Dreadful Snails...

[LDBartholow]

I bought some new micro sword, and cambomba two weeks ago. It was pre-washed, inspected and treated (bleach method - which I know many do not approve of). I woke up this morning, and noticed a snail crawling along the glass. Upon closer inspection, there are dozens crawling all over my plants. Some eggs, or snails, or both, survived. I have never dealt with a snail issue. I went out and bought two assassin snails, and I plan on throwing some lettuce on the glass and hoping I can reduce the population.

The question is about my plants. What was once beautiful is now littered with small tears. The micro sword has taken a real hit. This is only my second tank ever, so I am still relatively new to the hobby. Is there anything I can do to minimize the damage? When I received my plants, they were in very, very healthy condition. I mean, they were really pristine. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[mike455555]

they might be melting? what type of snails are they

 

[LDBartholow]

they might be melting? what type of snails are they

It appears to be common pond snails, which means my plants are melting. Ugh. It is a newly established tank. I'm running 2 T5 6.7k bulbs (18w each) about 10 hours a day. My lighting fixture is right above the water. I have a 20g long tank. Dimensions are 12.5L x 30W x 13H. All the plants I bought were low/medium lighting requirements. Substrate is Flourite. I have micro sword, 1 java fern, 1 anubis nana, a few bunches of green cryptocoryne, 1 water sprite, 1 anacharis, and a few bunches of cambomba. Everything seems to be doing well except the micro sword, and the java fern.

I've been dosing with Flourish. I'm assuming I need to start dosing other nutrients? I wanted to keep it low tech. There are currently no fish in the tank. Just the plants. I haven't figured out what I want just yet. Any tips is greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I'll keep baiting my tank and removing the pond snails.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Its more than likely melt which will grow back, as for the snails, the assassins will do their work and get rid slowly. The lighting you have is a bit on the high side so keep an eye as you may need macro ferts too and CO2 or liquid carbon, is there a way of only using a single bulb?

 

[LDBartholow]

Its more than likely melt which will grow back, as for the snails, the assassins will do their work and get rid slowly. The lighting you have is a bit on the high side so keep an eye as you may need macro ferts too and CO2 or liquid carbon, is there a way of only using a single bulb?

I do have a colormax bulb I can install, but the lighting unit won't operate if only one bulb is installed. I'll pick some macro ferts and liquid carbon today on my lunch break. Thank you!