# Planted Tank Questions



## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

I picked up a 10 gallon tank the other day for very cheep as the owner was moving and had to get rid of his tanks. It is good quality, the glass is thicker than what I usually see in the pet stores and has no leaks. I was amazed that he was selling this tank for so little. It included a heater, gravel, a filter and a hood with lights for a planted tank. I thought "Great!! I can let it sit in my closet until I can afford to get plants and a water testing kit." I got to the house and the owner loaded a whole heap of plants on me. I had no idea how long plants could sit in a bag for so I set up my tank. I now have a live planted tank sitting in my bedroom. I love it and it is beautiful but I don't know exactly what to do with it. 

I have done some research on NPT's and the Nitrogen Cycling and it isn't overly difficult but here are my questions and situations I need advice about:

1) I don't have a water testing kit so I can't test my water to see where it is at in the cycle. How many water changes should I be doing in the heated, filtered, gravel planted, 10 gallon tank with about 12 plants in it. 

2) I don't have any soil or fertilizers. Is this going to affect my system negatively?

3) I have two snails in there that came along with the tank, I kept them in there because I've read they will help the system. 

4) I have no idea what is in my tank and I don't know how to care for them other than to keep the water at a 78-ish level. 





Also, what is that "spriggly" plant just hanging out there? It didn't look like it had an outstanding root system to be planted so I put it in the tank.


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

And now snails are popping out of no where. Ones I have never seen before...there's five now...?
Will they eat my plants? Oh my goodness, I really hope I don't have pest snails but it is what it is looking like.


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## rpadgett37 (Jan 1, 2014)

Reagan said:


> And now snails are popping out of no where. Ones I have never seen before...there's five now...?
> Will they eat my plants? Oh my goodness, I really hope I don't have pest snails but it is what it is looking like.


It's probably too early to tell what type of snails you have so it's hard to say if these will eat your plants.

If you wish to get rid of them, I've read two methods that seem to work. The first is the simplest. At night, place a piece of lettuce you have run under hot water in the aquarium. In the morning, remove it and it should have snails on it. You can do this as many times as necessary to get rid of them. You can also use cucumber or zucchini.

Another method is similar but also seems to work well. Place an open plastic bottle in your aquarium at night with a piece of the above veggies in it. Should see the same results in the morning. And again, do this as many times as necessary to rid yourself of the snails.

You can also add loaches or assassin snails to your tank. Keep in mind, though. Loaches grow rather large and do best when kept in shaols. Larger tanks (55 Gallon and above) would be needed to promote their health and happiness. You can also add an assassin snail to your tank. He will gobble up any eggs or snails he can find. For this type of snail, though, because they are omnivorous, they will eat any other snails you add to the tank smaller than them (A. snails grow to 3"). Also, you will need to feed him additional food as he won't survive on algae in the tank. Brine shrimp, various types of worms are essential as a supplement for him.

I've never seen this myself, but a man with one of these snails reported that his A. Snail somehow caught one of his shrimp and ate it. I can't envision how that coulld happen, but it does, if true, show the need to feed this snail meaty foods to supplement his diet.

For your future reference, here is a link to a thread that describes different methods for treating your plants to rid them of snail eggs and baby snails before you put them into your aquarium. Of the methods described, I would recommend staying away from using salt in the aquarium. It will have some effect on the sanils; however, your plants will likely be killed by it.

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2011/07/20/dipping-plants-to-eliminate-snails/


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## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

Your plants looks to be a type of Vallisnaria and the lone floater looks like it might be a dwarf pennywort or hydrocolote but missing most of the leaves. Kind of hard to tell by the picture what it is.

Most pest snails won't hurt your plants at all, they eat dead and decaying plant matter and left over fish food. If you don't like them remove them, if you like them then keep them.


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

Okay, thank you. I like the snails but if they get out of control I may get rid of them. Thank you for the ideas rpadgett37. The link will give me ideas if I need to get rid of them. 

