How Much Bioload To Shrimp And Snails Add?

flix_cw · May 2, 2010

I've just discovered in my main tank that one of my danios has camallanus worms. I had it months ago and thought i'd got rid of the problem, however some larvae must have prevailed, since i've not andded any new fish.

Anyhoo, i'm going to treat it again with Sera Nematol, and since this med is not tolerated by invertebrates, i'm going to have to take out my shrimp and nerite snail.

I have a small QT tank, but it currently contains about 20 10week old danio fry with a sponge filter. The question is, will adding 3 cherry, 2 amano shrimp and a zebra nerite increase the bioload enough to trigger an ammonia spike and endanger my fry?

Also, two side questions, since my fry tank is pretty much bare, should i chuck in a bit of plant material for the shrimp or will they be ok perched on a plastic plant for awhile?

And also, i have quite a colony of malaysian trumpet snails and ramshorns in my tank, does anyone with experience with sera nematol know if it will completely wipe these out? I'm slightly concerned about rotting snails and ammonia again...

Any advice appreciated!

Tacklebury · May 2, 2010

I have hundreds if not thousands of shrimp in my 240.

They don't seem to add much of a load, if anything they clean the tank, constantly!

flix_cw · May 2, 2010

Anyone with any more advice?

I really need to get this treated and to know if its ok to go ahead with it.

fett999 · May 2, 2010

the shrimps won't really add to the bioload so they should be fine.
The snails i don't know much about really but i wouldn't think that they'd add to the load either but you may want to wait to hear from someone with more knowledge on that one.

yabadaba · May 2, 2010

Well I sincerely hope snails don't add much to the bioload 'cos I've got about a million trillion dillion of the bl!*dy things in my 35L shrimp tank

flix_cw · May 3, 2010

Cool ok, so i guess my fry will be ok!

Anyone know about pest snails dying? Is that gonna cause big ammonia problems?

Gilli · May 3, 2010

Are you guys sure about the shrimp not adding to the bio load? The only reason im questioning this is because I have 2 x ammano shrimp on their own in a tank and I can never get over just how much poop they produce - by the end of the week when its time for a water change and vac it is an unbelievable ammount for just 2!