simpler, and probably more effective, that I said! And with so many less words too! Adding media from the old filter to the new is a very good idea........and one that probably would've taken me 1000 words to get to. :thumbs:

I would think that the bacterial population would only be as large as the bio load requires, even if it is spread out among several filters. And I would expect at least a small ammonia spike when removing a filter. Reading you post, it seems you're saying that the whole tank has been established for 3 months, running with an xp3 filter. You've recently added some other larger model of filter, which is now running in conjunction with the xp3. And what you would like to know is, "when would be a good time to remove the xp3 , leaving only the new, larger filter?" If that is the case, I would ask how you originally cycled the tank? Was the current bio load of fish added gradually, or all at once? Has the ammonia level been at a constant 0 these past 3 months? Or have you had any problems? I would not call a bacterial population 'mature' at anything less that 6 months. What I would do is run both filters on the tank for another 3 months. Then, move the xp3 to another tank. Test the water frequently during the first few days after removing the xp3, and if you find the new filter isn't quite up to the task, put the xp3 back for a while. I would expect that after 3 months, providing the bacterial population was healthy, and you've experienced no ammonia spikes for any reason, that the new filter would be sufficently up to the task. You may experience a mini cycle, but as long as the ammonia doesn't test too high, that can be controlled with a few extra water changes and some extra Prime. If you're tank is healthy, it should recover from a mini cycle in a few days. .....HTH :thumbs:

Good point. I do not drive to work, and thus do not have a car to leave them in, but I'll tell him not to put them in his.

Stealing knowledge is what fish forum are for! :welcome:

A co-worker of mine is having a cloudy water issue with his tank. He also washes the media in tap water. :bang1: I've given him some instructions, and asked him for a water sample Monday, etc. Can I also bring him some used sponges in a ziplock bag with tank water? I think the bacteria could survive all day until he got home, just looking for confirmation.

That really sucks, sorry for your losses.

Perhaps I have not seen as many instances of a chain store being promoted over an independant store, but I think this site, just by virtue of being a LOCAL site, has done more to promote local, independant stores than any other non-local fish forum could ever do. Many of us have met other members, through this forum, or through our local aquarium societies. (which also get promoted here in a way that would not be available to Albertans without this forum.) We talk, become friends, and of course, exchange information. I think we have a strong community of aquarists here in Alberta, which is reinforced by this forum. That in turn, is good for all of the GOOD fish stores that sell to us, be they independant or chain. The good ones will get talked about, so will the bad...(although not on the open forum :tongue: ) I do agree with you about how important it is to support independant stores. The chains will still be around no matter where we shop, some of the independant ones, not so much. It's a personal mission of mine to visit ALL of the independant fish stores in Calgary........ and thanks to this forum's handy 'fish store in Alberta' list, I see I still have a few more to go!..... ..... there's also a few stores in Edmonton I'd like to get to, thanks to what I've read on this forum. :smokey:

So far I only have trouble remembering the Prime when preparing the salt water for the brackish tank... I know I've double dosed that tank a few times because I wasn't sure if I put it in or not.

Great pictures, both of you! :thumbs: I'd show you a picture of my little oscar (8 inches), but I am the world's worst photographer! (I have the certificate and everything........ ) How big is Petey?

I always feed those raw. I use a spoon to weigh it down, (push handle through vegetable, tie fishing line to spoon and leave the other end out of the tank for easy removal the next morning.) Pumpkin and potato I cook.

My pleco eats zucchini, cucumber, kiwi, and peach as a staple diet. (He really loves the peach, it's the only thing he eats right down to the skin, no matter how much I feed.) He also occasionally will eat, potato, tomato, lettuce, and because halloween is coming up, cooked pumpkin. I always serve his produce with a few NLS wafers pushed into it. And, as a side effect of feeding the NLS wafers, I've finally found a prepared food that the oscar likes! No little pellets for that fish, I can actually hear the oscar grind up the wafers in his throat.

