kiwiplymouth Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I have had a small 40L tank up and running for about a year now. I originaly used it to breed danio's, barbs and swordtails. All that it has had in it for the last 6 months is breeding groups of mystery snails, apple snails, and ramshorn snails. Oh and also 1 small danio that i rescued from the bottom of one of my cannister filters. It has one small bubble filter and gets a 50% water change per week. temp is a constant 27 deg Today when i got home from work every single snail was dead and so was the danio. In the last few days I added 4 female siamese fighters that are still ok but have now been moved to another tank. I also put in some new suckers for the heater (clear silicone from the $2 shop) What the hell has happened? Any ideas? Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumzy50 Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 May be the cheap suckers released chemicals into the tank.Hard to say as your fighters were okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 i would have to say the suckers would be it, but just watch the tank you have the fighters in just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I have striped down the snail tank and will boil everything just in case it is a bug of some sort. The 4 females fighters are in a quarantine tank and yes i will be keeping a very close eye on them for the next week or so. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 your fighters can acquire air from the atmosphere whereas the snails and danio rely on oxygen from the water may be an indication that something was wrong with water quality only thing new in water was your suckers for heater maybe heating them has released a toxin into the water only some points to note Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 double post or am i just repeating myself :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I tend to agree. The new suckers are the most likely cause. It is not the water itself as i have 8 other tanks (1 with discus) and they are all fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I would doubt that it is the suckers actually. Plastic often has a plasticiser added and some may bleed out but the quantities would be so minute from 2 small suckers that I can't see it being a problem. Anabantoids and cats can survive better in bad water because of their ability to get O2 from other than their gills so I would suspect a lack of O2 which coud be caused by a bacterial bloom. In either case removing the suckers and doing water changes is about the best you can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 How about some kind of heavy metal? Invertebrates are much more sensitive to things like copper than other fish... although that doesn't explain the danio... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I did use some lead to way down some courgette for the snails. and maybe the danio was unrelated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 lead is pretty insoluble. I have heaps of it in all my tanks and have never spotted a fish with blue gums yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I just had a look at the thin plastic coated wire that used to tie the suckers onto the heater holder(as the suckers were the wrong size). guess what.... its copper wire. that is probably the culprit. I knew copper was an issue with snails and i didn't check. Lesson learnt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Lesson learnt Thats why I love this forum....I just learned the same lesson but the easy way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 In the good old days they used to add a copper penny or copper pot scrubber to cure white spot and remove it when the snails crawled out of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Funny you say that. I did notice a few days ago that most of they snails were at the top of the tank on the water line and I thought nothing of it at the time. Another warning sign committed to memory. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 You were lucky you did't have killies in there, they would have beaten the snails by a long shot. I killed over 300 once, almost instantly after treating with one seventh of the normal dose of copper sulphate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Ouch!!! I didn't realise that killies were that sensitive. I have been toying with the idea of getting a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 They are hardy unless you dose them with copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cesarz Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Ooops lesson learnt too late, I just dosed my snail infested killie tank with copper sulfate two days ago and looked in the tank just after i read this thread - all killies dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Gutted..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Bugger!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Just so you don't find out the hard way, they don't like malachite green either. Ok with acriflavine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 So why doesnt the copper from my hot water cylinder affect the snails when i do a water change? Does it affect your Killies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 they don't like malachite green either. crap that must be what killed mine cos they got whitespot, i treated them and they all rolled over and died i only had 6 though so not as bad as 300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 People are paranoid about the copper from the hot water cylinder. Copper only goes into solution in acid water and that is why Local Authorities keep the water supply slightly alkaline. Acid water will eat the zinc out of your brass taps before it eats copper and if the water is acid it can eat a hole in your copper pipes or hot water cylinder in about 12 months. The cylinder in our house has been there since the house was built in 1945 so work that out. I refill my tanks with a blend of hot and cold water and have never had a problem. I also do complete water changes on killie fry with water only from the hot tap,as the first bucket of water is about the right temperature by the time the pipes empty of cold and it fills the bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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