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Chick-In-Of-TheSea

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Everything posted by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

  1. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    How’s our boy Punk doin?
  2. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Shrimps vs dragonfruit stick
  3. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Update to original post: after the 2 phased approach I rinsed the snail in tank water, then submerged him in a cup of tank water. I observed for 2 hours (this was DIFFICULT; I kept worrying I’d see movement or a feeler pop out, etc. every time I went to check). However, that did not occur and I was able to confirm the process was effective.
  4. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Taco Bell?
  5. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    I might have to split the cultures again; there are so many!
  6. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
  7. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    If you are a snail lover, you may want to click away. If you keep snails, you may want to read this. My mystery snail has been noticeably sick. It has not been able or willing to release air, and it has not eaten or moved in about 4 days. I have situated it on top of leaves from overgrown plants that are so tall they lay on the water’s surface. Every day I’ve been checking on it and trying to hand feed, to no avail. Today I checked on it and it has lost 25% of body mass (I can see gaps around its body in the shell). It is moving, barely. When I see a loss of body mass like this, I know the snail is at the end of its life. I have used clove oil in the past on snails, but the snails I knew were already dead - I was just going through extra precautionary measures. But this snail has “some” life in it, albeit very poor quality life. I began to look up some information again on the use of clove oil for snails. I found conflicting information. Some claim it sedates the snail. Others claim it kills the snail. Here is a paper I found on euthanasia of land snails. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5029829/ While it does not specifically mention clove oil, it does provide the results of several experiments. For one, beer. Beer was used to attempt euthanasia of snails, and snails gave no response afterward when poked with a needle. However, after a rinse in Ro water and being left alone, the snails began moving around after a period of time! “All snails recovered within 2 h and climbed out of the culture dish” So, that’s one example of a failed experiment. A successful experiment, well two of them, used ethanol 70% and ethanol 95%. The snails did not recover after being transferred out. Hence, my little guy in the clove oil solution, while I researched further was floating, floating.. I left him there 1 hour. I ran out to buy the 70% ethanol - I got 70% Ethyl Rubbing Alcohol for this purpose. When I transferred my little friend from the clove oil solution, he was hanging out of the shell and had produced mucus. During his time in the clove oil, he defecated as well, not right away but at some point during that hour. I returned from the store with the ethanol and placed him in a condiment cup then submerged him in the 70% ethanol. It was not until this stage that he released all the air he was holding, and he sank. Therefore, I am convinced that clove oil alone does NOT kill snails. It may look like it does, but I believe it is ONLY a sedative. I am going to use the 2 phased approach going forward to ensure completion. This is unbelievably sad to write about my pet who I love so much; harder still to observe it and play God. It’s just awful. But I think it is necessary to post this to inform other hobbyists who may have a snail that is suffering. This raises questions for me as well such as clove oil being used to euthanize fish. Has anyone ever transferred their fish back to tank water and waited for a response after the clove oil process? And I wonder what would have happened.
  8. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Geppetto is now at a level 1 salt. The shrimps and the MTS don’t mind it. In fact, the MTS came out more. I read a comment somewhere earlier today that they can live in brackish water too. Interesting. As well as in radioactive substances. (Jk) The white spot on Geppetto’s head seems neither better nor worse. I wonder if he bonked it on that decoration in there trying to catch a shrimp. It is not sharp, but I think it’s possible and now it’s a little infected. He is in good spirits with plenty of exercising all over his tank, so I’m not overly worried. It does not look like ich but maybe fungal; not sure. Tannins are pretty dark now vs the previous pic I had posted: the combo of several large catappa leaves and rooibos. The shrimps are enjoying the catappa for lunch too, lol. You know I’ve been seeing shrimplets in there as well. In the 5.5g the ember tetras are doing well but there is an unsightly brown soft algae that has developed on the sand, the anubias, and the walls. I cleaned up the walls and did a siphoning which helped. The anubias don’t look that great (yellowing) but I hesitate to put any more fertilizer due to the algae. I could also tell these fish were uncomfortable with very little hiding space. I did like the scape and it was different than my norm, but I need to do better for them. I took one lava rock out and I floated a long plastic plant in there. They were instantly weaving in and out of the plant, and I could tell they like that. I feel like I need to revamp the tank again and take the rocks out in favor of more live plants. I may just take the route I have in the past by submerging some pothos vines. They hold up for a long time submerged and there is nothing to buy. Also my pothos plant needs a trim.
