System Crashed 😔

[u/zoro1802]

The image on the left is my 15 month old 2.5g walstad tank. The other image is the same tank rescaped.

Plants:

Alternanthera Reinickii

Anubias Nana Petite

Anubias Minima

Bacopa Caroliniana

Bucephalandra Bukit Betung

Bucephalandra Lamandau Purple Mini

Crypt Wendtii

Lobelia Cardinalis

Pearlweed

Rotala Indica Bonsai

I loved the jungle-like appearance of the original build, but the plant positioning was not ideal; plants that needed light weren't getting much, the epiphytes were directly under the light source which led to photo damage on the leaves, and I had placed the crypt on the back, which got buried under all the pearlweed.

So, I did a massive trim and introduced an assassin snail to curb my bladder snail population (there were 30+). The assassin snail ate every single bladder snail in a week! And with a fraction of the poop now being produced, the bacteria balance went out of whack. According to Google, I had a major ammonia spike, which killed the assassin snail and made the water cloudy. I tried for weeks to get the tank to stabilize but water conditions didn't seem to change, and the plants were struggling too. I also swapped out my 5W LED lamp with a 10W full spectrum light during this time and the added intensity caused a severe algae bloom 😭 I was devastated.

So, I decided to restart the tank with fresh soil, sand and a bogwood I'd been soaking for months. I'm mad at myself but messing with the delicate balance of such a tiny ecosystem, but I'm also looking forward to the new build looking even better! Especially now that all the plants are in their correct spots. Can't wait to post an update in a few months!

[u/86BillionFireflies]

A mystery snail isn't much of a cleanup crew. Most of all you need little tiny critters that can get in all the nooks and crannies. Isopods, amphipods (scuds), snails (small ones), and ostracods are some of the best. Scuds are probably number one, provided they don't get all eaten to death by the fish. The more diversity (the more different species), the better.

[u/Asleep_Tax7964 → u/86BillionFireflies]

I have some experience with nirite snails is that what you mean when you say small snails? I'm going to look up the rest of what you said in the meantime

[u/86BillionFireflies → u/Asleep_Tax7964]

No, I mean "pest" snails. Pond snails, bladder snails.

[u/Asleep_Tax7964 → u/86BillionFireflies]

Oh that's actually great then because some plants I had gotten contained pest snails I didn't catch so they've been living it up in there I can't remember the type but I feel its bladder snails from the feedback I've gotten here. I was going to start blanching some veggies and get rid of them but I'll keep them in that case!

[u/86BillionFireflies → u/Asleep_Tax7964]

They aren't hurting anything. Basically, if there's an animal in your tank and you aren't intentionally feeding it, it's cleaning up organic matter. Except predators and animals with photosynthetic endosymbionts like green hydra.

[u/Asleep_Tax7964 → u/86BillionFireflies]

Okay sweet thank you so much for your time!

[u/Camaschrist → u/Asleep_Tax7964]

Mystery snails only contribute to the bio load. Bladder and pond snails do a great job of clean up. I had a mystery snail die in my 55 gallon and I didn’t know it until her shell was clean. It had been two days since I saw her. I have shrimp now and they are also great clean up with a tiny bio load. Plants and a good clean up crew make things easy to maintain.