|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 16, 2016 10:28:40 GMT
As i said i saw tiny critters in the tank but they were black/grey. Now i wanted to clean out some poo and i saw that there were a few running around on one of the snails shell!! I took him out and washed the snail off under some running water. Then i checked an other one to see if he has them to and there i saw one of those white ones! I don't know if they are the same species but different color? What to do now? I get suspicious that they came in with the moss...
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 16, 2016 12:32:59 GMT
I made a video where you can see it running around. I'm not sure it it's really white as white as snow. It looks more beige maybe? It's hard to see because it runs so fast. I wasn't able to take any picture. It runs around on the snail but briefly also on my tank wall.
best to watch it fullscreen to see it crawling since it's soooo tiny.
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 16, 2016 14:56:24 GMT
Well i'm not going to take chances that they will be the bad mites and harm my snails, especially now with the baby snail tank. I bought some of these Hypoaspis Miles in the local garden center. They will be here next saturday. I'm really considering replacing the plants with fake plants or maybe reduce the number of plants in there. Maybe that's easier to clean in cases like this. Because, i have no idea what to do with the plants in there. I can't really boil those to sterilize them... But on the other hand they really seem to enjoy the tank the way it is now. Does anyone have any idea how to sterilize the moss? If i boil that, won't it die?
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 18, 2016 20:54:45 GMT
If anyone reads this... I wonder if it's ok to put some of these hypoaspis miles in my baby snail tank? I haven't seen these little white mites in there but maybe i'm overlooking them. Are they safe to use with a 2 weeks old baby snails? If so, i will put some in there just in case...
|
|
|
Mites!!!!
Jul 19, 2016 20:03:54 GMT
via mobile
Post by etana on Jul 19, 2016 20:03:54 GMT
So sorry! I've been reading all along but waiting for someone more knowledgeable on mites to chime in. Well, here's my thoughts, I still hope there will be a second opinion.
On the video it does quite look like the Riccardoella to me as it's fat, white, and runs fast and zig-zaggy. AFAIK the Hypoaspis will get rid of any harmful bugs, so it's good you got them. I haven't heard of them ever harming snails, only annoying them a bit as they are willing to go hunt the parasitic mites in the snail's lung cavity.
Best of luck :/
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 19, 2016 20:52:57 GMT
Thanks I will get them saturday so till then they will have to bare the creepy critter mites. For now they don't seem to be bothered by them much. I check them multiple times a day to see what they are doing. One snail did sleep more than normal but they are not retracted deep in their shell. I got some fake plants today and planning on replacing all living plants so the tank is easier to clean in the future and to prevent other pests or trouble. I was thinking that maybe one of the snails had eggs in them from that slug mite and they only recently hatched or something. Because i checked them when i caught them, i checked them in the tanks. This was the first time i saw these white mites. I rinse my food well before placing it in there. So either they came with a snail, the moss or the plants. It can be very well be that they were in a snail. Last week i found a really pretty one in my garden. When i picked it up, the snail was deep in it's shell and covered with these mites.
|
|
|
Post by GrandTouringShell on Jul 20, 2016 20:17:31 GMT
Sorry to hear about the mites, but it's situations like this that always remind me to bake my soil, even when I feel too lazy to do it! You can't really bake moss, but there may be other solutions to treat it such as the Hypoaspis miles you're using.
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 20, 2016 21:20:02 GMT
You mean you bake your soil before putting it in? I use these coco bricks that need to add water and they become soil. Aren't those safe to use without baking? I'm planning on removing most of the moss. I've seen a lot of sprintails took it as their home. The moss is rinsable so i think i will wash it very very very well. These Hypoaspis will probably eat what ever is left i assume. I read they also eat springtail and nematodes.
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 20, 2016 21:21:45 GMT
Tomorrow i will be taking them out to a smaller tank. Wash them first and the stuff that will go in the small tank. A bit of shelter and that's it for now. Then i will empty the big tank. Remove the soil, wash the other stuff, wash the tank. On friday i will fill it up again so they can move in saturday when i have the Hypoaspis miles.
How many of the Hypoaspis should i add? It's a 60x30x30 cm tank. Can i add them in my baby snail tank. They are 2 weeks old and i want to be sure that they don't have these mites. Haven't seen any in there so far and the little ones seem ok. I placed them in an other room to be sure the pest won't spread to their tank. The rest of the Hypoaspis will go to my mom. Her chickens have blood lice so the package isn't wasted for the amount that i don't use. It's a 10 000 package.
|
|
|
Post by GlitterBug on Jul 20, 2016 22:42:39 GMT
Springtails are fine to have in your tank, they eat the snail poop! Also the Hypo mites will die out if there is nothing to eat and thus having springtails in the tank is a good idea because the springtails breed like mad (So lots of food to keep the Hypo mites alive. They live just under the soil so when you put them in make sure they are covered up and they will do their work They have been great for clearing out my gnat problem because I've tones of little fly larve and I panicked and thought they were Nematodes
|
|
|
Post by etana on Jul 21, 2016 9:10:51 GMT
You mean you bake your soil before putting it in? I use these coco bricks that need to add water and they become soil. Aren't those safe to use without baking? I use the coconut bricks (compressed coir) too. They are supposedly sterile to begin with, but just to be sure, I always use boiling water to expand them.
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 21, 2016 9:17:55 GMT
You mean you bake your soil before putting it in? I use these coco bricks that need to add water and they become soil. Aren't those safe to use without baking? I use the coconut bricks (compressed coir) too. They are supposedly sterile to begin with, but just to be sure, I always use boiling water to expand them. Ah ok, i can do that. I have a small water boiler i can use for that. Thanks for the idea
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 21, 2016 15:38:32 GMT
Ok 2 snails have moved. They are in their new container. While removing the soil from the tank i found an other batch of eggs in the proces of hatching!!! This just can't be. I checked last week! The only thing i can come up with is that the super warm weather of the past week made them lay more eggs + made them hatch faster. The 2 batches i had to start with only hatched after like almost 2 weeks. And then i wanted to move my snail Rosa to the new tank, she was actually in the act of providing me with even moooooore snails. So she is now in a small plastic tub. When she is finished she can meet the others. The hatching eggs and the fresh ones will unfortunately be moved outside in my garden. I'll dig them a hole and place them there. So here they are in their new temporary tank (on the left next to their many many many offspring's, only even half of them)
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 21, 2016 15:41:32 GMT
Oh and yeah, forgot to mention my little problem. My big snail is sleeping on the top of the tank. I tried to get him off gentle but i can't move him at all. I tried to mist him (a lot) but he still didn't move. Soooo i'm going to let him come down on his own. I put a piece of cucumber in to trap him.
|
|
|
Post by eibhlin on Jul 22, 2016 6:54:52 GMT
The big one is waking up slowly. I hope he comes down on the cucumber because i need to clean the tank today. Is it ok to was it out with a bit of ecover dishsoap? The tube says it's not harmful on water life so i assume it's not poison? I use it to clean out my cat stuff as well for that reason. So after cleaning i want it to air out a bit and then by tonight fill it up again.
|
|