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Darth Mollusk

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  1. Darth Mollusk
    @Chick-In-Of-TheSeawhy thank you for asking! 🐌 The snaibies are now big enough to get stuck in the turkey baster. 😅 There are a couple babies that managed to escape to the larger tank during a water change, and they actually seem to be thriving. So, I've moved about half from the nursery to the main tank. Some are as big as a pea, others are quite small (I wonder if the ones who are still quite small just aren't going to make it? Because so far, I haven't had anywhere near the numbers of die-offs my research led me to expect). Most seem to be jade or blue, but it's odd because the same snail will look blue one second and jade the next. 🤷‍♂️ They're busy at work, cleaning off the Amazon swords. I love watching them they're so dang CUTE
  2. Darth Mollusk
    Yeah! Especially now my local fish store has to charge $13 for one of these guys !😆
  3. Darth Mollusk
    I nearly had a heart attack when I saw some sort of interloper in my tank. But no! My favorite fish, my panda corys, managed to breed without me noticing. I'm guessing most got gobbled up by the rasboras, but at least one survived. It's about the size of one of their tail fins and cute as a button. And nearly impossible to photograph 😆 But here is my best college try.
  4. Darth Mollusk
    I've been growing some plants emersed to great success: pothos, peace lily, and polka dot plant. So, I swung by the nursery to see what they had, and found this Alternanthera brasilia (or possibly dentata or bettzickiana, idk). Breaking with the alliteration trend, but oh well. Genus name rang a bell, so I'd assumed it was one of the ones I'd come across in my research. But then I realized: the reason it sounded familiar was because of the known-to-be aquatic plant, Alternanthera reineckii! Forget emmersed--I'm wondering how this thing would do submersed. That's not entirely true: but I do wonder how it'd do emersed 😆. From what I saw of the genus on Wikipedia, it contains both terrestrial and aquatic species. I'm going to assume this one is not aquatic. Anybody have experience with this particular plant? Any luck converting it to grow out of an aquarium/riparium? From what little I've found, it will root in water. I'm just not sure it'll last long term. It does need a lot of light, and I'm not sure my hygger splashing on the roots will cut it. But considering I can't keep a plant alive outside an aquarium, I may as well give it a shot.
  5. Darth Mollusk
    @Melkor huh! That is very helpful, thank you! I'll try upping the root tabs for the swords and see what changes. Not something I'd even considered! I do want to make sure I've got enough calcium in the water for the mystery snails. @Mmiller2001 Thanks for the information! I don't know about bladder snails. But I want to make sure that ph is at least 7.4 with calcium in the water while the mystery snail babies are developing their first swirls. Thank you again 🐌
  6. Darth Mollusk
    I've added about a lb of crushed coral, some on the substrate, some in the HOB
  7. Darth Mollusk
    Gravel with river rocks, and a smallish piece of drift wood (Maybe five inches high, shaped like a little tree stump. It was boiled for about four hours total and soaked until the water was clear). Three amazon swords, three little cryptocoryne undulata, one anubias, and java moss on the roof of the hobbit house decor. The swords have been growing quite a bit.
  8. Darth Mollusk
    That's exactly the worry. It's possible their recent lethargy is just a coincidence, but I don't want to take that risk. I'm raising snail babies in there, too and want them all healthy and happy. I think I'll try some crushed coral and see how it goes (it'll take a while to show up, so that'll give me time to test more). Thanks!
  9. Darth Mollusk
    @Patrick_G Huh! Interesting! PH isn't something I've been in the habit of testing frequently, to be honest. I usually use the liquid API kit, but just happened to use the strips today. But when I have tested it, I haven't seen it that low. And given the snails are looking less than stellar, I'm worried. This was from a test in the early afternoon. I will try testing a couple different times over the next week and see what shifts turn up, if any. Thanks!
  10. Darth Mollusk
    That was my assumption--good to have it confirmed, thanks!
  11. Darth Mollusk
    I've got a 20 L planted tank that's been doing great for a few months now, so I've stopped testing as frequently. Then, I noticed my two mystery snails slowing down a bit. I sort of figured they were getting up there in age, but checked ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate just in case. All fine. Silly me didn't check the PH for two days , thinking my hard well water wasn't the issue...PH went from about 7.4 to as low as 6.8 (Hard to tell on the strips). 🤦‍♂️ After I finished panicking, I did a 50% water change and now it's back up closer to what I'd expect. These strips are post change. I didn't think to take a photo in the panic stage. Because panic stage. New here means new tank, as opposed to old tank which had the crash. (Aquarium co-op test strips). On the API kit, my water is in that awkward stage straddling regular and high ph range. I have no idea what to make of this hardness reading. 😅 But it's always been like that. What would do this? Decaying plants, maybe? I have a baby snail Snursery in there and feed them zucchini--could that be it? Should I add a buffer? I've got wonder shell in there, but I don't know if that actually does anything. In the tank, I have a breeder box of teeny seed sized snails, two panda corys, three albino corys, two adult mysteries, six Harlequin Rasbora, three neon tetras, bamboo shrimp, and a few ghost shrimp. Fish seem to be okay so far I can see. It's the snails who look stressed. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I've never experienced this before. 🐌
  12. Darth Mollusk
    Just cut it so you can still have a node (the little brow nubs). New roots will shoot off from there. There's little white roots sprouting from the nodes on these after a week of being in the tank. ETA: nodes are usually opposite stem or leaf growth. I try to leave at least three leaves on a cutting; I find it does better, personally. Possibly because it can catch more rays.
