Darth Mollusk

Agreed. 😆 The other day, a friend told me, "I love how your aquariums feature shrimp and snails, and sometimes have fish" Yes! I really do think of them as the cats of aquariums, and that attitude would be very apt. 😆 Which is odd, considering how many catfish I have...but they remind me more of dogs.

@Guppysnail I'll try that if it comes up, thanks! And I agree; it looks very peaceful @Biotope Biologist Oh, good to know! Thanks! @IanB Looks wonderful!!! Thanks

I have a 29 G with driftwood emerging from the tank (only a couple inches, if that). I love the look, but was wondering if anybody's ever had issues with driftwood breaking from the water? The snail and moss-covered hobbit house aren't relevant. I just like them.

Okay, first things first: I'd do as @Beardedbillygoat1975suggested and observe them at night after the lights go off (and just to check; you don't have blue light running at night, do you? I know some lights do that). It sounds like they likely ate those bloodworms, which is good. I've never fed corys the other foods you mentioned, but I also don't know that they wouldn't take to it. Personally, I feed my bottom dwellers about ten minutes after the lights go off. Good luck!

Would be typical for them to be more active at night. What are you feeding them? @Beardedbillygoat1975The numbers is a good point. I find they do best with at least four in a group. Also second (third?) water movement suggestion from @Fish Folk. Mine love to swim around in the current.

I have corys on gravel and they do fine. They do spend a fair amount of time chillaxing on the bottom. Spit-balling for more info here: Have they been eating so far as you can see? What else do you have in your tank? How small are they?

Thanks! I'll give it another day to be sure. But at this rate, it's growing so fast it's looking like a Little Shop of Horrors situation 😆

I got a red dwarf lily bulb from ACO a couple days ago. I was delighted to see it sprung a few roots. After leaving for just a few hours and coming back, I noticed green shoots, too. But, the thing seems to be sideways. If it were a pyramid, it'd have shoots growing from one face and roots from the other. I'm wondering if I should give it a nudge so the roots are facing the sand, or leave it be? 🤷‍♂️ It's so hard to take good photos of this tank, but the roots (i assume) are growing out the right, and red-tipped green shoots are growing out the left.

My blue has been mounting my magenta and jade snails so often he's been eroding their shells and has been separated. But, I suppose the snails could potentially be laying fertile eggs for months even now he's gone! I incubated one of each of their clutches in some floating tupperware, and both hatched in 12 days. Once they felt brittle to the touch, I crumbled the clutch into a breeder box. While I watched the little snaibies crawl up the sides--alive!--I got a little misty. Wasn't expecting to. They're just so cute! But then, I'm the sort of person who makes snello so maybe I should've expected to get misty 😅. I'd never intended to breed snails, but the local fish store says they'd be happy to take them, and here we are! They're still so small, and every day I wake up, do my maintenance, and marvel that they're still alive. They're too young to show their colors yet, but I can't wait! Their parents have given me so much joy; they've got such great personality. I don't know how many will make it to maturity, and since it's my first time I don't expect a huge success. But they seem to be doing great, and I'm hopeful I'll have a few more mysteries for myself and some more to help pay the fish food bills.

I've heard a lot about pest snail hitchhikers, but less about shrimp! Here's a baby amano hitchhiker I picked up today taking the snail-evator. I fell in love with shrimp after I purchased panda corys and two ghost shrimp came along for the ride. Now, I've got a Singapore, some blue dreams, ghosts, and amanos. I love the Singapore shrimp's little fan hands; it's like he's cheering me on or something (I can dream 😆). Though, he did give me a heart attack when I saw his entire, molted exoskeleton on the gravel; I was so worried until I realized it was hollow. I think the amanos are my favorite to watch. I love seeing them scope out a melee of feeding corys: watching for an opportunity to run down, snatch a crab cuisine pellet, and dart off to his hiding place to enjoy. Whenever they show up to a new tank, I imagine them going, "Ugh! Look at this mess! 😍" and cleaning away. They remind me of little cats, always cleaning themselves and brushing their faces with their little legs. Adorable! And they're such agile swimmers! I hardly ever see the neocaridina in my planted 20 L (there's a good amount of cover). Every few days I'll spot one of them and congratulate them on 1. managing to be alive and 2. their stealth capability. I'm hoping in my newer, more open 29 G they'll be easier to watch and enjoy. (Hopefully, while keeping enough plant cover for them to feel secure.) Tl;Dr I just love shrimp. I think they're neat!

I hadn't thought of philodendron! I'd been considering a small monstera, but I think I'd be struggling to keep everybody fed at that point

Hello! Just signed up for the forum, and thought I'd share my peace lily/pothos storage solution. I got a large suction cup soap tray from a chain hardware store that fits perfectly on the short end of my (newer) 29 g tank. Only the roots are beneath the water, and it's been doing great. It was a very sad, very cheap peace lily from the grocery store but it's perked up. I washed it thoroughly, trimmed most of the roots, and kept it in a bowl of water with EZ-green until I was sure all the dirt was gone. New roots and leaves started growing within a week. Now, it seems like I can't keep my nitrates above 10 even with dosing ferts twice a week. I've never been able to keep plants alive outside an aquarium...who knew 😆 What are some common house plants you've had luck with in your aquarium/riparium?

I've been having really good luck with cryptocorynes in my tank. I've got a bunch of undulata at the moment. They took very well to both my gravel and sand tanks, and even when my biggest mystery snails plow over them for food they bounce back great! I just moved one from one side of the tank to the other, and haven't had a melt issue (yet)

I don't have much experience with shrimp, clearly! What a relief that would be; thanks so much!

Yes! I have two tanks, one with dark gravel and one with pale sand. In the tank with gravel, my panda corys have changed from a black and whitish to almost gray and black. I think it looks neat! In the other tank, they've maintained their classic panda coloring (but I haven't had those as long, so time will tell).

I'm wondering if there is something wrong with one of the pair of amano shrimp I just picked up, or if this is molting about to happen, or I'm just paranoid. Any input would be much appreciated. (The discoloration was visible while the shrimp was still in the bag, so it's not me; the other one looks normal)