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Dicrossus 420 L

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
Hi all,

They don't survive in soft water.

cheers Darrel
Depends it seems. Friend of mine has some in a tank with less than 50µS/cm for over two years now. Admitted, they did not breed, but neither are the shells turning white nor does it seem to be a problem otherwise.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,829
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
Depends it seems. Friend of mine has some in a tank with less than 50µS/cm for over two years now. Admitted, they did not breed, but neither are the shells turning white nor does it seem to be a problem otherwise.
That is interesting. The ones I had showed shell erosion really quickly, possibly because I have heavily planted tanks and the pH dipped below pH 7 at night (as CO2 levels rose).

The problem for all snails is that they can only build new shell at the mantle, they can't repair the shell further back in the shell whorls.

All the snails I have show shell erosion and none of them ever get very big, although Melanoides tuberculata, Planorbella duryi and Physella acuta all survive as viable populations.

cheers Darrel
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
That is interesting. The ones I had showed shell erosion really quickly, possibly because I have heavily planted tanks and the pH dipped below pH 7 at night (as CO2 levels rose).
I doubt it's the pH alone in your tank, my friend's tank is running permanently at a pH of roughly 5.5. Or maybe it's the fluctuation?

On the other hand, my tank kills all snails within hours.
 

Gaisller

Member
Messages
71
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
Thanks for the help guys.

Unfortunelly I can't find assassin snails for buy here in Brazil. I did a quickly research online and couldn't find it.

Looks like I'll have to pick them off. Wich is sad because I feel bad for kill them like that. :(
 

Gaisller

Member
Messages
71
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
And the others have round caudals?
Yep. All the other four have round caudals. I tried took photos but they just don't cooperated lol

Captura de tela 2023-04-12 154823.png
IMG_3396.JPG
IMG_3393.JPG
 

Mazan

Active Member
Messages
319
The tank and fish look lovely, I think you have a bit of Cyanobacteria though. I would try to get rid of that. And honestly I wouldn’t worry about the snails, they do not do any harm and I have found that the population tends to decrease and level off after a bit of an explosion. I just have ramshorn snails, they stay small and the shells turn white as my water is very soft, but I am quite happy to have some in my tank.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
Yep. All the other four have round caudals. I tried took photos but they just don't cooperated lol
I see a triangular caudal in the second picture, this one could turn out a male aswell. The one in the first is for sure a female though.

Thanks for the help guys.

Unfortunelly I can't find assassin snails for buy here in Brazil. I did a quickly research online and couldn't find it.

Looks like I'll have to pick them off. Wich is sad because I feel bad for kill them like that.
Well... This is the way.

I think you have a bit of Cyanobacteria though. I would try to get rid of that.
Yep, those are cyanos. I'd remove the sticks with them on and siphon out the rest. Less light and some more current should be helpful as first measures.
 

Gaisller

Member
Messages
71
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
The tank and fish look lovely, I think you have a bit of Cyanobacteria though. I would try to get rid of that. And honestly I wouldn’t worry about the snails, they do not do any harm and I have found that the population tends to decrease and level off after a bit of an explosion. I just have ramshorn snails, they stay small and the shells turn white as my water is very soft, but I am quite happy to have some in my tank.
Thank you!

Are Cyanobacterias harmful? Didn't know that... What do they do? I'll clean it up. Thanks for the advice.
 

Gaisller

Member
Messages
71
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
I see a triangular caudal in the second picture, this one could turn out a male aswell
That fish is one of the two that are smaller than the others... Makes sense that it could be a male.

Despite that, I don't see any kind of agression between them. It is a very calm tank until now.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
Are Cyanobacterias harmful? Didn't know that... What do they do? I'll clean it up. Thanks for the advice.
When they reach a critical mass they explode (as in overgrowing everything) and poison the water with their metabolic waste products. They can make a complete restart of the tank necessary. As there are too many strains and species of these bacteria there are no general solutions. Some can be blacked out, others can be outcompeted by plants...

