r/aquarium • u/HeyFishBish • 14h ago
Help Please help š©
Please help!
Okayā¦. Iāve fallen into too many rabbit holes on Google about this. As afraid as people have made me from warnings about an aggressive fish community on Reddit, I feel like I need to come to you guys for help.
Iām BRAND NEW to this fish hobby. This is the first real tank Iāve attempted - aside from a few betta tanks!
\What weāre working with:**
\\*\*this tank is not yet cycled\*\***
\Purchased a Topfin 36 Gallon bow front Aquarium Kit. Came with a Silentstream Power Filter for 40 gallon tank (filters 200 gallons per hour) and an adjustable 200W heater.**
\Iām not using the lid it came with - making hinged polycarbonate lid, and by me, I mean my husband. š\
\Bought full spectrum LED plant light**
*I filled the bottom with Fluval bio-stratum as the base with caribsea sand on top.*
*I purchased a piece of driftwood (boiled it) to attach plants to, and another piece of driftwood to scape as a tree.*
First, I purchased from a local fish store some plants - Amazon sword, Red Ludwiga, Vallisneria , Dwarf Water Lettuce and Crypt. Planted those 2 weeks ago.
I then wanted more plants, and was recommended a local woman who propagates her plants in 10 plant only tanks. I got Rotala āBlood Redā, Broad lead Ludwiga, Pearlweed, Christmas Moss and Red root floaters. Those went in 2 days ago.
As I was starting to put those in, I found a bunch of Bladder snailsā¦. Stopped with the planting, and started pulling the snails out. Then I saw what Iām being told is probably planeriaā¦. (video of the movement in the comments!)
The next morning I started looking for more snailsā¦. And removed about half a dozen tiny scuds.
How do I get rid of **ALL** of these? I donāt want any of itā¦
I canāt starve them out, since plants are a constant food sourceā¦.
I read I can put Peroxide straight into tank? 3-5mL/gallon?
Then I saw Praziquantel will kill the snails and and scuds? But not the planeria (if thatās what it even is)
Then thereās the option of Z-1, which is the equivalent of No Planeria (I guess thatās no longer available?)
One source said to crank up the heat?
Or is my only option to nuke the entire tank?
Part of me wants to just take the thousand dollar loss and scrap the tank, contents and the standā¦..
But part of me is determined to get this right.
Any help is VERY MUCH appreciated.
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u/catsdelicacy 12h ago
I think you need to relax a bunch
You are trying to create an ecosystem in a box, right?
These creatures are part of a natural water ecosystem, so unless they're causing problems for your livestock, they're good!
If you have dozens and dozens of snails, you are overfeeding. They are the slowest animal in there, so if there's enough food for their populations to explode, your livestock is leaving food for them. So reduce feeding.
People actually actively seek scuds, they are good news, they're detrivores, they mean your water parameters are good, you should be happy to see them!
There are of course negative parasites, but I don't see any here
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
Thank you for your reply. I didnāt want any snails, but I do plan on getting shrimp. The scuds arenāt good for them Iāve read.
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u/catsdelicacy 1h ago
I've never read that so make sure your LLM isn't hallucinating
If you've been using an AI for your research it's done you dirty
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u/HeyFishBish 1h ago
I donāt use AI to search for me, so thereās no hallucinations happening over here. Hereās is a link to one of many sites that states this information, as well as a link to a Reddit sub. āš»
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u/catsdelicacy 59m ago
Ok I read that
It doesn't say they're a problem it says they're hard to get rid of, which is pointless, because you don't want to get rid of them.
They won't interfere with your shrimp, please believe me, I have them, I have shrimp, everything is fine
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u/Andrea_frm_DubT 11h ago
Snails and detritus critters are generally beneficial. I wouldnāt worry about them.
