First Aquarium - Snail Invasion (and other problems)

Hello!

To begin with, I'm totally new to fish keeping and want to ensure everything is done right before I add any fish to the tank. These forums have been a great source of information for me. I purchased a 180L Rio Aquarium which came with an internal Juwel filter and I fitted an external filter (Tetra 800 Plus) for some added filtration. It's a coldwater aquarium, and I intend to add two fantail goldfish to it.


http://i.imgur.com/wfV638y.jpg (Use this link if the image above doesn't work)

I aim to add another decorative ornament and some small lava rocks. However, when I started to cycle the tank a few days ago I noticed a couple tiny snails on the glass and eggs all over some of the plants. I frustratedly removed the snails and disposed of the 3 plants in which eggs were visible. Clearly, I was too optimistic as the snails had returned within just a few days. Although hard to see in these pictures, the snails are no bigger than pea size (my guess is that they are bladder snails) and move around the glass and decorations eating algae. I can see eggs and have witnessed one of the snails mount another, so unless they were fighting I can assume that they're already mature enough to reproduce.


http://i.imgur.com/Bc1O4be.jpg (Use this link if the image above doesn't work)

It's somewhat difficult to see, but eggs are present on the wood and plants accompanied by algae. The plants aren't looking too good either, and green algae are growing on the taller plants and glass. I plan to do a large 80% water change tomorrow to keep the nitrate levels down and also; clean the glass/plants/decorations/wood, get rid of any eggs I see, move all snails into a separate bowl, rinse out the filter media and vacuum the gravel.


So .. the purpose of this post?

I really am desperate for advice that is specific to my aquarium. Any help identifying issues and/or offering solutions would be greatly appreciated for either the snail invasion, algae, plants or anything else that I might not be aware of. It's important to me that I don't add any fish until everything is under control, and I'm not bothered about how long it takes to do that.


What I'm doing currently

For reference, below is what I'm currently doing to maintain the aquarium (might help to identify any red flags):
- Lights are on 12+ hours a day
- Performing 30% water changes twice a week
- Adding 4ml of TNC Carbon daily (source of carbon for the plants)
- Began cycling the tank 3 days ago (following the guide on these forums)
- Filtered with both an internal and external filter (there are times when the filters are dead silent but also times when they are loud enough to disturb sleep, I assume this is relative to how hard they are working)

It's worth noting that I'm 16 and this project is funded entirely from part-time work. Consequently, I'm waiting on some money to buy a few more decorative pieces and a larger supply of water dechlorinator as I'm running low. I don't mind how much time and effort is needed as long as these issues can be resolved to some extent and the environment is comfortable for goldfish.

Thanks for reading! Any comments, criticism, advice, pointers etc would be very helpful

Note: When I previewed this post, the images didn't work properly. In case this happens in the main thread, I have included links to the images on an external image hosting site.

For the snails an easy way to catch and remove them is by putting a piece of lettuce or cucumber in the tank and wait for them to get on it. I have snails in my tank and tried to get rid of them at one point. It didn't work and I eventually gave into my fate. No matter how many times you try to remove them there will ALWAYS be more eggs.

Are you sure I can't change your mind to do warmwater livebearers instead

Our main aquarium is my son's and he likes to have a few snails, so we keep them around. If I see them near the top of the aquarium when I there, I squish them. That mostly keeps them under control. If I start seeing lots of tiny ones, I just go on a squishing rampage
We have swordtails and corydoras, and they like to snack on the snail remains.

No matter how many times you try to remove them there will ALWAYS be more eggs.

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That has been my experience. Trapping and crushing only keep the population under control. Restricting food doesn't work. For any healthy aquarium there going to be a microscopic biofilm on anything in the aquarium. That is enough to feed pest snails. Adding less fish food to the aquarium will not work because the biofilm is still there. There are only two ways to address pest snails if your don't want them. Poisson the water to kill them. Preferably with no fish or shrimp in the water.. Your pet store will probably have some. Or get an animal that will eat them. There are some fish that will eat them (most don't). The other option is to get an assassin snail. These will naturally keep the population under control but will not eliminate them. I don't have assassin snails or snail eating fish so I have no experience with them. I would recommend only one assassins snail for now. If you get more than one you might get a breading population of assassins snails (Which you may not want).


The flip side of the pest snail issues is that snails are beneficial at helping to keep algae under control. So if you want snails to keep algae under control you cannot have snail eating fish or assassin snails. When I set up my aquarium I added Nerite snails to keep algae under control. They don't bread in fresh water so you can easily control the population.

