# How many Mystery Snails recommended for 55 gallon?



## Axelrod12 (Jun 28, 2013)

4 should be fine, just keep an eye on the bioload if the rest of your stocking is full. Mystery snails get larger than most snails and produce more waste as a result, nothing overwhelming in my opinion though. Also make sure you get the species that doesn't eat plants. I've read of the two species most commonly sold one of them devours healthy plants.


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

Make sure you get them from a reputable place that has properly identified them. There are several species sold as mystery snail, and as mentioned above at least one of them will wreak havoc on your plants. 4 should be fine in a 55.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

Then i guess getting them at Petsmart where i work is out of question? I do not know enough about them to identify what type of Mystery snail they are, only that we have the golden, blue, black and ivory. Which one is the good mystery? 

Is there another type you would recommend and any ideas where to find them?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

The snails at PetSmart locations in the area are Pomacea diffusa and are totally safe.


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

I don't know enough about them to help identify them... You could maybe ask Msjinkzd on here, she's very knowledgeable on inverts. Nothing wrong with getting them from your work... It's actually kinda nice that you can take some time to pick out the right ones.


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## Axelrod12 (Jun 28, 2013)

I have Pomacea diffusa which don't eat plants. There are some guides online on how to ID them based on the shape of their shell and such. It can be a little difficult though as some of the differences are subtle.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

Ok, thank you  so 4 should be fine or would 2 be better? My tank is close to the limit stocking wise. Or should I not add them at all? Don't wanna do something wrong


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## CheyLillymama22 (Jun 9, 2013)

Id add them one at a time and just watch your params. Do you have a test kit?
I'm deciding between a single apple snail or a coiuple of blue ramshorns for my shrimp tank.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

CheyLillymama22 said:


> Id add them one at a time and just watch your params. Do you have a test kit?
> I'm deciding between a single apple snail or a coiuple of blue ramshorns for my shrimp tank.


Yes, i do have a test kit, readings were the following 2 days ago:

Ph 7.6
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm
Kh 3 drops
Gh 8 drops

and temp is 78


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## CheyLillymama22 (Jun 9, 2013)

Hmmm ammonia should be 0. Does your source water contain ammonia?


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

CheyLillymama22 said:


> Hmmm ammonia should be 0. Does your source water contain ammonia?


I did not test that yet. Maybe i should before adding the snails?


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## CheyLillymama22 (Jun 9, 2013)

Yes id test the tap water. I have ammonia in my tap and it skews my test results for a day or so after a water change since I use Prime I wait 48hrs and retest.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

When i did the testing, i haven't done a water change for a few days, so the prime should have taken care of that if it was caused by the tap water, right?


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

How old is your tank? Did it cycle completely? Added any new critters lately? Ammonia should definitely be 0. Even .25 ppm is bad news. I would definitely keep an eye on that and make sure it drops to 0 before adding anything else.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

It has been up and running since February this year, so 5 months. Recently added only a few Otos and Ghost Shrimp, which are doing fine. Currently i am changen 30-40 % a week, usually i split it in half twice a week. Should i do more to get rid of the ammonia?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

If you're using our tap water, you'll want to dose at least 3x as much Prime as is suggested. Not just for ammonia in water but because of the concentration of chloramines.


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## Puddles (Jan 5, 2013)

4 snails? Lol I used to have a 55 gallon with cherries and over 20 mystery snails.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

somewhatshocked said:


> If you're using our tap water, you'll want to dose at least 3x as much Prime as is suggested. Not just for ammonia in water but because of the concentration of chloramines.


Thanks for the tip! I always dose for 55 gal after a water change, no matter how much water i took out. So i should dose then for 165 gal?


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## Axelrod12 (Jun 28, 2013)

Dina-Angel said:


> It has been up and running since February this year, so 5 months. Recently added only a few Otos and Ghost Shrimp, which are doing fine. Currently i am changen 30-40 % a week, usually i split it in half twice a week. Should i do more to get rid of the ammonia?


One 40% water change is more effective than two 20% water changes. Some people experience false positives for ammonia after dosing Prime as well. Depends how recent the water change was.

