Opal Spot (L082) Advice Pls

[DrunkenPanda]

Hi all again. I'm stilling having a bit of a problem with my Opal Spot. After increasing the temp and adding another bit of wood to make more hiding space, the Opal still does not move about a lot day or night and the fishes body is going a odd white colour in sections of the body.

i have no idea if whats happening is normal since little is written online and on planet catfish about this fish. so any help would be great because im worried about my opal spot and so far im also yet to see it feeding.

thanks
drunkenpanda

also on another note any ideas of good ways to rid snails from a tank, because i dont want to use chemcials or anything that will risk the tank of fish.

[DutchFry]

seem like your pleco is stressed. maybe you could dim the lights a bit? or make use of floating plants?

adding rocks and a stronger current could also help. maybe there is too much activity/noise around the tank?

for the snail problem there is a snail killing snail in the market now, it's called Anetome helena. they will eat any sort of snail except the big apple snails (correct word?). when snails are all gone, they will feed on dead plants an algue. and they look really nice too!

[Richard B]

Dutchfry - does it also eat malayan trumpet snails?

[Bas Pels]

if so, I wouldn't mind having one myself - I can put it in another tank when thesnails are gone

[DutchFry]

Dutchfry - does it also eat malayan trumpet snails?

yes they do! in fact, it seems they like trumpet snails the most!

THe Anetome helena breeds relativily easy. it is not cannibalistic, but predates on other types of snails, except for the Ampullariidae (these are what i mean by 'apple snails').

they have this little 'snout' which pops out when trying to feed. with this 'snout' they suck the unlucky snail totally dry, leaving only the shell. it is important that you remove empty shells because they can raise your KH en GH!

you can read more about this beautiful snail on the blog of someone i know:

http://fishaliciousfish.blogspot.com/20 ... snail.html

(hope you understand, my english is not so good, sorry)

[racoll]

DrunkenPanda,

Just had a look at your tank on the MyAquaria.

I think your tank is very light and open, which is why you are not seeing your nocturnal L082.



I'm not exaggerating, but for really good plec tanks where they are confident and active during the day, you need to keep stuffing bogwood into the tank until you can't stuff any more in - all the way up to the surface! You could also do the same with rocks, but these are heavy and you risk smashing the tank if they collapse.

Basically, more decor = happy plecs.

Try feeding these three foods: Hikari algae wafers, frozen bloodworm and frozen prawns. They shouldn't fail.

Keep an eye on the gills to see if there is enough oxygen in the water too.

[loachy_406]

As another idea for snail control you could add some Botiine loaches. They prefer to be in groups of 5 or more and, if there are enough hidey-holes, they are quite active during the day. I never saw my Zebra loaches (Botia striata) eat any snails, but they are all gone except in the internal filter housing.

[loachy_406]

On the subject of the Anetome helena snails, I believe Glenny (in this forum) has some. If you need some information I'm sure he could help you.

These pics are from the thread -> http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=21831

[racoll]

I have a few snails in all my tanks, and they have never been a problem.

In my experience, lots of snails are a good sign of overfeeding. When they don't have much food, they just don't multiply.

[grokefish]

Or alternatively you could get a little specracanthicus friend for your opal spot.

Matt

[grokefish]

Ooops I forgot to say. They eat snails.

Matt