  13. Darth Mollusk
    Pea puffers? Lots of personality and on my bucket list.
  14. Darth Mollusk
    @Sandra the fish rookie Your tanks look amazing! All that green must be so soothing. I tried a soap dish off amazon and couldn't get the suction cups to stick for the life of me. 🤦‍♂️ I suspect we're all just resigned to doing top-ups... Even with a tight-fitting lid, the plants are still turning that water into new growth. I suppose if we just did a cup a day or something, maybe it wouldn't seem so laborious? Bit of fish food, splash of water. Not that I would ever count on me to keep up with that. 😅 @Isaac M nice!! I toyed with the idea of substrate--I think some plants would benefit from it. I might get a second of these trays and fill it with something clay or lava rock based and do some plant experimentation. 🧐
  15. Darth Mollusk
    It's a pain. Your routine sounds like mine. Have you tried dipping a rock or slice of zucchini in repashy before it sets? Then voila, "candy" coated sinking things. I got impatient with Repashy clean up, too, but now the snaibies are eating a lot more than they used to and they don't leave much behind. I have not tried the rock coating inside the breeder box, but I have done it for the main tank. Zucchini might be safer for a breeder box? I'll have to experiment myself.
  16. Darth Mollusk
    Hm. It does look like a wee mystery. Could be wild coloring, maybe? An OG snail, if you will?
  17. Darth Mollusk
    @TeeJayOooh nice! I'd never considered inch plant but it would look great with the colors in my tank. Very jealous! I'll have to keep an eye out (and try to limit myself to ONE😆)
  18. Darth Mollusk
    I can't speak to spawning mops, but based on the FAQ on their website, I take it that there is a chemical applied. Though, they are maddeningly vague...proprietary stuff and all that. So, whether it is or is not fish safe, I cannot say. And neither will they 😆. But, if you can find an alternative without these chemicals, that may be better.
  19. Darth Mollusk
    Nice! What plants are you trying out? I've just added a polka dot plant to the peace lily and pothos--still lives!
  20. Darth Mollusk
    I never thought that store would be a danger zone for me, but here we are 😆. "I'll take one of these and one of these and...."
  21. Darth Mollusk
    How exciting! I'm a fan of low-tech, too. And I just got a few more plants I'd been easing from soil to water into the tank today! I can't keep a plant alive unless it's in an aquarium, but these seem to be doing well so far 😆
  22. Darth Mollusk
    Same. I can't keep anything green alive outside an aquarium. 🙈 And, you might be a NERM if..... you wouldn't bat an eye at somebody saying they had to pick up some cyanoacrylate for their epiphytes.
  23. Darth Mollusk
    In my 20 long ("The Shire") I've just got gravel. My Amazon swords and cryptocorynes do really, really well. They just need root tabs added. I had gravel on hand when setting up, and I hadn't known about the wonderful world of the fancier substrates. Once I learned more, I debated switching out the substrate for something more expensive and designed for plants. Then I realized that would be silly. All my plants do amazing in than tank, why change what isn't broken? I can't speak to dwarf sag, but crypts and swords can do great in gravel in my experience. I believe Cory posted a YouTube video saying much the same. I'm also running a crappy, 15+ year old fluorescent bulb, but here we are with lush growth 🤷‍♂️ If you want to do gravel, you can absolutely find plants that will do well in gravel. Most of the plants you listed do! (Again, I haven't grown dwarf sag so I couldn't say either way) It's a modest little hole in the ground of a tank, but my snails find it cozy and it's home 😆. (Also, I just had to move my cryptocorynes so they're mad at me🤦‍♂️)
  24. Darth Mollusk
    @Odd Duck oh, wow! Neat! I don't know if my eyes are too reliable, but it looks to me like mostly jade, blue--maybe purple. Considering the parentage, that makes sense! Yeah, your snello sounds like my snello. After I lost a neon who'd been chowing on snello to bloat (presumably), I made the switch to repashy with added calcium carbonate powder. It's easier, and I trust it more. If I feel the need, once I've got the snails-only tank going, I might try snello-craft again. I do go through a lot of eggs, so it was nice to be able to reuse them, but the calcium carbonate powder has been so much nicer to use. Everyone in the tank goes nuts over it.
  25. Darth Mollusk
    @Chick-In-Of-TheSea I don't know what I'd do without Ol' Reliable, the turkey baster. 😆 They just got fed some calcium-enhanced repashy, so I'm sure I'll be using it soon. They hatched June 15th! 🥳 (there's another clutch on the glass I'm leaving to its own devices until it's ready to hatch; the tank is pretty humid, and the snails seem to know where to lay at this point. They've certainly had enough practice to get it right. 🤦‍♂️😂) Yeah....sorry about that XD
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