Ammonia should get processed down into nitrates or consumed by plants. Water changes are not a long term solution to keeping ammonia at 0ppm. How recent were the fish added?


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

Axelrod12 said:


> One 40% water change is more effective than two 20% water changes. Some people experience false positives for ammonia after dosing Prime as well. Depends how recent the water change was.
> 
> Ammonia should get processed down into nitrates or consumed by plants. Water changes are not a long term solution to keeping ammonia at 0ppm. How recent were the fish added?


Ok, so i will switch back to a 40% change once a week.

The last fish i added was the Red Lizard Whiptail Catfish maybe a bit over a month ago. The Otos and shrimp got addedabout a week ago and had the Otos in QT for about a week before adding into the 55.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

It's likely our disaster of a tap water system. This week I've been reading anywhere from 2-6 PPM Ammonia straight from the tap. Usually varies, have seen it much higher on occasion.

Chloramines are sometimes through the roof. 

(I no longer use tap for anything)

Dina-Angel: If you're putting water into a container prior to adding it to the tank, treat that with Prime first and allow it to aerate and age for a day or two..


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

somewhatshocked said:


> Dina-Angel: If you're putting water into a container prior to adding it to the tank, treat that with Prime first and allow it to aerate and age for a day or two..


I could do that. Just did a 20% water change today, so i will wait a few days and then make a bigger one and let the water sit prior to that. Should i test the ammonia before adding it into the tank? Or test the sitting water and the tank water to see what the readings will be then? 

All my other water parameters are ok, or?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I'd definitely treat the water the day before. Double or triple dose it with Prime and then run an air stone or pump in the water (prior to adding it to the tank) to circulate it. Then test the water (the next day, before adding it to the tank) to see if you read Ammonia.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

somewhatshocked said:


> I'd definitely treat the water the day before. Double or triple dose it with Prime and then run an air stone or pump in the water (prior to adding it to the tank) to circulate it. Then test the water (the next day, before adding it to the tank) to see if you read Ammonia.


Ok, i will try that for the next time... Ammonia should be always 0, right? As well as Nitrit? And a little bit of Nitrate should be there which would be there converted Ammonia? Do i get that right?


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## Puddles (Jan 5, 2013)

Yep. Water changes are done to keep nitrates low, the lower the better.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Ammonia and Nitrite should always be 0, correct.

I like to keep Nitrates under 10 for shrimp but I have some tanks with Nitrates at 30-35PPM (planted tanks, dosed heavily) that do fine. If you aren't focused on tons of plants, just keep them low.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

Not tons of plants., just have it planted nicely 

And thank you again for all the help!


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

I prefer to have a set water _test_ schedule instead of a set water _change_ schedule, and only change my water when needed. I test the water in all of my tanks weekly, and when the nitrates hit 40 ppm, I do a 50% water change. I have 6 tanks running, and the water change interval varies from every 2 weeks to every 2 months, depending on the size of the tank and amount of plants. Generally, the denser the vegetation, the long the water change interval. I know there are other things at play besides just nitrates, but weekly water changes seem like overkill to me unless you have really sensitive fish (discus, etc) or are way overstocked.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Indychus: This is the Shrimp section... so we're talking about shrimp. Large water changes tend to be frowned upon unless all parameters are matched. Shrimp do better with smaller swaps, typically, unless the shrimp keeper in question is experienced.


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

somewhatshocked said:


> Indychus: This is the Shrimp section... so we're talking about shrimp. Large water changes tend to be frowned upon unless all parameters are matched. Shrimp do better with smaller swaps, typically, unless the shrimp keeper in question is experienced.


Ah, my bad. I failed to notice it was in the shrimp section.


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

somewhatshocked said:


> Indychus: This is the Shrimp section... so we're talking about shrimp. Large water changes tend to be frowned upon unless all parameters are matched. Shrimp do better with smaller swaps, typically, unless the shrimp keeper in question is experienced.



This is the shrimp and other invert section. Not posted the wrong place at all.


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