What you are currently doing is fine expect the liquid carbon. In addition to carbon plants also need at least 15 other nutrients to survive and grow. The link below list all of these nutrients. Liquid carbon doesn't supply any of the needs minerals. Additionally it is a toxic chemical and some plants will be killed by it (even if you follow instructions). Also If you apply too much to the water you could kill all your plants and harm your fish and maybe even the snails.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_nutrition

Currently air has 400ppm of CO2 in it. More than enough for plants. Increasing water disturbance at the surface or adding an air stone will keep CO2 levels stable in your aquarium. It is really hard to get critically low levels of CO2 in the water. The only way I know how to do it is to put a plant in an air tight container or to get really, really fast plant growth with a fertilizer and high brightness lighting.

The best thing you can do for your plants is to get a good complete fertilizer. The two I would recommend are Brightwell agautics florin multi ore Sachem Flourish comprehensive. They are the most complete fertilizers on the market. With these your will get better and faster plant growth than you will get with just carbon alone. You can continue to use what you have but I would not recommend getting any more. For the fertilizers you want I would get the smallest bottle size you can get and put a small amount in a small bottle (pill bottle) and freeze the rest. Mold can eventually grow in the bottle. Freezing prevents that. Since your aquarium is new and has no fish I would only dose at about half the recommendation for now.

Since you have started cycling your aquarium make sure the ammonia you add doesn't have any soap or additives to it. Shake the bottle vigorously. If foam develops on the surface don't use it.

StevenF said:

Poison the water to kill them.

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I would never recommend adding poison to your aquarium as it can mess everything up and you would have to start completely over

The snails probably came with your plants, and when you go buy more plants, you will get more snails. The only problem I really have with snails is that they eat the plants. Otheriwse, it's nice to have them. We have three different kinds

Thanks for the responses! I've decided to strip down the aquarium, removing everything in it. Thrown out the gravel and the plants. Going to find a good way to sanitize the aquarium entirely, which will include replacing the filter media. Really anything that will kill any remaining snails and destroy their eggs. Still trying to figure out the best way to do this, I'm thinking of using Milton which is essentially bleach and salt, just gotta be careful enough so that it's safe to introduce fish to later.

Once that is done, I'll get myself a new substrate and some tissue culture plants and set up the aquarium again from scratch. I'll introduce some beneficial bacteria and begin the fishless cycle from that point.

This way, I'll be snail-free and will have all the necessary nutrients and information to look after the plants properly. I wasn't happy with the setup anyway and I was heavily misinformed by the staff at my local pet shop when they told me, "our aquarium plants will find all the nutrients they need in regular aquarium water."

I would suggest this is too drastic, and it is not going to solve the problems anyway.

Snails are you best friends in a fish tank. And especially with goldfish that eat a lot and excrete a lot; snails will eat this to break it down more quickly for the various bacteria. And snails can get everywhere, places you cannot. I have hundreds in some of my tanks, and I am very glad they are there. They will help with algae, though not with problem algae as they cannot keep up.

Algae. Is it diatoms, or something else? Diatoms will easily wipe off surfaces, and off plant leaves using your fingertips. Problem algae usually won't. Diatoms are normal in new tanks until the system is settled. You tank lighting is going to cause algae. The duration is a bit long, but without knowing the intensity I can't offer much more.

What is "TNC carbon?" You don't need to be adding any form of carbon, as Steven mentioned. The plants (Java Fern) cannot make use of it anyway, they are slow growers, so it will feed algae and upset the balance. The stem plants at the back might, but not without sufficient nutrients.

Byron.

While tissue culture plants should be snail free, I would first put the new plants in an separate container and monitor them for a couple of weeks to verify there are no snails. It is entirely possible that a seller may mix up plants or accidentally add snails during packaging just prior to shipments.

While bleach will kill snails many common bleaches now contains some soaps and fragrances. I would avoid these. YOU can however get Chlorine water purification tablets which don't have soaps or fragrances. You can find these in hiking stores. Another option instead of chlorine is Iodine tincture. Its available at many stores and you can probably get a lot cheaply. for iodine or chlorine I don't know what the dose you would have to be to kill the snails.

In one of my 55 gallon tanks I have assassin snails. They do such a great job at keeping the snail population under control. I really love having them in that tank. Also, when they are not chasing down other snails, they eat everything that other snails eat. I find them to be very beneficial.