# Snails hanging out at the surface



## fishhes (Oct 18, 2014)

Here's the story: 

I am in the process of starting a new tank. I have had the tank going for about two weeks now with no fish, but lots of floating plants. At first I was adding fish flake every few days to get some ammonia going, then I started dosing Seachem Stability. I added oak leaves and driftwood, but they developed this white fungus so I removed all the oak leaves, cleaned the driftwood and then added about 10 MTS and a couple Assassin Snails and some Ghost Shrimp to try to keep the fungus down. At this point the tank is still cycling and the Nitrites are spiking. I added a Marineland bacteria pouch to try to speed up the cycling process.

This morning I noticed that all the snails in the tank are perched on the glass at the water surface. I don't know if this is normal or not. The tank has no surface agitation and the flow is angled downward (Sunsun HW-302 on a 29 gallon tank). There was surface scum a week ago before i added the surface skimmer attachment to the outflow. The water surface is clear now.

Is it normal for snails to cluster at the water's surface or is it a sign of poor water conditions?


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

Probably too much ammonia. That's what happens to my snails.


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## fishhes (Oct 18, 2014)

I want the tank to cycle before I add fish so I was planning on letting the tank sit for another week at least. I tested the water parameters today and have 0-0.25 ppm Ammonia and 2-5 ppm Nitrites. If this is a water parameter issue will I kill the snails if I don't do a water change?


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

A 50% waterchange won't hurt any?


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## fishhes (Oct 18, 2014)

I am under the impression that doing a large water change will interrupt the cycling process in a new tank and that it will take longer to establish the beneficial bacteria. That is why I have not done a water change yet and was not planning on doing one until after I see the Ammonia and Nitrites zeroed out. I don't want to kill off the snails though...

Am I wrong about this?


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## Cattaur (Mar 17, 2009)

fishhes said:


> I want the tank to cycle before I add fish so I was planning on letting the tank sit for another week at least. I tested the water parameters today and have 0-0.25 ppm Ammonia and 2-5 ppm Nitrites. If this is a water parameter issue will I kill the snails if I don't do a water change?


I am going to say they should be fine, unless they are a delicate species.

I did the fishless cycle by adding ammonia rather than fishfood.
A few days after starting, I bought some plants @ local aquarium club auction, and some snails hitchhiked along.
I continued as before, doing daily tests, and adding ammonia when the ppm was 0.
The nitrite and nitrate were reading maxed out, and the snails just kept going along, and I think they may have even been reproducing. i.e. in addition to the 3 or 4 full sized snails, i've seen quite a few dots on the glass that seem to be baby snails.

I'm not that experienced, but my first thought was oxygen. You say no surface agitation, and flow pointed downward, so I'm wondering if the cycling bacteria are using up the majority of the O2, and the snails are going to the surface to breathe?

Vik


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

I don't know how much NH3/4 or NO2 snails can tolerate but I've killed all the snails just from the ammonium that leeched from the Osmocote+. Snail problem no more!


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## fishhes (Oct 18, 2014)

I do have some concern about the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water because I only have floating plants and a completely still water surface. I have the water surface completely covered in a mix of Amazon Frogbit and Red Root Feeders. I am using a canister filter that is rated at 265 gph water turnover so I thought that should be sufficient in a 29 gallon tank. I do not have any way to test the DO content of the water. I have had several of the ghost shrimp die off over the past week, but I am chalking that up to the new tank and high Nitrite levels. No snail deaths yet.


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## bk. (Sep 27, 2014)

I have a lot of pond snails and a good deal of them do this in my tank as well. I have two koralina nano 240s and a fluval 306 on a 55g so flow is decent. Fish do not seem to be gasping for air at all so I think oxygen is sufficient. However a good size group of snails continue to gather at the top of the tank. I have no idea why. Tank is fully cycled and has been for several months


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## fishhes (Oct 18, 2014)

I am going to assume that since my tank is new (~2 weeks) and that since the only plants I have are floaters then it is probably an issue of food location. I'm thinking that the water surface and the floating plants are the only source of algae or fungus and they are just locating to where the food is available.

I did a 25% water change anyway.


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