[ptaneja]

Guys,

Owing to shoulder surgery I am not able to take care of my aquarium and it is devoid of any fish since a year or so. I would love to sell it off to someone who needs at a very competitive price.

Location - Gurgaon
Size - 6 feet length * 3 feet height * 1.5 feet width

Will be gifting along all the pebbles, toys and decorative stuff.
Please ping me if someone is interested.

[da3mn]

I have done some minor changes to the hard scape. Have cut the driftwood so as to fit it better in the tank.



I am still battling the pest snail infestation and fungus on the walls



Planning on introducing couple of assassin snails this weekend.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by da3mn

Planning on introducing couple of assassin snails this weekend.

I too face this pest snails. Can you please elaborate on the assassin snail ? OR is there any other way of dealing with these snails.

Regards
Diesel

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by da3mn

I have done some minor changes to the hard scape. Have cut the driftwood so as to fit it better in the tank.

Hi, please fill up water. That motor is supposed to be fully submersed in water. For snails, get a pair of long tweezers and keep picking them out.

[da3mn]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

I too face this pest snails. Can you please elaborate on the assassin snail ? OR is there any other way of dealing with these snails.

Regards
Diesel

This was suggested by the aqarium shop guy. I have to check on how effective they are.

https://youtu.be/GB1BVVETjE0?feature=shared

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Hi, please fill up water. That motor is supposed to be fully submersed in water. For snails, get a pair of long tweezers and keep picking them out.

For now I am sucking them out using the hose during water change. I have reduced the water level as beyond this level my pump is not aerating.

[Maverick Avi]

Originally Posted by da3mn

This was suggested by the aqarium shop guy. I have to check on how effective they are.


For now I am sucking them out using the hose during water change. I have reduced the water level as beyond this level my pump is not aerating.

Have heard that Assasin snails are effective but they only reduce the problem and not eliminate it entirely. Moreover as you can see in the video its not a good sight to see these snails go about their business. Feeding less fish food and regular tank maintenance goes a long way in tackling pest snail menace.

Is that a hang on back filter? If yes then are you referring to aeration due to the water fall effect? A gentle surface agitation should also be enough which can be attained by increasing the water level. Don't see a problem with that.

You can also increase the plant mass by cutting the healthy tops of your ludwigia and bacopa and replant them(or maybe get new plants). More plants more oxygen for your livestock. Would also suggest you replant your tall stems behind the driftwood. Tall stems in front of driftwood or rocks are soon going to hide or ruin the hardscape look.

[da3mn]

Originally Posted by Maverick Avi

.

Thank you @Maverick Avi. Will implement these over weekend.

I tried reducing the fish food and am doing frequent water changes it didn't work out

[Maverick Avi]

Originally Posted by da3mn

Thank you @Maverick Avi. Will implement these over weekend.

I tried reducing the fish food and am doing frequent water changes it didn't work out

Got to be patient with these natural measures. It will take months before you actually start seeing some difference.

And by regular maintenance I am referring to sucking out detritus or gunk that sits at the bottom. That is food for the snails. Pebbles that you have put in also trap in a lot of the gunk and makes siphoning trickier. Using a turkey blaster to blow between them will make you realise how much filth is hidden beneath. Once this mulm gets bubbled up, you can siphon that out. I know all this takes lot of time but if you love this hobby you'll like doing such maintenance stuff as it will help you to achive an algae and pest free beautiful looking tank with healthy fishes swimming excitedly! It's the same with cars, the more you spend time pampering them the more they reward you back with trouble free ownership.

[ArTigor]

This is my 9in x 12in x 18in tank, it has been 4 months since my introduction to the hobby. Unfortunately lost the initial lot of fishes (barring two barbs) due to my negligence and lack of knowledge of cycling the tank. Two barbs survived the 'in tank cycle', they proved to be very resilient.

Right now my tank has stabilised, have added live plants one month ago and all is good.

Right now the stock consists of
One rosy barb
One tiger barb
Four widow tetras

Have 2 sponge filters, one heater and a LED strip light setup which is a DIY.
The LED strip is the one I got from Crawford Market(Mumbai), it is 6 ft in length, it is wrapped around inside the tank cover box. Costed me just 300 rupees.

Water Change schedule is once every Sunday, where I change approximately 40% water using a siphon.

I feed them 6 days a week, 4 days they are fed small pellets and 2 days they are fed dried worms.

Next I plan to remove one of the artificial plants and introduce a small piece of driftwood.

Here are a few pictures







Thanks to the members here who helped me understand filtering, tank cycling, aspects like slowly introducing fishes and keeping tank less crowded, your comments were super helpful.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by Maverick Avi

Have heard that Assasin snails are effective but they only reduce the problem and not eliminate it entirely.

They are very effective and will bring down the pest snail count in no time, my aquarium bed soon had a carpet of empty snail shells after assassins in action.

