How To Clean Hatchling Tank?

[TJ]

Hey everyone,

Am needing some advice here, lol. My babies are growing and they are gaining pigment in their foot's (feet??, I dunno, lol) which is really cool!

The thing is that there is naturally snail and fish poop on the top of my aragonite but I fear if I try to sucker it up with my vac I'll suck up babies too. Up until now I have only suckered baby free areas but as they are moving more and more there are no such areas left! I already have tights over the filter which I wash out every day but surely if I put tights over the end of my sucker upper then the poop won't get past it either? I have been keeping well on top of water changes BUT only taking water from the top and middle of the tank.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks,
TJxxx

Oh and P.S I bought plants on ebay and one lot arrived today with 2 hitchikers - they are really small (about pea sized but like a slice of a pea, lol) and the squished looking flat ones that walk with their shells standing up. They are red/brown colour and not my cup of tea at all but I plopped them into the fat goldfishes tank in case they were a risk to my baby brigs.

[pheonixx]

Tj the sand is easy to clean its better than gravel just go for it..you may see the babys swirling round the vac but they will be fine..another trick we do is drop food in one side..wait a little while then when you have a 300 snail pile up LOL vac that side...next night repeat on the other side..aarrrhh dont let your fish eat them..your hitchers sound like ramshorns they will be fine with your babys they clean the shells...Linda

[Darren Willis]

Linda is right with the food idea , that has worked for us plenty of times. As for the syphon , well again Linda is right but .. and it is a BIG but .... does your syphon have a strainer plate in it? if it does then you should get away with it , we do when the food method doesn't work .. you just have to check the strainer to make sure no babies are stuck to it. If your syphon doesn't have a strainer plate then either stick with the tights idea or check through the bucket of dirty water after which can take ages .... a quick way to check buckets is to have a second bucket with tights stretched over the top and tip the dirty bucket into the other bucket and the tights will catch all the crap and any babies that may be in there ... just a case of sifting through snail poo and also checking the inside of the now empty bucket to make sure there is no babies stuck to the inside anywhere. Hope that helps you T J .... should find things alot easier in a few weeks time when they are close to pea size.

Cheers

Daz

[TJ]

Linda & Daz,

I do have a thing on the end of my syphon - a plastic lid type thing with holes but I think my eeny weeny one's would still get through. I'm gonna try the tights over the end today and if I don't get it done as good as I want then the empty bucket & tights scenario as I really do want to get the tank sorted 100% before I go away (mum's arriving tomorrow then I'm off back with her on Sunday).

I can't find the little ramshorns Linda, they are smaller than the gravel in the goldfishes tank and I can't see them!! I doubt my fishes would eat them though, they are lazy fat goldfishes, lol, and havn't paid any attentions to the other snailies. If I do spot them I'll nab em into the snaily tank though.

Thanks for the advice!

Hugs,
TJxxx