Good to see you back, Mathew. :thumbs:

I suppose it depends on the direction of the water flow within the filter. I would want the foam first to catch the largest particles, then the bio media, and the carbon last. In any of my filters that you can stack the media like this it's always foam on the bottom, biomedia in the middle and carbon on top. But none of those filters is a Fluval 303......... so hopefully someone who actually has one of these will answer next...... :tongue:

I don't know how you can only have several ramshorn snails... they seem to be multiplying in my tank like crazy,,,, there was even 2 that were connected at the head floating around my tank!!! why they were hooked up like that I dont know The connected at the head would be them breeding....... And I only have 8 right now (I was actually updating my signature while you were typing your post.) I've given away approximately 50 baby snails since I got the original 5 back in about April? I also diligently remove the egg sacks as soon as I see them. It was kinda neat when I first got them to see the eggs hatch and the baby snails grow, but now that I understand just how hardy these guys are, and just how many eggs they can lay, that novelty has worn off. And the Ramshorns in the brackish tank? They only lay eggs after a freshwater change. (I alternate brackish and fresh, keeping the sailnity between 1.002 and 1.004.) Well it is good to know they are breeding.... when i pulled them apart I thought they were dead and I thru em in my tank with angels and my loaches but they are moving I see... these ramshorns are the generic snails you get with plants right? Nope. Google 'Colombian Ramshorn Snails' for a picture. My largest ones are about 2 inches in diameter. The ones you get from plants don't lay visible egg sacks. (not visible to me anyway) I've had some success plucking those ones out by hand and tossing them to my oscar. I've never been overrun with them though. And the Columbian ramshorns also eat the smaller ramshorn/plant snail variety.

I don't know how you can only have several ramshorn snails... they seem to be multiplying in my tank like crazy,,,, there was even 2 that were connected at the head floating around my tank!!! why they were hooked up like that I dont know The connected at the head would be them breeding....... And I only have 8 right now (I was actually updating my signature while you were typing your post.) I've given away approximately 50 baby snails since I got the original 5 back in about April? I also diligently remove the egg sacks as soon as I see them. It was kinda neat when I first got them to see the eggs hatch and the baby snails grow, but now that I understand just how hardy these guys are, and just how many eggs they can lay, that novelty has worn off. And the Ramshorns in the brackish tank? They only lay eggs after a freshwater change. (I alternate brackish and fresh, keeping the sailnity between 1.002 and 1.004.)

Wow! Vampire Snails. What sort of snails are these? Do any of your fish look injured? I can think of any species of snail that would be quick and strong enough to damage a healthy fish. Have you done a fish count? The snails could've been eating a dead fish. Other than that I have no idea.........

Thanks Osprey, it didn't even occur to be that the salt could be bubble-y........ I was staring at the snails, trying to catch them blowing the bubbles....

Good to know........ I was using the cut-your-own filter pad from a pet store, but this sounds even cheaper!

It appears my brackish tank has developed bubbles. Similar to a betta's bubble nest, but with no 'betta spit film' on the surface. There aren't too many bubbles, but there were none at the last water change 2 days ago. *tank is 26 gallons, currently housing 4 adult Columbian ramshorn snails. *test results are; ammonia, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, pH 7.6, 1.003 SG Only equipment in the tank is an AC 50 filter and heater. The filter was cleaned 2 days ago, but obviously using no soaps or detergents. So is there something wrong with my water? Or do these snails blow bubbles?? (Never seen them blow bubbles, but I've only ever kept them with bettas before, thus any bubbles would've been wrongly attributed anyway.)

Jane- the Elite Mini's are adjustable....... on maximum you'll easily feel the water movement on the opposite side of the tank, on minimum, you won't feel much at all. They are a great little filter. (rated for a 1-3 gallon tank volume)

Based on my own experiences with brown algae, you're going to have to clean it off...... eventually you just won't have to scrub everything so often.

What I'm looking to buy soon are: Bumblebee Gobies (about a dozen) Nerite Snails (maybe four?) :thumbs:

I have an Elite Mini. (suitable for 1-3 gallons of water) It's just a small box filter with a sponge that I move around between tanks...... it's adjustable too. Petland sells them.

90g + 26g + 10g + 10g= 136g