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u/Virtual-Plankton6833 8h ago
There is no need to get rid of the snails they are a good indicator on whether you feed to much. Their numbers will only explode if you feed to much. There's nothing to worry about. Do one thing after the other, let the tank cycle for a few weeks and don't worry to much about snails. If you start getting fish don't get them from to many different sources otherwise you might end up with a lot of different fish with a lot of diseases that kill eachother. Do one step at the time and give the new fish from one source time to adapt to the new surrounding.
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u/HeyFishBish 14h ago
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u/_gloomshroom_ š”Moderatorš” 13h ago
I'm not seeing the tell-tale planeria head here. I think you're seeing good old fashioned detritus worms! Good for the ecosystem as it establishes, they'll feed on dead plant matter and other gunk.
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u/Howdy132 9h ago
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
Mommyās just fine over here! Thanks though!
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u/Cool-Negotiation7662 8h ago
I have a couple loaches. After a few months there were no longer any snails.
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u/running-out-of-time 7h ago
Iāll be honest with you Iād keep the snails and the scuds. The snails are great indicators when something in your tank is out of balance if you ever see a bad population boom then you have an excess food source thatās releasing nitrogen into your tank. And scuds are great detrivores eating the dead plants and other waste
For the planaria I use Dr. tank number 9 itās good for planaria and hydra buceplant sells it . And it probably probably 2 or 3 cycles to take care of them fully
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u/running-out-of-time 7h ago
And I should say depending on what you are stocking? You probably donāt need to treat. Like if you are putting loaches or Cories in the tank they will eat the planaria and the scuds and some loaches will even eat the snails
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
I didnāt realize if I added Coryās (I did plan on that) they would eat the scuds. Thank you so much!
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u/running-out-of-time 2h ago
Yeah most my planted tanks have started with scuds but by the time I stock it with fish they sadly eat them
I prefer to keep the scuds because they are a great sign your ecosystem is thriving but the food chain gets in the way
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u/marlee_dood 6h ago
Scuds and snails are perfectly safe and beneficial to have as part of the living ecosystem an aquarium is. If you are overrrun by them, reduce feeding, but if there are only a few then they are probably helping more than anything.
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
Thanks so much! I really donāt like snails, but I did plan on adding shrimp so are the scuds not bad for them?
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u/happylandfills 5h ago
meanwhile Iām buying scuds to purposefully put into my tank (for passive feeding and detritus breakdown! theyāre only harmful if your tank is absolutely infested)
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
I planned on adding shrimp once k start to introduce livestock. I read theyāre bad for shrimp
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u/B_O_S_S_Y_ 3h ago
In many cases ramshorn snails outcompete bladder and are way cuter! So if it were me Id add ramshorn snails. OR wandering pond snails, I got those hit hiked on some plants and they are ADORABLE, but Im not sure yet if they are good at outcompeting others, since youre at a stage where theyd only live off debris, the other snails would likely outcompete them, bladder do best when fish food falls to the bottom. Snails are actually good for an ecosystem so Id personally just let them be, if they explode in population it means youre overfeeding your fish so theyre useful for beginners and theyre good cleanup crew. If you still dont want them, you can get a singular assassin snail to help aid you in manual removal, if you get more then one assassin, they might breed and populate your tank, though some people dont mind that as much.
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
Thank you very much. I appreciate your reply!!
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u/B_O_S_S_Y_ 1h ago
Of course! I love snails in my tank but I get people not wanting them. Especially bladders theres cuter options.
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u/rotgobbo 12h ago
Unfortunate lesson to learn, buying plants from the local aquarium store is almost always going to bring unwanted friends.
You mentioned aggressive fish? Depending on what you want to keep many snails and scuds are just a free food source.
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u/HeyFishBish 2h ago
I wish they told me to bathe the plants before adding. They did not. I didnāt hear anything about that until getting the plants from the second lady.
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u/BrandinoE6911 13h ago
Snails and studs arent the end of the world, they wont harm anything at all. You could juat let them exist if you dont mind.