massive overfeed

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

serafino

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
My stupid mom was left in care of my 10 gallon nano this weekend while I had to go away. I gave here specific instructions on what to do. I had checked everything right before I left so she wouldn't have to check the water quality. She gave a whole cube of krill shrimp every night for three nights in a row. There was so much algae when I got back and a whole bunch of decaying krill at the bottom of my tank. I did a 50% water change. My ammonia meter hasn't gone off yet fortunately and my nitrates and nitrites are fine. I siphoned off the crap from the bottom but there is still a whole bunch left that I couldn't get to. My tank still looks nasty. What kind of snail/shrimp should I get to clean this mess up. I'm planning on 3 margarita snails for the algae but what should I get for the uneaten decaying krill. I imagine my nitrates will dramatically rise soon once they start to decay a little more. Argh stupid moms well I can't really say that since its mother's day but still I'm pissed.
 
lesson learned?

never ever let a non hobbyist look after your tank
 
should have just not fed them for 3 days or just had her feed one day out of 3
 
I would take a powerhead and just move it around by the rock to blow out some of the food and what not. This will make your tank a bit dirty, but if you did a WC afterward, i think its a better idea then leaving the food in the tank. Just dont do to much disturbing, as this could cause an increase in ammonia anyways. So just a quick once around on the rock and a WC and you should be in good shape.
 
Awesome I just did the powerhead thing an added the use of a net to trap debris. I also replaced some water and my filter. Things are looking much better now. The stupid store still doesn't have margaritas so I'm gonna wait to buy some instead of buying them from the unreliable store. Thanks for all of you help guys!
 
no problem. Two snails should be fine. I would get 2-4 hermits as well, and when the tank is further along some peppermint or skunk cleaners will work very well for cleaning up around the sand. The two i have hardly spend any time on the rock, because there always looking for food, so i have a decently clean tank without having to siphon any left overs out.
 
I got some money today because I did a little work for my mom lol. I got 1 peppermint shrimp and 3 hermit crabs which adds on to my existing hermit crab, skunk shrimp, yellowtail blue damsel, torch coral, fox coral, turbo snail, and a pyramid snail. My tank is starting to look very very lively. I couldn't buy any more snails because the only reliable sw lfs was out of them. I'll buy some more when they get them in stock. I'll post pics soon.
 
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