I will try to get a closer picture of the plant because I would like to know if I need to plant it. It seems to be be doing really well but the Vallisnaria (which I am sure you are right about because it looks a lot like my plants when I 'google' it) is browning. I will try to get a picture of that too.


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## sponge1234 (Oct 29, 2013)

I think that the valls might need some ferts in the gravel.


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

Okay, I will try to get some as soon as I can. 

Here is one of my tanks inhabitants. There are a lot more than just five now. I have no idea where they are coming from.



And here is the float-y plant that I don't know about. You can see the leaves more here. Should I try to root it in the gravel?



And this is a close up of the other plants. They seem to be looking better than this morning. They have deepened in colour and are less yellow. I am taking that as a good sign.



And the question still stands...how often should I clean this tank. I am used to cleaning my 1 gallon for Jasper but not a cycling 10 gallon


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

I also have another question about the snails ( don't worry about the planted tank questions, I did more research and cruising around on this thread and found most of the answers I needed). What do you do with the pond snails after you remove them with cucumbers or lettuce? It seems like such a morbid question


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

Reagan said:


> I also have another question about the snails ( don't worry about the planted tank questions, I did more research and cruising around on this thread and found most of the answers I needed). What do you do with the pond snails after you remove them with cucumbers or lettuce? It seems like such a morbid question


Pea Puffer tank.


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

The pea puffer's are very cute! But I am trying to find a way to get rid of them without getting new creatures because my 10 gallon is meant for Jasper, my betta, once it is cycled. Assassin snails seem like a good idea but they require more food once the pest snails are gone. Could my betta eat the snails? Hahahaha he would. Which is another reason why I want to get rid of them because the tank is supposed to be his new home and if the snails will harm him if he ingests them, I really don't want them in there. I identified the snails as pond snails.


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## JDragon (Jan 28, 2014)

They look similar to my ramshorn snails. They will multiply quickly if they are allowed to and lay egg clusters.... EVERYWHERE. Even on leaves and on floating cups(betta inside). I don't mind them yet. My husband likes the snails.
I have 5 large ones in with my betta and they have a lot of babies that I just pull out and put in one of the other two tanks(55 and 10gallons) until the population gets too much. They're good algae eaters. Babies can be eaten and my husband's boy survived eating a few...


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## Joey Fish (Jan 26, 2014)

It sounds cruel, and I dont want to offend anybody, but I just throw them outside, the birds and other local wildlife,(lizards,snakes,mice,etc.) get a good meal.


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

I have noticed that they multiply like crazy. I am sure they are himaphroditic (I sure I spelt that wrong). I think I may jave an albino snail...if that is possible. It is very pink skinned with a white shell.


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## umarnasir335 (Jan 9, 2014)

Lots of questions, but they're all good ones, so I'll try to answer 

1. It is best to do at least 2 20-25% water changes for a NEW planted tank. You dont have to do them, but they are recommended since your tank will cycle faster and the plants will adjust quicker. Also, I wouldn't add fish until at least the 3rd week after cycling.

2. Ferts aren't absolutely necessary. Java Fern, Anubias, Wisteria, and some others will do fine with either an inert substrate like pea gravel and a lack of liquid ferts like excel. However, if you do decide to plant medium light plants such as ludwigia or rotala, i would get some Root Tabs, possibly DIY Osmocote ones.

3. Snails can be good for algae/ debris maintainence. I have about 3 trumpet snails in my 20 gallon, and they are worth it. The pond snails that you have can breed very quickly though, so I would keep an eye out for any egg sacs in the near future.

4. See #3


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

I've had ramshorn snails ever since I started keeping plants, and they've never overrun a tank for me, so they must self-regulate either through food or breeding...or something.  
I'll find some dead shells every now and again, just remove those and you're good to go.  

They're great for algae and cleanup, and after an experience of a tank without any snails...I won't do a planted tank without them anymore!  They're an important piece of the ecosystem you're creating.  

As for the albino, they do come in pinks, but for some reason mine never seem to live very long. I find the pink shells far more often than I do brown ones. No idea why. 

