Tank Aliens

[Stewart Strachan]

I have a 57 gallon tank with two Dolphin Hammerhead Sharks and two Parrot Fish. They are great but over the past month i have been getting tiny pink snals appearing on the glass and the salt rocks i have in the tanbk. I dont know where they are coming from. I have cleaned everything from the gravel to the plants and yet they still appear. please can you let me know if this is common or can they harm the fish.
Any advice would be greatly appretiated.


Many thanks
Stewart.

 

[three-fingers]

Sound like red rams horns, there's a good snail ID guide here. Snails just eat algae, leftover food and decaying material such as plants, they don't harm the fish at all .

But wheat are 'salt rocks' and what species is a 'Dolphin Hammerhead Shark'? Never heard that common name before, sounds like a tankbuster though .

 

[Stewart Strachan]

Sound like red rams horns, there's a good snail ID guide here. Snails just eat algae, leftover food and decaying material such as plants, they don't harm the fish at all .

But wheat are 'salt rocks' and what species is a 'Dolphin Hammerhead Shark'? Never heard that common name before, sounds like a tankbuster though .

Thank you for getting back to me. Yes it's the Ramshorn Snails that i have. As long as they dont harm the fish thats cool. Is there something you can get to get rid of them? Should i destroy the plants i have and get new ones?

 

[three-fingers]

They aren't actually doing any harm, they are actually doing a small service by cleaning the tank. You can get all sorts of chemicals to kill snails but I've never seen anyone have anything but trouble with them - even when they work, loads of rotting snails in a tank is never good for the water.

I would recommend loaches to eat all the snails if you want rid of them, which species depends on what the 'Dolphin Hammerhead Sharks' are though.

Either a small group of Yo-Yo loaches or zebra loaches. Avoid clown loaches (usually recommended by LFS) as they really need to be kept in groups and your tanks not big enough .

edit: And what are 'salt rocks', because if they are literally lumps of salt, or rocks that leech salt, the loaches would most likely be harmed .

 

[tenohfive]

They aren't actually doing any harm, they are actually doing a small service by cleaning the tank. You can get all sorts of chemicals to kill snails but I've never seen anyone have anything but trouble with them - even when they work, loads of rotting snails in a tank is never good for the water.

I would recommend loaches to eat all the snails if you want rid of them, which species depends on what the 'Dolphin Hammerhead Sharks' are though.

Either a small group of Yo-Yo loaches or zebra loaches. Avoid clown loaches (usually recommended by LFS) as they really need to be kept in groups and your tanks not big enough .

edit: And what are 'salt rocks', because if they are literally lumps of salt, or rocks that leech salt, the loaches would most likely be harmed .

Would a dwarf puffer be an alternative? I'd heard they're pretty good for polishing off snails.

 

[three-fingers]

Not really...dwarf puffers are very often also good at polishing off fins too .

 

[Stewart Strachan]

I found out the name of the sharks i have " pangasius sanitwongsei " you wouldn't happen to know what is best to feed them with???

 

[Gilli]

Squish the small snails and feed them to your fish - shell and all which they will chew and spit out. They will fight over them and its a good source of protien!

 

[pippoodle]

pangasius sanitwongsei

you do know that is a giant cat fish that can grow to 98.4"

it says on their website they feed on dog carcasses

i really think you need to rethink keeping this fish unless you are going to get a 1000us gallon tank

<a href="http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=268" target="_blank">http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=268</a>

Paroon Shark
Species Pangasius sanitwongsei
Difficulty Difficult
Min. Tank Size 3,785.412 liters
3,785,411.78 mL

1000 US Gallons (3785.4L)
Size 118.11 in

250-300 cm (98.4-118.1")
pH 6.5 - 7.5
Temp. 295.15 K
71.6 °F
531.27 °R

300.15 K
80.6 °F
540.27 °R22 -27 °C (71.6-80.6°F)
Water Hardness

5-8
Stocking Ratio 1:1 M:F
Availability Rare
Diet

Carnivore
Live Foods
Other (See article)
Life Span

12-18 years

 

[Stewart Strachan]

pangasius sanitwongsei

you do know that is a giant cat fish that can grow to 98.4"

it says on their website they feed on dog carcasses

i really think you need to rethink keeping this fish unless you are going to get a 1000us gallon tank

<a href="http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=268" target="_blank">http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=268</a>

Paroon Shark
Species Pangasius sanitwongsei
Difficulty Difficult
Min. Tank Size 3,785.412 liters
3,785,411.78 mL

1000 US Gallons (3785.4L)
Size 118.11 in

250-300 cm (98.4-118.1")
pH 6.5 - 7.5
Temp. 295.15 K
71.6 °F
531.27 °R

300.15 K
80.6 °F
540.27 °R22 -27 °C (71.6-80.6°F)
Water Hardness

5-8
Stocking Ratio 1:1 M:F
Availability Rare
Diet

Carnivore
Live Foods
Other (See article)
Life Span

12-18 years

Thanks for that, but the one i have is about a year old and only about a foot long, cant see it growing much bigger to be honest. I did read about them on the net AFTER i bought them and freaked out a bit but i was reasurred by the shop where i got them that they would not grow over a foot. ( the fish shop has now closed down so i cant contact them again ) I dont think its the big species, well i hope not. I would upload a photo of it but i dont know how to attach it. here is the web site and my fish i have is the 3rd fish from left to right......http/www.google.co.uk/search?q=pangasius+sanitwongsei&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a