F8 + Algae :(

jake_vdb · Post by **jake_vdb** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:17 am

Phaedrus wrote:Snails have a worse chance of survival than shrimp do. The unfortunate fact is that a brackish tank will have algae issues. There is no reliable cleanup crew for a brackish puffer tank.

Has anyone tried Olive Nerite snails with F8's? I've thought about giving them a try. They may just become an expensive meal, or maybe my small F8's won't bother large snails...

coldmachineUK · Post by **coldmachineUK** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:56 pm

Another though... If you have the bigger tank on hand already, it may be a good idea to start setting it up and fishless cycling it for a while to let it get a bit more established before adding a real fish bioload. This may reduce your algae outbreaks.

Sadly not got the tank already: it should be coming early October so in a couple of weeks which is good timing! I'm fishless cycling on my 5th tank currently for a malawi setup, but I don't think I'd opt for that with the new 63L puffer setup, because I'm not just running the UGF it came with (from scratch) but also an internal power filter I had running in tandem with a canister on another FW tank with plentiful bacteria supply, so the puffer tank has actually never had an ammonia or nitrite problem for the two months (i.e. it was 'ready' cycled pretty much).

I'm glad to hear you're going to upgrade - your puffer will need the larger space.

It's bizarre: I only have the smaller tank for him at the minute because the LFS where I ordered him in forgot to tell me he had arrived >.< I got there, saw him for sale, and had to think on the spot. I had been told it would be a couple of months at least so I *thought* I had plenty of time to get a setup ready... ^.^

As for cleaning under the UGF, what I mean is taking the gravel vac and placing the underwater cup part flat against the UGF through the gravel...if nothing much comes out, it's not that dirty yet, but my past experience is there will be lots of gunk that you suck out.

Yup, have done that and nothing came out. The UGF is only 2 months old (running since startup); I used a running internal power filter from another FW tank for him (I always have at least one filter spare and running in a fully stocked tank elsewhere, for just this reason).

I tried it and the ghost shrimp did munch on some algae at least the ones my GSP didn't eat.

Ok, well I will give the ghost shrimp experiment a go and let you know what happens! I'll fish out anything the little guy decides to go have a poke at :O

I had a issue like this with my GSP when it was in brackish waters and I got rid of it by using sand as the substrate instead of gravel.

I know sand is used very frequently by people without problems, but I've also heard many scare stories that are never associated with the likes of gravel. E.g. toxic anaerobic patches developing etc. And, I've emptied sand from tanks belonging to friends before and I have to say the greater difficulty of cleaning it seems to culminate >.<
I've stuck with gravel, fine if necessary, even with loach setups without a problem.

I also had a powerhead going plus made a habit of turning the lights off at night when I went to sleep.

Lights always go off at night (around 10pm actually). I switch to moonlight in a couple of other tanks at that time, but my puffer set up just gets the dark treatment

Post by **Myaj** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:16 pm

I think the risk of Olive Nerites is their shells are so hard, if the puffer tries to eat them it can break its teeth off and do a lot of damage to the dental palate. Sort of like MTS snails.

Post by **RTR** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:04 pm

I have Olive Nerites with my Palembang's puffer, but that fish is not a snail eater. It took some time, but my DPs managed to kill the Olive Nerites in their tank. I have not tried them with any other snail-eater and am not likely to try.

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:11 pm

My palembang leaves the nerites alone so far, but has eaten all of the pond and ramshorns I put in there. My DPs weren't able to bother the nerites, their feet were too small for the DPs to get at or they would have. I am planning on getting a few more for my silus and baileyi tanks and hopefully they'll be able to live okay.

coldmachineUK · Post by **coldmachineUK** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 4:50 pm

Hi, I had another idea on this I wondered if people had any advice/info about:

I have three large ramshorn (pond) snails, which I'm keeping in the hopes of them breeding so I can feed my little'un their babies (horrible thought...but I never liked snails anyway

). They're large like I said, and actually have been rubbish in their task. I must be the only person on the planet unable to actually get snails to have more snails :O

Anyway, my point is: would they survive the brackish conditions of a tropical tank (I'm thinking not, but hear me out lol)? They are large: would they be pecked at by my puffer or would he leave them be owing to the size? I'm thinking: would they eat the algae? (Ok, desperation has set in lol).

puffermama · Post by **puffermama** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 8:53 am

You've got yourself a high maintenance 'wife', kid! lol (... no offence to any real wife/husband intended!)

The picture of the F8 looks cute, he has the same "I used to have a bit between the teeth, but I'm alright now" thing going on either side of the mouth. Mine have that too.

Will he/she get a name?

coldmachineUK · Post by **coldmachineUK** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:38 am

puffermama wrote:You've got yourself a high maintenance 'wife', kid! lol (... no offence to any real wife/husband intended!)

The picture of the F8 looks cute, he has the same "I used to have a bit between the teeth, but I'm alright now" thing going on either side of the mouth. Mine have that too.

Will he/she get a name?

Oh, phew! I was really worried I'd broken his teeth on the bottom plate by feeding mussles/snails too often. I've been keeping my eye on things, and was going to post if I noticed anything amiss with his health on that one, but now I'm relieved it's normal!

Will his plate grow back to normal, or is it going to be ok as it currently is?

We've been trying to think of a name since we got him/her...

I know that the best names just happen, and forcing one on him/her won't work (I'll just get annoyed with it lol)

I'm hoping the puffer will let me know what it's name is in its own time

For now its called 'Little Mister Puffer Man' lol

puffermama · Post by **puffermama** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:11 am

You offer your puffer's meals to him on a plate???

Ok, maybe I should have said the two dots either side of the mouth that make the puffer look as though he's just eaten a whole lot of chocolate and not wiped his chops ... better?

Name's cool.

coldmachineUK · Post by **coldmachineUK** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:31 am

Haha, I meant dental plate

lol.
Ok, yeh, those dots, I figured they were just part of his markings so that's ok. Now I'm worried about about his teeth :O

I will keep my eye on them!

Glad you like his(?) temporary name

My mum wanted to call him "Mr. T" like out of the A-Team lol! I think it was all the gold...or something.... :S

puffermama · Post by **puffermama** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:54 am

Your mum sounds like a genius to me, Mr T sounds great!
Goes so well with Puffer attitude too ...

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F8 + Algae :(