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jefferypink

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  1. My tank is only two months going, and I think one of the best things I did to get my tank cycled was buy plants from a tank that had snails in it. Now I'm starting to worry that the pond snails are outcompeting my 6 otos and 3 nerites. I put in an algae wafer last night and before any otos got to it it was covered in snails. Just a few days prior the otos and the pond snails shared a piece of zucchini equitably. This morning I siphoned out some of the snails where the wafer had been. Now I worry about something else-If I flush them will they start inhabiting my septic? Is that a weird thing to worry about? I guess my main question now is do I need to be more actively culling the little buggers (I have zero expectations of actually obliterating them completely) And does this just represent an imbalance in my tank because it's not that mature and possibly putting in too much food?
  2. My betta did that at first for a couple days, then once again when I think he was mad at me for adding tankmates (29 gal with black neons) or doing a water change. The second time I distracted him with a quick reflection (a mirror) followed by a treat of few freeze dried bloodworms. After that he was back to "normal." Normal for my betta is curiously wandering all around the tank, going in and out of branches, around plants, between his moss ball and the glass. He doesn't sit still.
  3. Molt vs Muerte: The mystery of the missing shrimp deepens So back to the hobby after 10 years or so. I have a 29 gallon, The first occupant is a koi betta, then I added 5-6 amano shrimp; They looked bigger in the store than when I brought them home. Betta was intensely curious about these fast-moving bugs I put in his home. After a couple days, the shrimp disappeared. I presumed they were in hiding since reading a similar post on a google search that they can hide for several days. Soon I added more tank mates to distract Emperor Staleek the betta, 10 black neon Tetras, whom he has decided are not worthy of his attention. Then 6 Otocinclus to entertain the emperor with their antics. I cut the amount of hours the light was on, and have made sure there is a piece of zucchini or algae wafer in the tank at night, presuming the shrimp are coming out then. Twice, late at night while examining the tank with a dim led candle, I have seen exactly one shrimp still alive, near the big rock that I'm afraid to move to check under cuz it would really squish 'em if it slipped. As I posted in my introduction, It's now been 6 days since I've seen a shrimp alive. Today I found what I'm 99% sure is a shrimp molt, but since I've never kept shrimp before, I could be wrong. (I used to catch crayfish from a creek and have seen them molt before, though) *Is there any way to tell the difference between a molt and a carcass?* I'd presume a carcass would have been covered in snails or maybe the otos. I took out the molt with tweezers, it doesn't smell fishy, there's no obvious pieces of flesh, it's clear, there's a gap between the head and abdomen where I presume the moltee left its former shell. My new theory is that when I added them to the tank they were so small and I fed them so much they grew and hid to molt, and I hope to see more of them when they harden back up. Any other thoughts or suggestions? P.S. Lid is glass, aqueon tank has a black plastic rim, but there are gaps small enough for shrimp to have escaped; no bodies have been found outside the tank and none in the Fluval C2 Hob. Lots of cholla wood that is hollow in the tank as well.
  4. Hi, I'm Jeffery, coming back to the hobby after 10+ years. Aquarium co-op and the rest of fish youtube have been instrumental in getting things going for me. About 15 years ago when internet was slow and led lights didn't exist, I tried and failed at having a planted aquarium. Now I have a 29 gallon, very natural, most of the hardscape I got from the desert around my house; cholla and granite rock. Tank cycled prettty quickly after the addition of the plants and their associated volunteer snails. I've got dwarf sagittaria, anubias nana, moss ball, hydrocotyle tripartia japan, ludwigia repens, red root floaters, hornwort and a pothos stem, with a crypt and anubias nana petite on the way from the co-op. The first fish added and the king of the tank is the koi betta Emporer Staleek. I now have 3 nerite snails, 6 otocinclus and ten black neon tetras, all seem to be doing well. A while ago I did add 6 amano shrimp, which the emporer chased. I have not seen any remains or escapees, but the last time I saw a shrimp was 5 days ago. *Sigh* There's a pre-filter coarse sponge and lots of hiding places. Extra food hits the bottom and algae wafers and the occasional zucchini get added at night. Not sure I have much hope left for the shrimp, might just come down with a case of MTS and do a shrimp nano tank. I'm totally geeking out on the hobby, at first obsessively checking all the parameters and I'm reading Diana Walstad's book "Ecology of the planted Aquarium" and finding it fascinating.
  5. If I find it again I'll have to take a pic, but I found a lesser ramshorn snail whose shell wasn't a tight spiral, as if it had hybridized with a pond snail. It was cute, like a small conical swirl that looked like a soft serve ice cream spiral, slightly conical in shape.
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