My 15g tank has:
5 kuhli loaches
1 honey gourami
7 pygmy corydoras
1 bristlenose (in the picture)
And hitch hiking snails
The parameters are all normal since last time I checked a month ago
Ever since I've started my tank around a year ago, I've had difficulty trying to find the best routine to feed my little guys since the kuhlis and the bristlenose and sometimes the corydoras do go for the food until sometimes an hour later. I used to feed a little flakes or pellet then a wafer later on in the same day but I could tell I was overfeeding, so I changed to feed once every 2nd day. The problem is still the same. It takes them a long time to eat and I think it's leading to the bladder snails to eat my plants from overpopulation in the tank. There are a hell of a lot trumpet snails but I think they are chill.
So I was looking for advice on a feeding schedule because I know you guys on here are experienced. Thank you for reading!
Posted by Sad_Occasion_401
4 Comments
It depends if you’re okay with euthanizing or settling the bladder snails into another tank. I’d recommend thinning the snail numbers immediately as you have most of your tank competing for the same food sources and starving when they lose to the snails.
Cucumbers work well for getting the snails in one place. Stick it in, wait ten minutes and then take it out and either drop those snails in some salt water or rehome them. Rinse and repeat until you have their numbers down. Alternatively you could start a pea puffer tank since your 15 is too small and harvest the snails as a food source.
Don’t flush them as they will likely survive and become an issue for the environment.
Assassin snails
dont have to see the fish eat
if you are adding food it will end up feeding the fish even if snails get to it first
I usually scatter food around the tank so the snails don’t form a pile over all of it and everyone can get some. So breaking wafers into quarters or more pieces. You could also put a bit of one food that the snails prefer over anything else in one spot, and they could stay there for long enough that the fish can eat.
Bladder snails don’t eat plants, some species of pond snail do. Your trumpet snails are beautiful, they are also overpopulating in this situation.
Another commenter said assassin snails, they’re just also going to overpopulate and eat the fish food. They can’t fix the root causes of snail overpopulation.