(Hermaphroditic)  

Pond snails are tiny, they won't ever get very big. Ramshorns on the other hand are much larger, and they have a circular/spiral shell. They'll get to be about a half inch. The picture that you've shown looks like a ramshorn. 

You can get aquarium root tabs, or you can use regular plant fertz sticks like for houseplants, just break off little pieces and stick them deep into the gravel. Peachii realized this some time back and has had no trouble.  (Also, much, much cheaper, always a plus!)


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

Thanks for the information! It is helping.
I tested my water and all the results came in good. Jasper is cruising around the tank, checking everything out. It is just all so new and he looks so excited! 
The vallisneria plant is thriving and shooting out many new sprouts. I am sure I will have a jungle in a few months. 
I have been doing small weekly water changes. What is the rule around the tanks water changes now that it is cycled (it is filtered, live planted and heated (not sure this makes a huge difference))?


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Keep testing your water. When the nitrATE levels get too high (like 25 or above) then do a partial water change. After you test for awhile you'll get a feel for when they get up there and so you can stop testing and get your time frame down.  

But, with the plants you may not need to change water much at all because you may end up with a silent cycle. (The plants are eating up all the ammonia which means you won't have any nitrites or nitrates to worry about, yay!!) Same thing though, just keep testing the water. If you start seeing zeros all the way across, then you're good and you can just put in new water as evaporation calls for or as needed when you vacuum the gravel every now and again when it starts to look mucky.


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## umarnasir335 (Jan 9, 2014)

Like Blue Fish said, the fact that plants do SO much to maintain stability within an aquarium is the reason I'll never do a non-planted tank.

What other species besides the vals do you have in the tank right now?


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Reagan said:


> Could my betta eat the snails? Hahahaha he would. Which is another reason why I want to get rid of them because the tank is supposed to be his new home and if the snails will harm him if he ingests them, I really don't want them in there. I identified the snails as pond snails.


My female bettas wiped out the large population of pond snails in my 55 gallon. They didn't eat as many of the ramshorns, but I would occasionally find empty ramshorn shells on the bottom.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Joey Fish said:


> It sounds cruel, and I dont want to offend anybody, but I just throw them outside, the birds and other local wildlife,(lizards,snakes,mice,etc.) get a good meal.



Eehh, not the best idea. You'd be introducing an invasive species into the environment. I'd much rather throw them outside if I were to get rid of my pest snails, but I don't want to introduce an invasive species- especially since they multiply so quickly.


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Would they survive though in a dry yard? Mine get eaten by somebody, either assassin snails or fish, but I was curious about their hardiness. I'd have thought that if they were dumped into a dry neighborhood yard and not near a water source they would be eaten by birds, or just dessicate and die...but now I'm curious as to how long they might last/if they could make it to water based on OrangeAugust's post.  

Any information?


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Blue Fish said:


> Would they survive though in a dry yard? Mine get eaten by somebody, either assassin snails or fish, but I was curious about their hardiness. I'd have thought that if they were dumped into a dry neighborhood yard and not near a water source they would be eaten by birds, or just dessicate and die...but now I'm curious as to how long they might last/if they could make it to water based on OrangeAugust's post.
> 
> Any information?


I guess, yeah, if the yard was dry with no water nearby then they probably wouldn't survive.
I guess I was thinking about my yard which borders wetlands...


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

I wondered if they could get washed into the water table if it rained...I just wondered how long they could be out of water before they were dead. I'm sure I could experiment with it...but I'd feel kind of bad about it, lol!  

They're pests, but they're still alive...and I always feel sort of bad for killing them.


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## Reagan (Nov 18, 2013)

I just have the vals in the tank right now. I plan on getting other plants in the future but for now the vals are taking over. Maintaining a planted tank is so much easier than a 1 gallon and surprisingly takes less time, which suits my life style. 
I know how you feel about killing the pest snails. I am just keeping their numbers down but I am not killing them off. They clean up my algae well.


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