I had a large collection of shrimps which was multiplying daily, but their population dropped mysteriously after introducing assassin snails. This might have been just confidence, or only other reason I can think off is assassins preying on the shrimp eggs

[Maverick Avi]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

They are very effective and will bring down the pest snail count in no time, my aquarium bed soon had a carpet of empty snail shells after assassins in action.

I had a large collection of shrimps which was multiplying daily, but their population dropped mysteriously after introducing assassin snails. This might have been just confidence, or only other reason I can think off is assassins preying on the shrimp eggs

The whole concept of introducing a snail to tackle snail population doesn't sound a good idea to me and hence I have till now kept away from trying them. Infact I never keep shrimps just to tackle algae nor have I bought otocinclus for the same reason. Snails or algae will be there in planted tanks. Snails can still be avoided to a large extent but not algae. Problem arises when they grow out of control. I prefer fixing the root cause which can be slow, tedious and sometimes frustrating but is involving and provides a long term solution with less chances of affecting tank stability.

As you observed assasin snails do a good job of solving the snail menace but at the same time they do feast on fish, shrimp eggs and even fry. In some instances their population also multiplies and they become the menace themselves. But then it's an option and one that works so enthusiasts can surly try it keeping in mind the pitfalls as well.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by Maverick Avi

I prefer fixing the root cause which can be slow, tedious and sometimes frustrating but is involving and provides a long term solution with less chances of affecting tank stability.

The best fix is to address the root cause than look at the shortcuts for sure.

I look at introducing Assassins or Shrimps in an aquarium as a natural way of controlling things, but agree they can misfire.

BTW Assassin snails doesn't multiply like the other snails, but agree there can be better solutions.

[deathwalkr]

It's a small tank. Just get a pair or long tweezers and start picking them out one by one. Or drop in a lettuce leaf and watch all the snails congregate on it and take them all out.

[Maverick Avi]

Currently I have 5 planted tanks and I am planning for a 6th one but this time fishes would be the highlight rather than plants. Planning for a cichlid tank with 4x1.5x1.5 feet dimensions. Would be building the tank myself using 12 mm glass as I do not intend to add braces. Have been successful in building a DIY 1 feet cube and cannot stop myself from trying another one!

This would be 240 litre tank and I would add in a 2000l/hr canister filter as have heard that cichlids do get messy. My confusion is around the choice of fishes. There is so much content available online these days that making a choice has become quite difficult. My 1st priority is peaceful community tank with minimal aggression and certainly no deaths due to rivalry. Am leaning towards lake Malawi cichlids due to their relatively small size but most of them seem pretty aggressive. Also read that Malawi cichlids have been further categorized into mbunas, haps, peacocks which have different eating habits. Availability of these fishes in India is also something I haven't yet probed so did not go to the extent of finalizing any species yet.

Reaching out to fellow hobbyists who have had a good experience keeping cichlids to help me in making this decision. As I mentioned I would prefer to have peaceful varieties that can be kept in a tank together and I am fine sacrificing on vivid colors and variation. Not planning on bigger species that grow beyond 6 inches because that would limit the numbers I can keep(but am open to it). Two varieties that I thought would do well are yellow labs and yellow tail acei(let me know if any issues with them). What other options should I consider and are there any recommendations for fish stores in Delhi NCR where I can get good and healthy varieties?

[ottocycle]

Hi all, I need your suggestions to improve on this really not so optimal setup. Some background.

My wife wanted to start fish keeping hobby. We went to a nearby shop to get a tank and few starter fishes. She actually didn't like the tanks there because of their size and shape. And instead preferred a cylindrical or spherical shape. We went to a homeware shop and found this 6 liter jar.

We got 6 zebra and 5 guppies (4 female and a male). I had asked her to not get more than 6 in total but she wanted more anyways. The zebra were kind of very small and over last 5 days 5 of them died. May be because of the food we had got was little bigger grain size even if it was written as micro fish pallette. Or reasons unknown to us.

Guppies have survived till now and so has one last zebra. I understand that our tank setup is really bad. And I am looking for suggestions on how to maintain it and improve the quality slowly. Attaching the picture of the setup.


The tank/jar has no water filter or any tech. Just a couple of plants that have been thriving on pure water from last couple of months. My wife normally keeps such pothos plants in 1 liter IKEA jars/vases filled with water and they grow happily there.

Questions are

1. Is a water filter a must for this setup? If yes what type of filter?
2. Do we need any lighting too especially for fishes? The ceiling downlight is close by and plants have been doing fine in similar lighting conditions for a couple of years now.
3. Any suggestions on where I can find cylindrical or spherical shape bigger aquarium in Hyderabad as my wife is strict no no for rectangular shaped ones.
4. She is feeding them atleast twice a day which I think is a lot. The residue can be seen settling at the bottom. Is it dangerous for fishes? I am recycling 1.25 liters of water every other day with tap water that is kept open in a glass jar for one or two days.

I am really looking forward to your suggestions. Please teach me like a newbie in this field. Thanks a lot.