clownbaby

added some species of eleocharis in the foreground oh and i saw a few ostracods. cool!

This is all very normal. It is just that your plants are melting, or adjusting to new water parameters. Or if you purchased tissue cultures, these are usually grown out of the water so they go into shock once they are emersed. Regardless, it is normal and your plants should recover! Java fern is a pickier plant and loves a lot of potassium -- if it keeps struggling, up those ferts!

Have a pumpkin carving? Maybe a pumpkin painting? Let's see em!!

First trimming of the rotala. It is starting to fill out in the background!!! the windelov seems to have died, but I think the normal java fern is doing a-okay!

What behaviors of your fish, shrimp, or snails did you think you wouldn't like but actually adore? Or, what behaviors did you overtime start to love, even though you disliked it at first? Mine has to be when any of my fish -- especially my otocinclus and pygmy cories, the secretive guys -- weave through plants. Seeing them interact with their environment is genuinely amazing in a way that I cannot easily describe. Bonus answer: my mystery snail, Leroy, has a fondness for redecorating my epiphytic plants... since I didn't use glue or string, he would somehow always manage to get my anubias out from wherever I wedged it. At first it made me so mad, but then once I saw him nudging the rhizome out of place with his mouth, I was just impressed by his dedication! But I didn't want him to end up killing my plants by distrupting them so much, so then I moved all my anubias and java fern to my 5 gallon so he will stop harassing them! (For some reason, he doesn't uproot stem plant cuttings... he just hates epiphytes!)

Revisiting Midsummer Night's Dream as my current bedtime story before sleep. What can I say, I love Puck! A very underrated fairytale in my book (pun intended!)

Unsure exactly but it looks like Columnaris... could also be a fungus. I would recommend moving the cory into a hospital. Even if this causes a lot of stress for the individual cory, you do not want to risk whatever this disease is spreading to your other fishes. For the hospital tank: I would recommend using aquarium salt. Start low and increase as needed. Up the temperatures, higher temps fight bacteria and disease faster. Feed high quality foods and remove any waste with a siphon. Add an airstone!! Airstones have saved my fish before. Daily water changes, about 20 - 50% each day. add a cave so they feel comfortable. I would recommend bare-bottom. Catapa leaves can help as well. If the disease gets worse you could dose Erythromycin - this is the only medicine I have ever used on fish (pygmy cories with bacterial gill disease) and it worked well.

Long books are not the same as long movies. I don't know how to describe it. I will read a book that is 1000+ pages but if a movie is longer than 90 minutes I do NOT want to watch it. No clue why that is lol

So I put a few buckets outside for mosquito larvae. One of my buckets seems to have been appealing to a drone fly, as today I saw a LOT of rat-tailed maggots. Are there any reasons why rat-tailed maggots couldn't be live food? Has anyone ever used them?

Hm... unsure. I am a water-feature fanatic so I do have 3 fountains round my garden: 1 in the front bed (the biggest, holds 50 gallons), 1 out back in my shade garden (holds 20 gallons), and the bird bath holds probably 3 - 5 gallons. I will say that I do have to refill all of these often, once or twice a week. The one in the shade I have to fill up once a week or so. I don't know if an airstone would be better or not. However, with my experience with solar-powered water-feature pumps, I would say an airstone would probably still work well if it is powered by an airstone. The fountain pump must remain submerged otherwise it will keep sucking water until it breaks. But I would assume you keep your water level at at least 6 inches high, so that won't be a problem 😂 I think plants would be okay too as long as the flow isn't too hardcore. What plants do you have in there?

The gap is probably for cording and hang on the back filters. I have a glass lid on my 30 gallon (the tank isn't rimless but still use the lid) and I use two of the 3/16th inch pieces in the back. I personally don't notice em but I also do not have a rimless tank. Have you considered doing a diy / custom lid? there are many shops (e.g., canal plastics, etc) that will do custom cut acrylic panels that are a pretty reasonable price. Yes, it's not glass, but you can get a custom thickness, width, and length. So if your tank is say, 20" long, you could get a custom piece of acrylic that is 1/4 inch thick, 2.5 inches wide, and 20" long. You could probably then easily attach this using lid clips. A custom piece would be say 20 buckers or so. If you're real handy though you could try to find a piece that is perfect already for cheaper, but I do not have any other recommendations than that.

Do NOT cancel me for this but I hated the movies (way too long for me, didnt get it, just didnt like it) so I have always been turned off to the books. Would you say the books are better than the movies, if so, what is the biggest difference? I own this book as well! Great manual for aquarium plants. YES! I ADORED this book omg. Very dystopian. A teacher recommended it to me after 1984. I had to take a break from dystopia books after that hahaha

Pet snails. The species I am eyeing is a riparian-obligate species that likes to wade in shallow puddles. They also require humidity levels at least around 60%, ideally 70-80 percent. I know the plants I want and all that, have the enclosure, but what are some tips for keeping humidity high? I haven't ever kept a controlled humidity environment before. Yes I have kept humid terrariums, but I have never had to keep the humidity level stable. Are automatic misters better than spray bottles? Do you need to dechlorinate water? (Rainwater is an option for me as well)? If automatic misters are an option, what are some good ideal brands? Are humidity meters accurate? Any brands? Thank you all. Any tips are appreciated.

Mainly classic stories. Big fan of stories like Wizard of Oz, Gulliver's Travels, Jungle Book, Treasure Island, Hardy Boys, etc. Also enjoy political fiction, Orwell and the like. Enjoy poetry as well. Not a huge fan of sci-fi. I like fantasy under some circumstances. Historical fiction is good too. I like most nonfiction, but if I am unfamiliar with the topic it shouldn't be too too complex lol. I am a pretty strong reader. I am not too picky overall, just not sci fi I guess!

Agree with other folks. 1/2 of sand will not hold down topsoil enough, especially 3 inches of it. I would recommend at least 2 inches of sand for 3 inches of topsoil