Carbo block in snail tank - Impact on snails?

growitnow · Post by **growitnow** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:44 pm

Hello all,

Planning my snail breeding tank, for Green Spotted.

Intention:
15gal tall, Eclipse Hood (hood has 2, 15-watt standard fluorescent bulbs)
bare bottom tank
aragonite inside internal filter chamber
in POTS w/flourite: vals, anubia, maybe hygro
java fern on driftwood

Dosing:
dose Seachem Excel, 2-3x recommended amount
light weekly dosing with NPK, plus trace, no co2
intention to add carbo block, to help plant growth

Goal:
Main and primary goal = snail breeding
Secondary goal + plant grow out, operational QT
(I am elsewhere setting up 90gal main planted tank, co2, etc.)
(green spotted will reside in a 30gal)

Question:
Impact of carbo block on snails, shells? breeding?

Thanks,
growitnow

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:50 pm

What is carbo block?

bosshogg · Post by **bosshogg** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:03 pm

Boxermom wrote:What is carbo block?

It's a Co2 injection.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Carbo Plus-I-12515723-I-C-10142-C-.aspx

edit sorry link doesn't work

growitnow · Post by **growitnow** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:22 pm

Boxermom,

Sorry, I should have stated this. Carbo Plus is an electrical product that has an attached bracket with carbon block. The bracket with attached block is placed in tank. Via electrolysis the device is presumed to produce co2, smaller in amount than co2 gas injection, but more than is usually present from tap water. This addition of co2 facilitates plant growth in smaller tanks (e.g., < 55).

The carbon block and eventually bracket has to be replaced but some report "moderate" increases in plant growth that are not otherwise light or nutrient limited. Some also report tiny brown byproduct "chips" in the water.

I don't know if anyone has ever tried it in brackish, I believe it is intended for FW. My use would be in FW. I don't know if it affects KH or other parameters that might impact snails or their breeding.

growitnow

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:07 pm

I'd drop some cuttlebone in the main tank so if the snails need more calcium for their shells, they can get it. I'd also add a heater, keeping them at 78-82 they seem to breed faster.

kass · Post by **kass** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:53 pm

If you're injecting CO2 you shouldnt need to dose with exell.

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:56 pm

Excel and co2 injection can work well together and you'll get better results than using either alone. Since excel doesn't impact pH it wouldn't be a problem in that sense.

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:37 pm

That sounds like a rather elaborate CO2 setup for a 15g tank. I'd just use a DYI-type kit which are very inexpensive and work great. I recommend the Red Sea kit but Hagen's is also good. However, with the minimal light you are planning, as well as the type of plants, I wouldn't bother with CO2 injections at all.

Otherwise, no, CO2 injection won't affect the snails. I would definitely NOT recommend using this tank as a QT though. QT tanks generally should be bare of decor and even substrate, in case the fish is diseased and/or needs to be medicated for some reason.

Post by **RTR** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:06 pm

The CarboPlus system is expensive CO2, but it does help. I used such in the office tank - while it and I were at the office. Using Excel in addition is no big deal. I had no snail issues with Red Ramshorns or MTS.

Essentially everything I use for QT doubles as grow-out tanks and snail tanks. Before putting in new stock, I remove the existing plants if it is plant QT to come, ditto if particularly desirable (short supply) plants are present, otherwise I do not. If a nasty disease turns up, likely everything in the tank will be tossed, but that is not a big deal to me. Everything at-risk is cheap and easily replaced.

Edit: Home-brew CO2 is too erratic for me, but marginally acceptable if at least two units are always in operation on staggered cycles. i have several setups, but doubt that I will ever use them again.

spoot · Post by **spoot** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:34 am

I've got a question about cuttle bone. We are restarting our snail breeding with 50 red rams horns. They are pigs and are doing great so far. In our last snail tank, which was an utter failure, we added a cuttle bone. By the time we finally gave up on the tank, there was a disgusting slime covering the cuttle bone. Does this occur normally or was it a special situation?

Post by **RTR** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:45 am

What is your GH and KH? That is the determing factor on the need for shell-material supplement.

i have never had "digusting slime" on cuttle bone, no suggestion there.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:46 am

Almost any pourous surface(and most nonpourous surfaces) in a fish tank will gradually get a slimy biological coating.

Post by **RTR** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:12 pm

Perhaps that is it, Nick - I have never condisered biofilms as disgusting...

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:12 pm

Me either, but every now and then I remember "slimey = gross" to most people...

spoot · Post by **spoot** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:37 pm

It wasn't just bio-film unforunately. There was a wierd coating of solid gel like slime about 3/16 of an inch thick. It was opaque too. Have no clue what it was but the tank was disgusting.

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Carbo block in snail tank - Impact on snails?

Carbo block in snail tank - Impact on snails?