# Snails and gravel! Help!! And baby dwarf tears!!



## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

Hi,
Okay, so I have two pretty fluval specs with gravel substrate and lots of plants. I also have a snail in each. OH MY GOD THE POOP. Someone on here told me that if I have a gravel substrate I have to vacuum the poop even if I have plants. I literally cannot keep up. THEY POOP SO MUCH. When they were in their qt tank with no substrate, it looked like poop gravel every morning. If I have to vacuum it each day, I have to return these guys. How can any living thing produce that much waste??

Also, I have dwarf baby tears and baby tears that I got from a pet store with ich. They said I could quarantine them, so they'll be in the qt tank for about a week or so. I figured having them be successful in a Spec V with stock lighting was a bit of a pipe dream, but...can they even grow in gravel at all? I dose with Flourish and it looks like my plants are doing very well. Would that be enough for them? I could increase the lighting but I'm still a bit too intimidated to tear down and start over with dirt.

You guys have so much helpful advice; I credit all of you with how happy my Petco betta is. He makes bubble nests every day because of the advice you all gave me.

Thanks!!


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## sparketta (Nov 9, 2013)

Oh wow, now I'm rethinking snails! What kind of snails do you have? Sounds awful.


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## Weaver (Sep 8, 2013)

I am so so sorry. I'm doing my best to not burst out laughing. "OH MY GOD THE POOP." I lost it at that. I am so sorry that your snails poop so much. I have one Nerite and it poops a lot too. Snails poop so much. 

What kind of snails do you have? Has your tank cycled? Hmm, do you dose with Stress Zyme+? That could help a little in breaking down the poops.


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## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

My tank was cycled before I put the snails in. They're mystery snails. One gold, one ivory AND IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE POOP. I use stress coat as a water conditioner but not Stress Zyme +. So...given my gravel, is it necessary to vacuum up all the poop? The snails are fun to watch but they're not THAT fun to watch, if you know what I mean. 

Any thoughts on the baby tears in the poop-infested gravel?

Thanks!


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## Raye (Feb 5, 2013)

yeah, two mystery snails in a tank under ten gallons is pushing it (unless the tank is HEAVILY planted). as you've found out, they make a really big mess. but tbh, so long as you have the snails there's not much you can do. your tank is probably going through a mini-cycle because of the excess waste being produced. right now, your options are to either get rid of the snails or toss some fast growing stem plants/floaters in soak up the nutrients. the latter won't make your water quality safer overnight, though. 

in the meantime, maybe try dosing seachem prime between water changes? it's supposed to lock up ammonia so that it's not as harmful, in addition to removing chlorine, chloramine & heavy metals.


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## BettahBehBeh (Oct 18, 2013)

I don't have the snails in the same tank, just one in each. And my water is still testing at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates. So far so good that way. I just am overwhelmed by the nastiness. I'd love to keep them, I have five stem plants in the gravel in my tank along with some floaters, and was hoping that the poop would eventually help the plants? I like the snails, just not enough to vacuum EVERY SINGLE SECOND after them as they release long, flourishing, tangled webs of poo as they glide along.

I want someone to say, you have a planted tank even with gravel! Snail poo is great for your plants! No need to worry!

But you know, not if it's not true. :|


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## Nothingness (Oct 11, 2012)

Keep testing your water levels and keep up with your weekly water changes. White gravel unfortunately show all the pool from your snails. If you see a spike in ammonia levels in between water change then do a small change to lower the ammonia. In order for your plants to benefit from the poop you need a soil based substrate.


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## Raye (Feb 5, 2013)

BettahBehBeh said:


> I don't have the snails in the same tank, just one in each. And my water is still testing at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates. So far so good that way. I just am overwhelmed by the nastiness. I'd love to keep them, I have five stem plants in the gravel in my tank along with some floaters, and was hoping that the poop would eventually help the plants? I like the snails, just not enough to vacuum EVERY SINGLE SECOND after them as they release long, flourishing, tangled webs of poo as they glide along.
> 
> I want someone to say, you have a planted tank even with gravel! Snail poo is great for your plants! No need to worry!
> 
> But you know, not if it's not true. :|


oh, i read that you said your tank was cycled before the snails, so i assumed that you water params were a bit off now. my bad.

do you have pictures of your tank somewhere? because depending on what kind of plants you have in your tank, how big they are, and how heavily planted they are, you might not have anything to really worry about it (but still be aware of it, ie, staying on top of water changes to compensate for the bioload)




Nothingness said:


> In order for your plants to benefit from the poop you need a soil based substrate.


could you possibly explain how exactly this works? the waste will decompose whether there's dirt in the tank or not, right? i could see how it would be better for root feeders, but stem plants they take their nutrients from the water column anyway so i'm confused why that would make a difference. :/ this is not an attack on you by the way, i'm genuinely curious.


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## Nothingness (Oct 11, 2012)

The soil contains bacteria which help in the decomposing of the waste into a usable medium. Much like how a farmer collects his livestock waste and has to compost it until it is a useable nutrient rich soil. Essentially the poo will turn into soil. As far as I am aware only mushrooms grow in crap.


And if there are no root feeders then keeping the poo for nutrients is pointless and may be detrimental to the health of the fish. Also the amount of poo needed to make enough nutrient rich soil to benefit any plant is enormous. I'm going to guess it probably breaks down on a 1:1 ratio, but if there is already soil then the poo just adds nutrients to it creating a continuous cycle


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