washing up liquid

slt · Sep 15, 2002

while i have been on line today, my son put washing up liquid in my small
tank that i've set up for applesnails, luckally there were none in the tank,
i've emptied it out and rinsed every thing in loads of cold water,
i put a new little sponge filter in the tank i've had this running in a
bucket of cold water to clear it of the liquid, should every thing be ok
it's all had a good rinsing i have set it back up again as i intend to get
the snails this week just wondering if it will be ok, :thumbs:

William · Sep 15, 2002

I know the feeling, once when I was away my sister cleaned my aquarium - very kind of her, however she used washing up liquid and obviously didn't rinse it out well enough because when I got back I was disheartened to see just the shells of snails!!

Applesnails still have a cycle in the tank, however they are very hardy, it has been mentioned that the second stage of the cycle (nitrite -> nitrate) is the most toxic for them but I have no evidence.

I am sure if you have rinsed it out that all will be fine, its better safe than sorry though so if you are unsure maybe a touch more water won't harm it

.

When you get the snails, try and chose ones which you actually see moving. Most shops don't care about applesnails and think they just eat algae, the result is a large number of the applesnails in the tank maybe dead, alternatively you may have a good fish store

Applesnails are very greedy and will eat all the food you give them however its best not to overfeed them during hte cycle as I'm sure you know B)

If I think of anything else to help you I'll say

William

Oh you do know they are air breathers (lungs) so leave an air gap at the top of the tank, for them to come up and get air from

thats also where they will lay their eggs :fun:

.

And it doesn't matter if the food is floating in the tank because they have an amazing way of scooping and sucking it into their mouth, it really has to be seen. :thumbs:

slt · Sep 15, 2002

thanks william, yes i left every thing in running water for a good halfhour,
but i will rinse again just to be on the safe side, i will leave a gap for
the snails to come to breath and maybe lay eggs lol, also i will make
sure i purchase live snails my lfs is good so i should be ok, my son must
have done this because the tank had no fish in, as he loves all animals
and would'nt harm them , what a day none stop lol :lol:

Dragonslair · Sep 15, 2002

Hiya tosh!!
Yes as William says all you can do is rinse out well. What do need to do in cycle again. I pinned a topic some time back from Hagan concerning their good bacteria to start off a new tank. Their reply was unless the conditions are favourable to the good bacteria they won't activate. So you might need to do what William advises.