# Snails and cycling a tank



## Cate (Jun 16, 2015)

I have two snails in a 20 gallon tank with plants and algae. I did not know about cycling a tank before I started this project, but want to do it now. I have the chemicals coming in a kit for a fish less cycle. Two questions, can I keep the snails in the tank while I cycle it. They are mystery snails and I do not want to loose them. If I can not I thought I would take some of the tank water and put them in a shaded window with algae pellets. It will be a covered container so they do not get out. I don't think they will last through a cycle because of the ammonia. Next question, can I add shrimp right away after cycling? I will have the right temperature and KH, will test for ammonia and nitrites. Is there anything else I am overlooking?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Mystery snails, while tough (not touch, as I originally wrote), can be peculiar when it comes to water quality. 

Your best bet is to remove them and change the water in their container regularly. That's what I'd do, anyway, just to be on the safe side.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Agreed, it's best to remove the snails during the cycle. They may be able to handle some ammonia, but if you accidentally dose too much, you could harm them.


As it stands, you want to aim for about 2ppm of ammonia in the tank, max 3.



Do you know what your GH, KH and TDS will be using liquid test kits and a TDS meter?

What kind of shrimp are you planning on purchasing?

If you have any pH regulating products, toss them. Things like pH Up or pH Down, or pH Neutral. These products will cause more harm than good.


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## Cate (Jun 16, 2015)

Thanks for the advice. My KH is 11, my GH is very high at 300 ppm. I do not have a TDS meter. My kits that I have used are API. The kit that is coming is from Dr. Tim Aquatics. The shrimp that I am planning to get are wild brown, 5 adult, 5 juvies and 5 amano adults. PH right now is 7.0. I am using tap and distilled water and yes in the past I used PH down because my PH ran at 8.0. Tank is heavily planted with anubias, sword, and a African water fern and Java fern. I also have Java moss. Lots of algae right now, but I clean the plants manually. I know I need the TDS meter. Do I need to get it before shrimp come?

Bump: Also, I will remove my snails and put them in tank water. Will feed them algae tabs.

Bump: My cycling kit comes from Dr. Tim"s Aquatics. I wanted something that would give me all the stuff I needed, plus directions on day by day.


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## Aflac (Jan 19, 2005)

For what it's worth I just set up a brand new planted tank and I had a few hitch hiker snails on my plants that have all survived my tank cycling, they even laid eggs and I've got a bunch of tiny snails in there now. 

I used amazonia soil which I hear leaches quite high amounts of ammonia into the water as well.

If you have another place for the snails I'm sure it's not a bad idea to move them over to be safe though.


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## Cate (Jun 16, 2015)

I will. Thanks. I used fluval substrate which is not supposed to affect PH. Will do water changes on snails while cycling. If I have to get a TDS meter it will not be a very expensive one due to finances.


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## aotf (Dec 19, 2016)

Similar experience as Aflac. I didn't use anything to "boost" the cycling in my tank. I just had Amazonia (which I guess can be considered a boost), some plants (java moss grows well in otherwise mediocre conditions, just don't let it get in your substrate), and some snails that piggybacked on my plants. 

The snail population exploded relatively quickly. I let them do their thing since I figured the bio-load would be a welcome addition for my filter. My guess is that your mystery snails would be fine *but* it's a good idea to move them since there's no point taking unnecessary risks.

It took some time for everything to settle this way but it required very little effort, few water changes, and it was overall low stakes since the only critters in the tank were some pond snails. 

I would wait a couple weeks after cycling to get your shrimp. Stability is key and you don't want an accidental crash or ammonia swing after introducing them to the tank.


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## Cate (Jun 16, 2015)

I really like these little snails, so will move them. Will use distilled water when they need a change. I have really tough well water that I mix with distilled. It has high PH and ammonia in it right off the bat, Thanks


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Pond Snails and Bladder Snails are much more hardy than nearly anything else you could put in a tank. I almost always have them populating my tanks as they're initially being set up.

Unfortunately, Pomacea are not as hardy. They're much more sensitive. Definitely a great idea to move them.

A point about your parameters. 300 PPM GH? If my rough math is correct, you're at something like 40+ for GH? Try to pick up a Sera test kit for both KH and GH if you can. If your hardness is really that high for both KH & GH, you're definitely gonna need to lower them to something in a more ideal range for your critters.

Don't mess with your pH. Your water hardness will buffer it to a set spot. 

TDS meter is not something that's absolutely required. Not for Neos and Amano shrimp. If you can get a close-ish measurement of KH and GH, you'll be okay. 

Note about using distilled water: It contains nothing, no dissolved solids, has no KH/GH, nothing. So don't do water changes with that. Try to match your water change water with the water parameters of your tank. When you replace tank water with distilled water, you're diluting what's already in your tank.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

It's okay to use tap and distilled mix, and your KH and GH should be fine.


TDS meter is good to have on hand, as you can better be able to watch your water parameters. If you can get it before the shrimp, great! If not, just try to get it soon. It does monitor what is *IN* the water. It may not be able to tell you what it is, but it's good to have. It "measures" GH, KH, waste, food, organics breaking down, etc. If your TDS is around 400, and after a week, it rises to 415, you might need to top up with RO/DI water. If you are adding ferts, and it goes up to 450 TDS, it's probably time for a water change! Since you have higher GH and KH, you are going to have 300+ TDS.

Many TDS meters are going to run under $20, and any of these should be fine! If you want, you can make sure the meter is accurate by purchasing the TDS Calibration Solution as well, which should be within the $20-$30 range.


Please do not use pH down in the future in a shrimp tank. If you don't want such high pH, then use peat moss, cholla wood, driftwood, etc for tannins or switch to remineralized RO/DI water and keep your parameters lower... i.e. 3 KH and 6 GH, TDS should be 150-200-ish. If you use tannins to lower the pH, then be sure to treat any new water with the same items so there will be less of a shock to the aquarium.


Fluval substrate? If that's the shrimp stratum, that *should* alter your parameters.... you only want to use RO/DI water with a buffering substrate and GH+ remineralizer. No KH.




If your tap water does indeed have ammonia in it, and it's not a false reading (other things may show up as ammonia in the API kit), you may want to consider switching to remineralized RO water... which will solve your pH issues - to a degree, and will make doing water changes easier on the tank.


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## Cate (Jun 16, 2015)

Sorry my substrate is flourite black, 1 inch black sand 3 inches of flourite black. It supposedly does not change parameters.


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