Hey so I’ve never even posted on Reddit before so forgive me if I do or say anything wrong but either way I’ve never kept and aquarium before but I’ve always been interested in terrariums especially ones with water features and so when for the past 6-8 months or so my little brothers aquarium has gone untouched I seized my chance to finally start to explore something I’ve always had a slight interest in. He had a single pet snail that I believe was a mystery snail? And soon there was a million and they still lived in there albeit at much lower numbers with the original snail and the second snail(it only gave birth to one at first) passing. After buying some driftwood and getting it delivered today I finally took apart and cleaned the old one saving all the snails I could in the process, I have some java moss and Lilacina coming soon though to be honest I don’t know entirely what Lilacina is I thought it was ludwiga at the time I also am ordering some testing strips hornwort, red root floaters and Java ferns this being the CN10 too fin corner tank and all its only six gallons and not much space I honestly just hope to keep the snails and cherry shrimp in here maybe get some neon tetras and maybe a beta or two maybe three male guppies. Honestly I know I’m missing a lot and prolly have already messed up but if anyone can give some advise that would be extremely helpful
Posted by MathematicianTrue319
6 Comments
tank is definitely too small for all the fish that you want in there. if you want a betta, no more fish. only snails with him/her. i wouldn’t put more than 2-3 guppies in there personally, or probably no more than a small school of tetras (3-5)
How many gallons is the tank? What kind of substrate are you planning to put in there? Have you started cycling it yet? Do you have a filter & heater?
Also, dump the test strips. They’re not that accurate. I would invest in a freshwater test kit. API has a good one.
Hello! Mystery snails typically lay egg sacs above the water. Sounds like it could’ve been a larger live bearing snail like a white wizard or an assassin, otherwise could’ve been a smaller ‘pest snail’ like ramshorns, bladder and pond snails, Malaysian trumpet snails, etc. no way of knowing without any picture of them honestly.
Six gallons is perfect for smaller snail species, most freshwater shrimp, or a male betta with long flowey fins! As long as the water is heated, parameters in check, and water is oxygenated I don’t see why this tank would be an issue. Bettas don’t do well with a curved glass, it distorts their vision, but I’ve seen people keep bettas in corner tanks like this. Make sure there’s a lot of plants for your shrimp to hide in so they don’t become snacks.
As for the shrimp, they tend to like an established tank so they have plenty of things to graze on. This means 6 months – 1 year or more established, although it’s not unheard of for people to start a shrimp only tank. Just make sure you google what the nitrogen cycle is.
You’ll need a liquid test kid, API freshwater masters is what most will recommend as it’s the most accurate. Comes with all the tests you need, an instruction booklet, and a color chart. Make sure to test your water straight from the tap, and test your water after a few days of being in the tank. The pH will be different for both but it gives you good range to start with. You’ll have to manually dose ammonia too, unless you know someone near you with a long established fish tank that can give you some of their filter media/substrate/driftwood to kickstart your tanks bacteria.
This is how the addiction starts, suddenly you’ll have 5 tanks lol.
Some info on cycling your tank which is one of the most important first steps in setting up your aquarium. Here’s a quick guide on what cycling is and how to do it.
1. **What is cycling?** Cycling your aquarium is the process of establishing beneficial bacteria that will help break down waste products like ammonia and nitrites (which are toxic to fish and other creatures) into less harmful nitrates.
2. **Why cycle?** Without cycling, your tank will have dangerous spikes in ammonia and nitrites, which can harm or even kill your snails, shrimp, or fish. The goal is to build a stable, balanced environment before adding any live creatures.
3. **The cycling process:**
* **Set up your tank** with the substrate, decorations (like your driftwood), plants (java moss, hornwort, etc.), and filtration system.
* **Add an ammonia source** to start the cycle. This could be from fish food, a pure ammonia solution, or by adding a couple of hardy fish (though the fishless method is often preferred). Since you have snails coming, I’d recommend cycling without them first to avoid stress and ammonia spikes.
* **Add bacteria in a bottle**: To help speed up the cycling process, you can add a product like Seachem Stability, which contains live nitrifying bacteria. This will help establish the beneficial bacteria faster, cutting down the time it takes to cycle your tank.
* **Test the water** regularly using your test strips or liquid test kit. You’ll track the levels of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
* First, you’ll see ammonia levels rise.
* Then, after a week or two, bacteria will start converting ammonia into nitrites.
* Eventually, nitrites will be converted into nitrates.
