We're all bound to have experiences involving pests at some point. Whether it's due to poor upkeep, new fish/plants, or buying used equipment, pests abound and are always ready to sneak up on you. If you've been keeping up, I've been battling with/battled with: cyanobacteria, algae, snails, hydra, ich...No one's perfect, and these pests are just waiting for you to make a mistake...
1. Snails.
If you buy live plants, you're bound to encounter snail eggs at some point. I discovered baby snails crawling along my tank glass a month ago...at first I thought it was algae or a speck of dirt...but nope, they were moving little sluggers. Some people like snails. Snails clean up uneaten food and algae. But boy do they multiply! One snail can turn into two, then four, then...hundreds of little babies everywhere. Beware!
Suggestion: bleach dip new plants and rinse them well to remove snail eggs. Don't be stupid like me and rinse plants under really hot water: it'll shock the plants and kill 'em!! Remove snail babies as soon as you see them so they don't multiply. Keep your gravel vacuumed and clean so potential snails have less to feed on.
Some fish like loaches LOVE to munch on snails....or you can buy pesticide for snail control, but chemicals may harm fish/bacteria/plants..
2. Hydras
These little critters are almost impossible to spot since they are so tiny and white/clear. They basically hook onto your tank glass and sway with the current. Hydras kind of look like tiny dandelion seeds about the size of a pen tip. They congregate in patches/masses and if you pay close attention, you can seem them. They have teeny little tentacles that'll give your fish a teeny little shock. I think they eat fish fry?
Suggestion: lower your lighting, feeding, and scrub your tank glass more often! I scrubbed my glass really well just once, and they never reappeared again. Apparently some fish eat hydras. Hmm.
3. Planaria
Again, teeny little pesty worms. They are very thin and white and sometimes you seem them inch along the tank glass. Fish will eat them, so it's not really that much of a pest I guess...BUT, they are indicators of poor water conditions with too much uneaten food...so lower your feeding amounts! Some say they might attempt to eat fish eggs/fry....
4. Cyanobacteria
I'm battling with this right now! Some people call it smear algae/blue-green algae/red-black algae...but it's really a type of bacteria! It multiples at an insane rate and is VERY hard to get under control. It will suffocate plants and coat leaves so the plants will rot and die back. Too much of it will also be toxic to fish. It'll stink and ruin your tank's pristine appearance. It also will cover absolutely EVERYTHING. Yikes! It looks like blue/green/red/brown algae patches, but you know it can't be algae because it grows SO DARN FAST. Also, it's super slimy and slippery to the touch, and takes a bit more scraping action to remove.
Suggestions: Maracyn/ Erythromycin antibiotics will cure it in about a week. Or you can do it the old fashioned way: TONS of scubbing and daily water changes, lower feedings.
5. Diatoms
Brown or yellow/gold "algae". Again, diatoms are really microorganisms that photosynthesize. Sometimes you only see patches here and there, other times, it dominates the tank. Diatoms appear due to poor, unstable water conditions and excess nutrients/waste.
Suggestions: algae eating catfish, snails will eat diatoms. Introducing other live plants as competition reduces spreading of diatoms. Complete the nitrogen cycle and do more frequent water changes!
6. Rotting Plants
If you've ever tried keeping live plants, you'll have experienced the horror of constantly cleaning filter intakes and netting out rotting plants. Usually, plants die from temperature shock, poor water conditions or insufficient lighting. It's all fine and dandy for beginner plants, but plants that have fine needles are a total nightmare. I used to have cabomba and hornwort. Fine needles = disaster. Unless specific conditions are met, these needles coat everything and fall and rot everywhere. It's nasty. I made the mistake of rinsing hornwort under very HOT water to rid snail eggs....I plopped it into the tank and the needles just shed and shed and shed...until I just had to chuck it. I love cabomba but its needles too, shed like mad. You'd think it was a pine tree after Christmas.. Rotting creates a ton of waste and pollutes the water. Sucks really.
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