Help With Peacock Eels

[Tommy Gunnz]

Anyone know if my peacock eels would be bad to mix with a large apple snail? Can't get rid of the kid's snail until it dies, but my tank situations would require me mixing up the eels with the snails.

 

[nmonks]

Can't think of a single reason why this wouldn't work. One's a veggie, the other a predator, so there's no competition. The snail will ignore the eel, and presumably vice versa. The snail might actually be quite a good companion, since it'll provide some entertainment value while the eel is sleeping in the sand. Some apple snails are pretty destructive of plants, though. Not all, I'm told, but some.

Cheers,

Neale

Anyone know if my peacock eels would be bad to mix with a large apple snail?

 

[jayjay]

thought i'd say there are 2 main species of apple snail one that eats plants one that doesn't. i can't remember how to tell the differece except if you put a plant in the one will eat it lol. check out the inverts section and i think there is a pinned topic on ID'ing snails.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Hey thanks guys. I didnt think this would be a problem but wanted to check. I just traded my large sailfin pleco for a chineese alge eater. I found out that this fish will feed ONLY on alge and not eat any of the bllodworms/shrimp that I need on the bottom for my eels. I am now off to get the marine sand that I need (the LFS I was just at didnt have enough for me and I didnt feel like buying 20 bags of sand.)

So, if anyone has some tips for me on how to get this substrate changed, I would appreciate it. Expecially on the cleanest way to get this sand in my tank. My thinking is to keep about half of the water that is currently in there while I dig out the old gravel and then put in the new sand. Then I can refill the tank using dinner plates to help with the 'splash' effect and not have to completely recycle this tank. In fact, I am starting to think I may be able to do this with most of my fish still in the tank if I can control the sand enough. Is this a really bad idea or not?

 

[Bettabelieveit]

Don't spend a fortune on marine sand. Go to your local Steins or hardware store and get play sand. It's the exact same thing only a lot cheaper.

 

[nmonks]

This is good advice (I get my sand from a garden centre, £3 for 25 kilos, about 50 lb). However, it is ABSOLUTELY critical to ensure the sand is (1) lime-free, so that it doesn't harden the water and (2) the grade known as "smooth" not "sharp". If you get too-coarse a sand, it will simply scratch the spiny eel anyway. If the retailer cannot tell you that the sand is lime-free and smooth, or the packaging doesn't either, then leave that sand alone, however inexpensive.

That's why I recommend gardener's silver sand. It is smooth, lime-free, and inexpensive. It may not be the absolute cheapest sand out there, but it still costs very little, and it is consistent in formula and safety.

Cheers,

Neale

Don't spend a fortune on marine sand. Go to your local Steins or hardware store and get play sand. It's the exact same thing only a lot cheaper.