* **Wait for the levels to stabilize**. Once you see ammonia and nitrite levels drop to 0 ppm (parts per million) and your nitrate levels rise, your tank is cycled and ready for inhabitants!
4. **Additional tips:**
* **Avoid adding too many creatures at once.** Start with your snails and shrimp, then gradually add fish. Keep in mind that small tanks like yours can be more sensitive to changes in water quality.
* **Keep an eye on water parameters** (pH, temperature, hardness, etc.), especially in a smaller tank like a 6-gallon, as things can shift more quickly.
* **Don’t overcrowd the tank.** With only 6 gallons, you’ll want to limit the number of fish you add, especially the bettas and male guppies, which can be territorial.
How many gallons is it? Just keep in mind to only stock under what is ‘full capacity’ for that size tank. The fish grow. So it might seem fine when initially stocking, but it can quickly become overcrowded. Shrimp at least have like essentially 0 bioload even at hundreds of them. But fish are another story.
In case you didn’t know, since it’s your first time: **you have to cycle the aquarium before adding any livestock**, there should be some great guides on tank cycling. Read up about it, what it is, why it’s harmful, how long it takes (4-6 weeks, how to know when cycling is done, etc. It’ll benefit you and your tank mates in the long run. You can buy beneficial bacteria, like API quick start, but it still takes a couple weeks, if used correctly it only speeds it up – don’t listen to it’s claim that you can add fish immediately, you can’t, and many dead fish would tell you so if they could lol. Grab liquid testing kits (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, gh/kh) and these will help you know when it’s done cycling, and then let you know if you are maintaining the correct parameters after.
Oh, you should typically only have one betta fish in each tank. You can only ever have one male at a time; you can have a couple females but it needs to be a large tank with lots of hiding places to hide away from the other. You should also make sure the other fish types are compatible with betta fish, not all are..
Also, if you’re going to have shrimp I would say no betta fish at all in the tank. Betta are aggressive predatory fish, they will eat your shrimp, and if they don’t eat the adults they’ll 100% eat the babies. You should probably plan on having the betta by itself in it’s own tank, then maybe add a few compatible fish in that tank, then have one for shrimps and tetra (ember are great with neocaridina) or whatever else.
Which brings me to the next thing – any fish you plan on bringing in, you gotta make sure they’re compatible and not predatory for shrimp. Shrimp also have a hard time breeding in water with lots of predators and even more especially with predators and no hiding places.
I would suggest doing extensive research prior to purchasing any livestock so you don’t come across a lot of problems down the road. Best to do your due diligence now, so you have a chance for a successful tank. I spent like a year researching before purchasing anything my first time.
First of all, welcome to the sub and the hobby. There is a LOT of science involved with good aquarium keeping but nothing crazy and it can all be simplified down to some basic things all aquariums need to function. YouTube “the Aquarium nitrogen cycle” before doing anything if you haven’t done so already. You should be adding no fish or shrimp until your tank is cycled, however your snails will likely be just fine as they are the hardiestst of aquatic pets to keep when it comes to most water parameters (assuming your water isn’t too soft).
All you really need to worry about for water boils down to 6 things (no pun intended): amonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, hardness, and temperature.
Shrimps can be quite picky about their water so do the research on them (visit r/shrimptank ). Bettas do best without another betta (they’re called fighting fish for a reason) and some can be angry monsters that kill shrimp for fun or they can be chill af, it depends on the individual fish. 6 gallons is a great place to start for some shrimp OR a single betta OR some few smaller fish that are “true nano fish”, neon tetras not being one of them.
Your snails are likely ramshorn snails if you’ve got loads of them and they’re small with spiral shells. If you’ve got a million mystery snails, that’s a bit of an issue as they can get to be about 2 to 3 inches in size so double check what kind you have (visit r/aquaticsnails ).
The plants you listed are all excellent choices. Make sure your LED light is decent and on a timer for 8-14 hours depending on the plant and algae growth over time (but be mindful of new tank syndrome algae bloom).
Many of the questions you may have, have already been asked and answered several times over on this sub and r/plantedtank . Go to the sub of choice, then enter your question in the search box IN that sub and loads of helpful posts will pop up.
I think i covered the basics. The aquarium hobby is as hard as you make it for yourself. It’s rewarding to watch things grow as it is a patient hobby, not really suited for people in a rush. Take time to learn about the things you put in your tank (and future tanks) and discover the beauty of aquatic life and ecosystems.