Mystery snail eggs & inverts journal

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Juniper discovered a green bean yesterday and spent the day on it. I would have preferred he eat the snail pellets for the calcium and protein, but he didn’t go for them or know about them, I guess. I didn’t want to move him. He moves quite slowly and I don’t think he’s at full health. I don’t want to stress him any further.

Cadet spent the day hiding somewhere I couldn’t see. I hate that. But I allowed 24 hours to pass, since he had a good meal on adoption day. Today I found him behind the driftwood. He flinched when I moved it. That’s good. Placed the little one in the feeding fish, and he is eating, so I am hoping these guys build up strength so there can be more parasnailing and exploring in their future. He doesn’t come out far enough so I can see his little face, but hopefully he will feel more comfortable soon.

Way overfed the tank today too. The fish, despite being fed, were going into the dish after the snail food, and I didn’t want anyone to get nipped by accident. So they got fed (again)

in another area of the tank. Might have to do extra water changes til we get a better grip on things.

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Juniper booked a night at the bed & breakfast. Decided to sleep in a bit.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Do these snails look purple? When I adopted them they looked brown.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/10/2023 at 3:13 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Do these snails look purple? When I adopted them they looked brown.

Turning purple, still partly brown. I expect after a couple of weeks in your care they’ll turn pink 😅.

Good news is that Switzerland is gonna unban most larger aquatic invertebrates, which means I can finally get my mitts on some mystery snails! First imports are probably gonna be pricey tho…

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/10/2023 at 2:43 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Turning purple, still partly brown. I expect after a couple of weeks in your care they’ll turn pink 😅.

Good news is that Switzerland is gonna unban most larger aquatic invertebrates, which means I can finally get my mitts on some mystery snails! First imports are probably gonna be pricey tho…

That’s amazing! So excited for you!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I am beaming today because I am so proud of Cadet. He made it all the way to the top of the tank! Of the 4 rescues, Cadet was the weakest. Apparently not anymore!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I’ve been trying to get a photo of little Cadet’s face!  Doesn’t seem to ever be at the right angle, and he hasn't come out all the way in the preceding days. But the fact that his antennae are all the way out today means he is comfortable and feels safe, which makes me so happy!

 

 

Scope the lines on the new shell! Pretty! 💜

 

Juniper:

 

The marring on their shell seems more indicative of them clanking around in harvesting and transit with a bunch of other snails, which really to think about, is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.  See how there are sort-of lines of gouges vs just pitting.  I can't imagine what that would have been like for the little guys!  Very scary and stressful, I'm sure!

One of the big kids

 

 

As you can tell I am embracing my algae.. 🤣

Algae is food for them, soo.. I have a good excuse. 😳

Now, you may be wondering, "Chick, why did you name the little snail Cadet?"  Perhaps I can explain in pictures.

This is just how my mind works, folks...🤪

As far as Juniper, well...

Can you see it?

Edited October 12, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TheSwissAquarist]

There’s a meme in there somewhere 🤣.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Ok, here we go! Got the macro lens and got a video of lil Cadet! Had a growth spurt too! You can tell if you compare to yesterday’s pic (on the driftwood).

(It is easy to tell the snails apart because Juniper is bigger. )

The adults found daphnia at the tank edge:

The fishes’ leftover breakfast.

See, this is why everyone needs snails. Otherwise you’d have to manually remove that daphia.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[GoofyGarra]

On 10/13/2023 at 7:03 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

See, this is why everyone needs snails. Otherwise you’d have to manually remove that daphia.

a few minutes ago i had bladder snails eating some krill flake a platy didnt want to eat... They got away with it until the platy realized there was a good amount of flake on the bottom of the breeder box, and she was still hungry.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/13/2023 at 7:10 AM, GoofyGarra said:

a few minutes ago i had bladder snails eating some krill flake a platy didnt want to eat... They got away with it until the platy realized there was a good amount of flake on the bottom of the breeder box, and she was still hungry.

Pest snails fall into a different category..

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

ORD. He’s learning from the pros.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

So I pretty much messed up the blue dream tank by failing to cull. Now most have this black ink blot or stripe pattern. Not looking nice. I plan to combine the two tanks and reduce my maintenance. Not that I do much maintenance on these. But I dislike kneeling, then doubling over just to observe the bottom shelf tank. (First few photos are from blue dream tank, the rest are from wild tank. Currently they are goin all gangbusters over algae wafers. Heh. In that dish you can see some more of the stripe/blot blue ones.)

Oh and the last photos.. a shrimplet I thought was too cute not to include, and a berried wild mama with a very cool pattern.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The good news is I gave my friend 25 good ones and they reproduced, so the nice genetics continue on with her 💙

[nabokovfan87]

This one looks like a blue dream - blue rili one.  Very unique!  Reminds me of my red-blue ones I have.

If you wanted to really try to for blue dreams I think you could cull the line and maybe rehome/sell the others.  Entirely up to you, but I just wanted to mention that I do see some pretty decent blue dreamy look blue dreams.

But, I'm excited to see what happens when the two cross and if you end up with any carbon / carbon rili varieties!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/13/2023 at 8:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

This one looks like a blue dream - blue rili one.  Very unique!  Reminds me of my red-blue ones I have.

If you wanted to really try to for blue dreams I think you could cull the line and maybe rehome/sell the others.  Entirely up to you, but I just wanted to mention that I do see some pretty decent blue dreamy look blue dreams.

But, I'm excited to see what happens when the two cross and if you end up with any carbon / carbon rili varieties!

