Fish Sick? New Tank

[Dr1_veR]

Hi All

First of all big thanks to all you helping me with my First tank. Had quite abit of advise from this forum and its really helped.
I own a small 17L freshwater tropical tank. it has 2 plants and a java fern in it. Temp kept at around 78f and pH 7.5.
i let the tank cycle for 1 month. during the cycling a random snail turned up. then after that i added my 4 Harlquin Rasboras.
a week later i added 3 snails.

couple of questions for you.

1) one of my Harlquins has got a white spot on its lip? can anyone tell me what it is? it is acting normal and feeded and chasing the other around.
I had quite a build up of alge but the snails now seem to be taking care of it
Can anyone tell me if its somthing serious and if so how can i treat it?
ive tried to take a photo but my camera cant focus that small... heres an attempt.



2) What type of snails have i got! i know i should have know this when buying but the guy at the shop said theyd do the job and i forgot to ask what type they are!?
are they gonna be happy in my tank?
These are the ones ive bought... One is black and white striped but i think its the same species




And this is the one that spawned during the cycling? what type is it and is it goona do any damage to the tank and/or fish & other snails?





Any help with these questions would be great guys and gals



- Graham

 

[waterdrop]

That looks like a spot of fungus perhaps from a cut on the lip. Post in the emergencies section and also keep an eye here for advice. Keep up your water changes. WD

 

[Dr1_veR]

Panic averted. seems to have gone now. mustve just been from a scrap.

id stil like to know what types of snails are in my tank?

 

[waterdrop]

I know there are TFF'ers out there that know their snails, its just a matter of some of them seeing your query. Personally I'm not a good one for that as tired years ago of snails after being overrun in some of the tanks that filled my basement. It got to be a tiring extra maintenance chore doing all the things to cut down the snail populations. But I can certainly appreciate the beauty of some snails and don't hold anything against them, they are basically harmless and sometimes helpful to a small extent. WD

 

[karin]

Your bigger snails are Nerite snails and do a great job. One thing though. Sometimes they go a bit dormant and look dead, but stick them in a corner or by a plant and they will soon be back at it. Just a note as I accidently murdered one because I thought it was dead and then the other went dormant and I stuck it under a plant and a day later it was motoring around. Oh and these will not reproduce in your tank. They need brackish water for that. BUT they will lay eggs here and there, little seasame type things.

The other snail is a malaysian trumpet snail, abbreviated here MTS. These are also great with keeping a tank clean but some people experience them breeding out of control. So keep your fish feeding in check so there is not much left over for these guys or they will ramp up their reproduction.

Have fun. I love my snails.