New here from Georgia

[o h culp]

Hello all. I am a Registered Nurse x 42 yrs. (Soon to be retired) that is new to the hobby. I started last Fall into the hobby, went to a very reputable aquatic store and got a new complete setup aquarium. An Aqueon 10 gallon. I let it cycle did all my water test as I was supposed to and when I thought it was ready I went and got a lovely betta fish and a couple of snails. The nerite snails died almost immediately but the mystery snails hung in there.
Long story short I ended up doing everything wrong - over feeding my betta, putting in too many tank mates, & having two strong a flow in his filter output. He became very stressed, got every problem just about that a betta can get & passed away. This was extremely upsetting to my husband and I since our betta Flash was just delightful.
I waited a couple of months and started over we now have another Betta his name is Blue and a very large mysyery snail that's been with me for a while named Finn. They seem to be doing well. They are in the original ten gallon Aqueon aquarium just the two of them together l the tank is planted, heated, filtered. When Flash was sick I also went and got a 5 gallon Fluval tank as a hospital tank for him. I went back to the same aquatic store purchase 2 new mystery snails relatively small which turned out to werebe a male and a female - unplanned. The female named Phoebe started laying egg clutches. She and Marty the male seem to do be doing great until I got a horrendous influx of worms and pest snails. I tried everything I could find short of chemicals to rid the tank of the pest snails & worms including 100% water changes, new substrate, new plants, new everything. To no avail I was unsuccessful so I finally went and got three Cory catfish. Now Larry, Moe , & Curly who have done their job quite well - no more worms and the pest snails though still present are very limited. Phoebe in Marty however, are not faring well. They are picked on continuously by these three Cory catfish. There are no more snail clutches & Marty hardly ever moves and I never see either one of them eat anyting.
Pease help with any suggestions what I should do to help my two mystery snails. I have a third aquarium presently cycling it's another Aqueon 10-gallon but it's going to take awhile since my API water test show that the nitrates are still only at 0.
I don't want to lose my mystery snails.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
BTW Larry, Moe & Curly seem to be doing just great in the five gallon Fluval.
I'm not terribly fond of them however since they pick on my two snails unmercifully.
Sorry for the long post.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Welcome! I retired from nursing last year. A few years early but it was time. Most of my career was not bedside though. I was Director of Patient Advocacy Department and Case Management for awhile. Glad to see you know about the aquarium nitrogen cycle and that your having better luck with Blue. Look forward to seeing you around the forum.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If you have filters that contain cartridges/ pads and the manufacturer recommends replacing these on a regular basis, you can buy some sponges for different brands of filters and put the sponges in the filters with the pads. Leave them together for 6-8 weeks then throw the pads away and leave the sponges. Sponges can be cut to size with a pair of scissors.

You can also buy round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre and they fit over the intake strainer of most external power filters. The sponges will develop colonies of beneficial filter bacteria and you can squeeze the sponges out in a bucket of tank water every 2-4 weeks once they are established (after 6-8 weeks).

Sponges will last for years and won't need replacing until they start to break down. They also prevent ammonia and nitrite spikes that regularly occur when filter pads/ cartridges are replaced.

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The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

 

[Back in the fold]

Wow! Two nurses. Nobody has any excuse for a sick fish here.

 

[FishGuest5123]

That’s right. The nurses treat the patient and reports to the doctor what the patient needs. The nursing staff and respiratory staff handle the CPR codes. The doc then walks in like the hero after the code is over or the patient has improved. So when people are praising their docs for saving their lives, they should really be thanking the nursing and ancillary staff. Just my opinion.

 

[Back in the fold]

That’s right. The nurses treat the patient and reports to the doctor what the patient needs. The nursing staff and respiratory staff handle the CPR codes. The doc then walks in like the hero after the code is over or the patient has improved. So when people are praising their docs for saving their lives, they should really be thanking the nursing and ancillary staff. Just my opinion.

Sounds about right to me.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Welcome!