TBH I am in love with the wilds. They are all unique in their own way. Looking in the blue tank, there are very few that don’t have the black pattern. I’d have to cull most and have a pretty empty top tank if I were to try to keep the line. I don’t see the value in it, if I were just doing it for myself. I just have more fun watching wilds. It’s like, wow look at that one! Whoa, check this other one out! Constantly surprising me with all of their outfits.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Cadet. 8 days since adoption.

A footrace:

 

 

Juniper:

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The growth rate is astounding. 13 days since adoption.

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Today I combined the wild and blue dream tank. My blue dreams have some not-too-pretty traits now because I failed to cull. I am glad the tanks are combined. The 10g is now full of life and energy. The wilds have always had tons of energy vs the blues, and eat more greedily. Not sure why. I didn’t get every shrimp moved, but most. I spent over an hour. Berried females were moved with care, in such a way that they don’t leave water.

 

 

The planted plants were moved too.

Now I’ve been talking awhile about trying out tankmates for my betta. @Guppysnail suggested adding some wild shrimp. He has lived with 2 wild shrimp for many months, and they’ve zoomed away from him. So, today I added 10. Only males so I don’t have to worry about shrimplets when siphoning. Aaaaaaand now he’s on a murderous rampage.. 😳

I tried to put him in a breeder box to give the shrimps time to learn their new environment. But I had a good 7 degree temp difference so I had to acclimate the shrimps, which I did in a bag. Old skool. Anyway, the shrimps kept getting stuck in the bag when I tried to dump them, so I had to keep adding and pouring water from the bag. In the meantime the breeder box was tipped over and Geppetto was loose. 30 seconds in, one shrimp was swallowed whole. The others are quickly learning. I feel guilty!

Although I will say he’s no longer bored-looking, and he’s using every swim through and area of the tank. Also the tank needs cleanup crew for algae. And the last lone shrimp in there now has 9 friends.

I had to add this fake plant for the time being because this tank is too hot for hornwort, and the shrimps were zooming upwards sometimes and needed a place to go.

Watching this tank is suspenseful now.. there are 3 shrimp hides and a cholla so hopefully they figure that out. Maybe the long time resident shrimp will teach them.

I guess I can skip Geppetto’s afternoon feeding now, since he already ate.. 🦐 

 

The Malaysian trumpet snails seem to be doing well in this tank, and I haven’t seen him bother those after the first day they were added.

This whole thing was an experiment and a lesson. Can I buy fish for his tank? NO.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The merged tank 

 

 

Also a bladder snail is in there, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/21/2023 at 8:27 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Today I combined the wild and blue dream tank. My blue dreams have some not-too-pretty traits now because I failed to cull. I am glad the tanks are combined. The 10g is now full of life and energy. The wilds have always had tons of energy vs the blues, and eat more greedily. Not sure why. I didn’t get every shrimp moved, but most. I spent over an hour. Berried females were moved with care, in such a way that they don’t leave water.

 

 

The planted plants were moved too.

Now I’ve been talking awhile about trying out tankmates for my betta. @Guppysnail suggested adding some wild shrimp. He has lived with 2 wild shrimp for many months, and they’ve zoomed away from him. So, today I added 10. Only males so I don’t have to worry about shrimplets when siphoning. Aaaaaaand now he’s on a murderous rampage.. 😳

I tried to put him in a breeder box to give the shrimps time to learn their new environment. But I had a good 7 degree temp difference so I had to acclimate the shrimps, which I did in a bag. Old skool. Anyway, the shrimps kept getting stuck in the bag when I tried to dump them, so I had to keep adding and pouring water from the bag. In the meantime the breeder box was tipped over and Geppetto was loose. 30 seconds in, one shrimp was swallowed whole. The others are quickly learning. I feel guilty!

Although I will say he’s no longer bored-looking, and he’s using every swim through and area of the tank. Also the tank needs cleanup crew for algae. And the last lone shrimp in there now has friends.

I had to add this fake plant for the time being because this tank is too hot for hornwort, and the shrimps were zooming upwards sometimes and needed a place to go.

Watching this tank is suspenseful now.. there are 3 shrimp hides and a cholla so hopefully they figure that out. Maybe the long time resident shrimp will teach them.

I guess I can skip Geppetto’s afternoon feeding now, since he already ate.. 🦐 

 

The Malaysian trumpet snails seem to be doing well in this tank, and I haven’t seen him bother those after the first day they were added.

This whole thing was an experiment and a lesson. Can I buy fish for his tank? NO.

@wes.crockett is in need of some new blue dreams if you have an overflow.

Poor wild shrimp! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/22/2023 at 10:57 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

@wes.crockett is in need of some new blue dreams if you have an overflow.

Poor wild shrimp! 

I don’t have any more pure blue dreams; the ones I have have traits that looks like black ink spots.
 

Why do you say “poor wild shrimp”? They are living in paradise!

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/22/2023 at 5:14 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Why do you say “poor wild shrimp”? They are living in paradise!

Ending up as potato crunchies for Gepetto. 😞

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/22/2023 at 11:15 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Ending up as potato crunchies for Gepetto. 😞

Ah yes.. those ones. It didn’t go as planned. But I only saw him eat one. The other ones have lots of hides and I think they are using them. But I don’t watch the tank 24/7 so not sure. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Snails snail snails!!! 🐌 🌀 🐌  🌀 🐌 !!!!

 

 

Kratos on sand, filter feeding. Look for his anntenae

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea