Tag Archives: aquarium

Snails in an aquarium

There was a time when snails were thought to be necessary to have in a home aquarium. The idea was that the snail would clean up the fish droppings and the snail droppings were good for the plants. The plants in turn would give off oxygen that would help keep the fish healthy.

The reality is that the snails don’t eat the fish dropping, and the snail droppings add to the tank debris. Plants can utilize some of the droppings but the rest must be cleaned up by the filtration system. Plants do give off oxygen during the day, but the fish are not dependent upon that oxygen source if you have a good filter that is aerating the water.

The filtration system in the aquarium cleans up the animal matter and provides the necessary aeration to the fish tank. So what do snails do? They clean up excess fish food that would otherwise foul a tank. They help by eating some of the algae that adhere to the tank walls. They eat on the eggs of the fish, breaking them up but not consuming all of the egg before they move on to the next. Snails will also eat on the plants. Most of them usually do not eat the whole plant. They make holes in the plant, weakening them and disturbing the ambiance of the aquarium décor.

There are hundreds of snail species. The most common snails which are most likely to find their way into the aquarium as a stowaway on plants and live food is the Pond Snail. Most of them are prolific breeders. It is necessary to thin the snail population from time to time or they will consume the tank plants. The easiest way to thin the population is to crush them. Many fishes will eat the crushed snails and benefit from the live food.

Some fish breeders raise snails as a source of fish food. Not only will larger fish eat crushed snails, but the snails will help produce infusoria, a collection of tiny single-celled and multi-celled organisms that very small fish can eat. The Apple snails are a common group used to help start infusoria. The snails eat large quantities of plant material, such as lettuce. They produce a large amount digested waste that is a wonderful source of food for infusoria*.

*The use of infusoria was mentioned in an earlier posting.

Aquarium background

In the “good old days” most aquaria were constructed differently than they are today. To build a watertight glass sided container it was necessary to have strips of material, usually metal, at the edges and the corners. The glass was held in place with glue or caulk. Sometimes as the tank aged the caulk would turn dark, crack and ooze out onto the glass. The sealant would eventually dry out and leak. Fortunately for the fish, the leaks would be a slow process and an aquarist would have warnings before it was necessary to replace the tank.

Today fish tanks are built with strong epoxy glues eliminating the need for the corner strips. The unencumbered look is well liked by most aquarium owners but it does present the aquarist with a problem. In the past the unsightly tangle of tubes and cords that are associated with a working aquarium could be partially hidden by the side strips. In order to add interest and help hide unsightly tubing an aquarium background is often used.

Hiding tubes and cords is not the only reason to use aquarium backgrounds. Background scenes can add color or set a theme for the tank. The right background can add depth to an aquarium. A mood or theme can be established by using the appropriate background.

Usually a background comes as a sheet of printed-paper the size to fit your aquarium. The sheet is then attached to the tank either by a peel and stick or by an edge adhesive. There are also contoured sheets of plastic that can be fitted to the inside of the tank. The contoured sheets provide interest and can help eliminate the need for other aquarium ornaments. Occasionally a skilled craftsman will make an insert that can be placed in the tank. If you choose to build a background for your aquarium, keep in mind that the materials you use should be safe for aquarium use (see a post about the importance of basic water quality).

Buying a background sheet can be relatively inexpensive. They can be ordered from fish supply houses or picked up at a local pet store. If so desired, moods and themes can be changed often. Be imaginative. Why not let a child draw a picture and glue it to the aquarium? Another way to personalize the scene could be done by clipping pictures of family members and gluing them onto the background. Imagine the fun of having Uncle Fred waving to you from behind a bolder. The possibilities are endless.

Essential advice for starting a home aquarium
More about aquarium backgrounds
Experiences in setting up a home aquarium

Experiences in setting up a home aquarium

My aquarium experiences started off as something of an accident. My partner and I were given a 5-gallon fish tank with a simple over the side fiberglass filter. The tank also included a few guppies and mollies.

We set up the tank on a small aquarium stand near our eating area. It turned out that the tank became our mealtime TV. We could watch the fish swim and eat while we ate our evening meal. The slow movement through the water was accented by the mating chase and the territorial disputes. It was exciting the first time we saw a baby fish being born. It was just as moving to see that same baby fish become fish food.

Knowing very little about having an aquarium we also knew very little about how to best keep our newborn fish alive. One store suggested we use a breeding cage. The idea of the breeding cage is to place the mother inside a mesh cage or trap that would permit her to give birth. The babies would fall through the cage openings and the mother would not consume them. As you can easily imagine, this only protected the fry from the birthing mother and not from the other fish. In order for that method to be effective it would require that each mother have a tank of her own until she was finished giving birth. That did not sound like a workable idea for us.

Similar to the cage is a breeding plate. This is a mesh plate that is inserted into a tank slightly above the aquarium gravel. The idea is that the fry can fall below the plate and have a protected area to start their life. We did not like the appearance of the plate and it made cleaning the gravel impossible. For a breeder who wanted to collect young fish and didn’t care how the tank looked this might be a good method of separating newborns from adults.

Another suggestion was to have lots of plants for the fry to be dropped in or near. They could then hide and avoid being eaten by all the bigger fish. This idea at least was workable. In our ignorance we planted the whole bottom of the aquarium in plants. The plants were not properly anchored down and soon we had one of the biggest floating gardens I have ever seen. All we could see was the floating garden, no fish. With a little practice, observation and a bit of advice from knowledgeable shop owners we learned the proper balance of plants to fish and other aquarium ornaments.

Essential advice for starting a home aquarium
Aquarium gravel and water
Aquarium Stands, Options and Considerations
Aquarium backgrounds explored

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Tag Archives: aquarium

Snails in an aquarium

Aquarium background

Experiences in setting up a home aquarium