what is the best filter to use for my snail tank?

[hadla]

i have this tank: http://www.petco.com/product/110703/Aqu ... yCrossSell

but without that filter... i have an airstone running in it to keep the water moving. i put the filter that came with that tank into figgys tank because ive had snails get into the motor part of it and hate having to take it apart to get the snails out... not to mention the mts that got stuck in the impeller and stopped it for who knows how long once, and yet it was still alive when i got it out! are there any good little filters that i can put into that tank that the snails cant get into? maybe i should try to get a filter like the one in the link?

edit: i searched for some filters and found this one: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/212597/product.web

i remember having one of these in my 1 gallon aquarium when i was younger and naive to fish needs and it seemed to work well... i think i might go with this one unless anyone knows if they dont work well or something?

[Pufferpunk]

That'll do.

[FrogSplash]

I second the airstone filter. Another option is to cut out a small peice of foam to cover the inlet (it allows water and stuff to go through, but not snails) third option is to grab the foamy like strip of stuff that is sometimes wrapped around plant roots, its thin easy to work with and can protect your filter too

[hadla]

ok thanks, im really just wanting something that might suck up all the snail poop so i dont have to do it all myself with my turkey baster lol

[Pufferpunk]

Cheap sponge filter is fine. I wonder if they still make those old corner box filters we used to use as a kid?

[hadla]

Cheap sponge filter is fine. I wonder if they still make those old corner box filters we used to use as a kid?

lol, i saw this in my search last night: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/10601/product.web

how does it work exactly?

[Nuclear_Glitter]

I've heard people have success with whisper filters, the bubble ones especially, but they only do 1-3 gallon.

[hadla]

I've heard people have success with whisper filters, the bubble ones especially, but they only do 1-3 gallon.

thats the one i have though. like this: http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafi ... 76&cid=280

but the old version where the intake is hidden from the front... the one that an mts got into and stopped the fan.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Oh how lovely. -_-" stupid MTS anyway. I hope you find something that works better.

[hadla]

Oh how lovely. -_-" stupid MTS anyway. I hope you find something that works better.

yeah shows just how hard their shells are!

[RTR]

Cheap sponge filter is fine. I wonder if they still make those old corner box filters we used to use as a kid?

Good Grief! I hope not. I do remember those awful things, barely better than nothing.

The old Tetra Billi/brilliant filter was one of the best (and most lasting) smallish air-driven sponges around. No longer made by Tetra, it is now inexpensively made and marketed by other companies. They still are good buys and useful.

For larger sponges, Hydro Air (sp?) is great fro larger tanks.

But I don't think any air-driven sponge is going to be great at picking up poop off the bottom.

[hadla]

But I don't think any air-driven sponge is going to be great at picking up poop off the bottom.

well if none can, i was thinking i could just swish the water around every so often so it gets sucked up by the filter

[Pufferpunk]

Good Grief! I hope not. I do remember those awful things, barely better than nothing.

Remember the glass fiber media? Ouch!

[ashes]

I have two filters in my snail tank. One is an internal filter, the other is a sponge.

The internal filter allows snails to enter the filter, and grow inside the filter. This is bad.

I suggest the sponge filter because the baby snails don't get trapped inside it.

Snails have much more tolerance for low water quality than fish have. I have two killifish in my snail tank to force me to keep the water clean, and a lot of live plants.

I will eventually switch to using sponge filters exclusively. A canister filter will clean the water better, but baby snails will find their way inside the canister, so for a snail tank I think sponge is the only way to go.

[RTR]

You can always fit a sponge prefilter to the canister intake. All of my bio-only external canisters are sponge prefiltered.