  9. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    I figured! Haha
  10. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    @Colu
  11. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    epistylis
  12. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Ok I got the Kasa wifi timer hooked up and connected to the app, and I got the water change done. I dropped some pellets in for Geppetto and I noticed something on his head. Now he’s been known to adorn himself with a sand grain on occasion or a piece of algae he swam under. Hoping this is the case, but not sure so I put 2 big leaves in there and a rooibos tea bag. I couldn’t remember what salt level would be safe for the shrimps so I didn’t add salt. I tucked the leaves into plants to keep them underwater. It’s looks weird but oh well. It is ok for now
  13. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Boy it has been an interesting couple of days. I landed a new job but could not start it Monday due to illness (ya know, the one that turned 2020 into a dumpster fire. This is my first time experiencing it). So I will start next week. Since Friday I’ve been in bed most of the time. I do have small bits of energy at times and can get tiny things done, like changing the water in the bird bath and feeding the wildlife. Then I have to rest again because I get winded. I’ve been relying on Repashy to primarily feed my snail friends and pleco. I drop this in in the middle of the night because I usually wake up at 3am for some reason. During the day I give the fish live worms. I have to tend to the cultures anyway which I’ve been doing with just flake food, and the colonies are healthy and active. None of the fish have made any complaints about this diet thus far. I sat down at the table after a feeding yesterday and saw the pristellas doing a mating dance. Always fun to see. They do it when they have food they really love. Today my HOB was not working. Instead of a waterfall I had a slight glistening on the outflow. 🙄 We took on a roommate (temporarily) who had filled up the sinks and countertops with dirty dishes while I slept 🙄🙄 so I took the HOB outside and hosed it out. I got after the impeller with the toothbrush and now it is working, but I’m tired. I managed to unload the dishwasher and free up one sink so I can get to some water that I can temp control. I plan to do a water change next. I usually do it Sunday, but I let it go since the nitrates were 20. It’s unsightly is all, due to Flint, but hey. He’s so handsome right? He was flaring again the other day 😍. In all his glory. He also is well aware of the food dish and has been more forthcoming to participate when room service arrives. Anyway, what with the HOB situation, I feel it’s not right for my animals if I put off the water change any longer. I just need to ensure I keep my buckets light (2gal) and just do more trips so I do not overexert. I usually just change 5gal. I have a 29gal tank but with the deep substrate 5gal seems to be 25% if we divide the tank horizontally into 4 sections, from substrate to water line, which is never at the rim so the snails can go up and lay their eggs. Taking a little tea break now and then I will get started. I will get the new water ready first so I can just stand in one spot and get everything done at once. I had another kasa wifi timer come in which maybe I can setup for my HOB before I get started. So there is no more plugging and unplugging going forward. That will be handy. And I don’t even think I would need to use the app for this one. I just want to push the button when it’s maintenance time. Easy peasy.
  14. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    I have a Walstad jar which had a nice colony of bladder snails. I decided to remove the rosette sword which was self propagating and getting shaded out by other plants. Doing so disrupted the dirt layer and caused all the bladder snails to die… For this reason, I would not ever recommend a rescape on a FF or Walstad method setup.
  15. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    *waiting for Froggin photo*
  16. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Visitor: what is that worm thing? Me: Hmm? What worm thing? Visitor: On that vegetable. Omg! It’s a giant worm thing! Gross! What IS THAT?!?? Me: That’s a plant weight. 🙄
  17. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
  18. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Aw rats! Sorry @Guppysnail
  19. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    This wall is delicious
  20. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Have you officially phased out all of the UGFs at this point?
  21. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    The plecos are just darling. ❤️ The tannins looks awesome in the blackwater tank. Are you just doing wood & leaves? I cheat with organic rooibos tea bag left in tank overnight.
  22. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Most epic waterfall ever
  23. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    I got carried away. Sorry! #rude
  24. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    You got a new pup @nabokovfan87?
  25. Chick-In-Of-TheSea
    Bolivian rams are social and he is probably presenting his good eye simply because he wants to see you. Please let him know I still think he’s very handsome. Maybe you can do the IAL tea and raw IAL since they have antifungal and antibacterial properties. Plus they can be used with other meds if you should decide to try any. Has anyone diagnosed this as popeye yet? Per the chart Maracyn “TWO” is the treatment. But I’m no expert so I’d get a second opinion, of course. Seems we all have the same conclusion @xXInkedPhoenixX? Ha @Colu I think we were typing the same thing at the same time 😄
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