my 3 gallon aquarium

[WhispTech]

Sigh . . . much to be learned . . . here:

--Small snails don't eat plants. Snails are almost never a threat to plants unless they're large species like Apple Snails, and mostly only a problem in large numbers. Snails like MTS (malaysian trumpet snails) are actually DESIRABLE for a planted tank owner. If it really bugs you, just kill them. It's that simple. The snails are the least important thing you should be thinking about.

--The Eclipse systems come with the right kind of light for plants in terms of kelven value. It's not the type that's the problem, it's the AMOUNT. There's just not enough lighting under that eclipse hood. For a 3 gallon tank, you really want about need at least 10watts for "low light" (only java ferns, crypts, moss and anubias, eclipse should provide this), 15watts for "medium light" and 20+watts for "high" light. Most plants are considered to fall into one of these groups by aquatic gardeners. The more light, the more options, but also the more effort needed by the aquarist.

--A. Normani is a species of killifish. Lampeye killies to be more specific. They are SCHOOLING fish.

--Don't even THINK about the ferts for a low-lighting tank, which you have unless you do some type of special fitting in your hood for better lighting.

--What grain size is the gravel? Best grain size is around 2-3mm; anything much bigger or smaller can hinder the plants in one way or another. Unless you have your plants attached to rocks or wood. Ferns, mosses, and anubias grow best attached to rocks or wood.

Yeah I have big snails.

One apple snail and one mystery snail. the apple snail i have had a long time and is my friend and I would not kill him on purpose I like how snails float around and crawl around and stuff. I have no where to put them either.

Anyways i am surprised to hear someone say for me to kill an aquatic life form in this forum.

as for gravel size i got teh smallest real gravel I could get.

Its bigger then 2-3 mm. Only have petsmart in my city basically so not much selection.

I actually wanted sand but it is no where to be found.

The gravel i have i would say is 5-8mm.

Ill take a pic and post in a bit

 

[WhispTech]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it already but why not Anacharis It doesn't require much light and you don't even have to plant it in the gravel. It's easy and pretty.

here anacharis.

Thats a nice plant. when I looked at the link I thought it was fake hhahahaa.

But thats something I am interested in style.


I am not going to have lots of plants and figure if I have three with a bit of moss that should be ok.

I doubt two snails would go that nuts with all the other stuff they can eat too.

 

[gaya]

I have snails and they eat my leafy plants a little bit but nothing major. Don't apple snails get huge though? Like the size of base balls or something. Snails poo a lot so you'll have to keep up with water changes in such a small tank and I don't think you would need special fertilizer for the amount of poo you're gonna have in there. Plus in smaller tanks if your plants are growing really fast that might not be so good as it can get crowded b4 you know it.

 

[WhispTech]

Thats teh smallest real gravel i could find.

 

[WhispTech]

I have snails and they eat my leafy plants a little bit but nothing major. Don't apple snails get huge though? Like the size of base balls or something. Snails poo a lot so you'll have to keep up with water changes in such a small tank and I don't think you would need special fertilizer for the amount of poo you're gonna have in there. Plus in smaller tanks if your plants are growing really fast that might not be so good as it can get crowded b4 you know it.

yeah they are suppose to get big.

Mine so far is only 25mm and pretty much teh size he has stayed.

the mystery snail I just got and is ablut 3/4 the size.

 

[Mr Miagi]

My snails never survive, except the ones that have poped up oin the past week.

 

[WhispTech]

My snails never survive, except the ones that have poped up oin the past week.

all my fish died except my snails lol

where like opposites

 

[Mr Miagi]

DOH

 

[Dakota Ice]

DOH

Whats up with that? Don`t be rude.

I`d really just suggest a Betta, its the only thing that 100% for sure can stay alive in there. Everything else is iffy, and when it comes to fishy lives I`d rather not be iffy on things. As for plants, just watch the snails and if it doesnt work, just put the snails in a glass container with gravel.. They`re snails, they`ll be fine in it.

Good Luck!
Dakota

 

[WhispTech]

DOH

Whats up with that? Don`t be rude.

I think he was just joking around because he has luck with fish and I have luck with snails lol

 

[laboul]

How about a few pygmy cories? THey don't get bigger than 1 inch.

 

[veen]

I think you could get an african dwarf frog in a 3 gallon but I am not 100% sure as I have never kept them before. I heard they can escape through the tiniest holes so make sure you cover everything in your tank that they can possibly escape through, even if it is way smaller than them.

I am not sure of what african dwarf frogs eat either. I'm sure they would probably eat sinking pellets but I am not 100% sure of that.

i have a male betta with 2 african dwarf frogs in my eclipse 3 and it's working out great! i feed the frogs frog/tadpole bites -- they're sinking pellets made especially for aquatic frogs. i also occassionally give them live & frozen brine shrimp. i have to feed the betta first because otherwise he'll eat the frog bites all up before the frogs can get to them

 

[tear-scar]

-You'd be surprised how many threads there are on this forum dedicated to the extermination of snails, or hating snails. We've also had really big annoying debates (aka flame wars) on the subject as well . . . good idea not to go there. Don't assert moral superiority.

-I actually raise snails for my tanks, but I do it purposefully. Malaysian trumpets because they're very beneficial to the planted tank by turning the substrate. Red ramshorns because they're very pretty snails.

-I wouldn't worry even about an apple snail if you are only growing tough plants like ferns and anubias (which is really all you should be planting if you have basic eclipse lighting).

 

[WhispTech]

Ok so made it to a fish store and went to the better one since got a drive.

Now this is my first time using real plants so hopefully it turns out ok. First off was someone mentioned an issue with pebble size and when at the store they had the exact same gravel I used and he said as long as I have about an inch of it on the areas I am planting I should be ok. I have this since I have it where more gravel is at the back coming to the front it slopes down.

The plants I got are amazon sword plant, cabomba, corkscrew and some java moss.

Getting the other plants in was easy. No clue what I should do with the java moss since it seems to just float around and I wanted it for the top of my rock formation.

I got a crown tail betta and he seems to like the moss and floats around in it so the moss never stays put.

I lined up the plants along the back and made sure the filter had room.

here are some pics.

Ill get a pic of the fish which I named Mr. Squid later on after he has settled in.

Thanks goes out to those that helped me with info.

And booo goes out to the stores that have the poor betta's in a cup. Luckily I freed one today. Now he has a bigger cup

 

[WhispTech]

Ok got a couple pics of the fish.

These where just quick shots and ill try and get a winning pose from him lol.