By removing them manually you may get on top of it in time.

That fish is one of the two that are smaller than the others... Makes sense that it could be a male.

Despite that, I don't see any kind of agression between them. It is a very calm tank until now.
That tends to tilt suddenly. I suppose it's a runt, which may be the reason the clear male is still not aggressive.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,829
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
I doubt it's the pH alone in your tank, my friend's tank is running permanently at a pH of roughly 5.5
Something strange there then. Once you are below pH7 the shell will go into solution as Ca++ and 2HCO3- ions. It is just chemistry, CaCO3 is insoluble in water, but soluble in weak acids.

All the time the pH is below pH7 shell attrition will be occurring. Either it is occurring, and the snails are doomed or the pH isn't pH5.5, they are the only two options.

cheers Darrel
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
Lovely fish, aren't they? :) My water is too strongly tinted, I rarely get to see the full glory of the fishes colours.

But you should probably do something about the cyanobacteria.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
Then I recommend getting to the root problem. @dw1305 and @Eddy. E. are in my opinion the most knowledgable ones here on the board. I myself never had problems with cyanos, so I can't really tell you what to do about them.
 

Aquaticloch

Active Member
Messages
157
Location
Canada eh
Yes, amazing fish!!

I did. It grew up again... It's growing even in the glass. Every WC I try to remove them with a brush and by hand but in few days it is back.
I've had to deal with cyano in one of my blackwater tanks, how i removed it was scrubbing all the sticks very well and removing them and letting dry in the sun for a few days, then scrubbing again. You can boil them as well.

Removal is more difficult if the cyano is on the sand, I just removed the large clumps and stopped feeding and turned lights off for a week. Reducing the amount of light is a good way to reduce cyano, this is why I now use a layer of floating plants. if you use a scraper on the glass and take out the floating cyano that worked well for me.

Good luck!

others can likely give more in depth advice and wisdom.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,375
Location
Germany
I've had to deal with cyano in one of my blackwater tanks, how i removed it was scrubbing all the sticks very well and removing them and letting dry in the sun for a few days, then scrubbing again. You can boil them as well.

Removal is more difficult if the cyano is on the sand, I just removed the large clumps and stopped feeding and turned lights off for a week. Reducing the amount of light is a good way to reduce cyano, this is why I now use a layer of floating plants. if you use a scraper on the glass and take out the floating cyano that worked well for me.

Good luck!

others can likely give more in depth advice and wisdom.
Blacking out the light seems to have helped often. Removing the affected decoration did, too.
At least what I get to hear often in successful removals.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,829
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
The tank and fish look lovely, I think you have a bit of Cyanobacteria though. I would try to get rid of that. And honestly I wouldn’t worry about the snails, they do not do any harm and I have found that the population tends to decrease and level off after a bit of an explosion. I just have ramshorn snails, they stay small and the shells turn white as my water is very soft, but I am quite happy to have some in my tank.
I'm a snail fan as well, and my snails <"never get very large">, just like @Mazan 's.
I did. It grew up again... It's growing even in the glass. Every WC I try to remove them with a brush and by hand but in few days it is back.
That is one of the things with cyanobacteria, it can multiply very rapidly, and that is also why I'm not keen on black-outs, bactericides etc. they are just a sticking plaster and they aren't addressing the issue, which is almost certain to return.

We think that high levels of dissolved organic matter may help the growth of cyanobacteria. This DOM may be from decaying matter within the tank, but is often in the filter, where people have used floss or stuffed their filter so full of filter media that nitrification is compromised by lack of oxygen.

I'll be honest the only obvious cyanobacteria I ever see a little smear on the backs of the <"older leaves of Pistia stratiotes">. I think the reasons for this are that I always have a large plant mass and snails and I make sure that I don't get any bulky organic debris inside the filter.

cheers Darrel
 

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