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bioload in regards to snails & shrimp

Discussion in 'Invertebrates' started by eeyipes, Jul 2, 2008.

  1. eeyipes

    eeyipes Thread Starter New Member

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    Bioload, Snails and Shrimp

    Just a random thought ... we all know that a each tank has it's bioload limits, eg number of fish it can support. People are always asking "how many fish in my x gallon tank?" but what about snails, inverts, etc? Does a handful of ramshorns, shrimp or other tiny cleaners add to the bioload with their waste, subtract from it for their cleaning abilities, or are they a wash?
     
    eeyipes, Jul 2, 2008
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  2. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    That's a really interesting question. I've honestly never heard anyone ask this before and I'm not sure of the answer. Generally when people talk about bioload they only consider the fish in the tank, they don't count inverts.

    Thinking about it I'd say that they do add to the bioload. Take snails for example. They'll eat algae, leftover food and plant matter. Their waste puts increased strain on the bioload. If you didn't have the snails you'd just have the algae, rotting food and dead plants which shouldn't have any effect on the bioload of the tank because they don't produce ammonia.

    Does that make sense to you also ?
     
    Anthony, Jul 2, 2008
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  3. eeyipes

    eeyipes Thread Starter New Member

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    Ah, but I think the dead plant matter, excess rotting food, etc also produces ammonia, does it not?

    My thought was that as long as the snails and such are simply living off the waste of the aquarium, and you are not adding additional food just to feed them, then their population should be in balance with availability of food. And since the waste coming out of a small snail is probably less than the waste that went in, then perhaps they are a negative bioload. And so having a hundred or so trumpet snails buried in your sand might help to dispose excess waste, maintain healthier plant roots and thus healthier plants, and therefore hopefully decrease tank pollution. Kind of like the way earthworms are good for the garden?

    All just purely hypothetical of course.

    So, what's for lunch? lol
     
    eeyipes, Jul 2, 2008
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  4. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    I have a headache LoL but now that you mention it I think rotting food does produce a small amount of ammonia. I still don't think plants do though.

    If a snail consumed more ammonia producing matter than it gave off then it would obviously create a negative bioload effect. I'm not sure if that happens or not.

    I had a sandwich :p
     
    Anthony, Jul 2, 2008
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  5. dig317537

    dig317537 New Member

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    i think because of the snails eating the excess waste, the snail's waste become food for bacteria that converts it into nitrate(or nitrites forget which is better) which of course is consumed by plants so guess their bioload would be less but not negative because they still produce waste but it just easier for bacteria to break it down. well i think that makes sense
     
    dig317537, Jul 6, 2008
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