darkG Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 On 11/28/2021 at 4:34 PM, drewzero1 said: Hercules snails I read they don't climb a lot. Mine do. Maybe when they get proper large they have a hard time, that might make sense. What's your experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewzero1 Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 On 12/20/2021 at 1:30 PM, darkG said: What's your experience? Mine climbs fairly often, but doesn't usually get more than 6 inches up on the glass. When I had it in my 20 long it made it to the top once or twice. My nerites definitely eat off of the glass more often/effectively, but I haven't added any to this tank yet. The herc is usually found digging in the substrate, climbing on driftwood, or hiding in the teacup. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 I haven't found aquarium dwarf lily locally. Finally, in october, I ordered from the UK. Now the bulbs are handled by customs, two dang months later. For sure they won't be rotten or dried up. International shipping is broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 When glass is uncleaned, I notice that after a water change, the part that was exposed is kind of quite clean. I'd want to leverage that phenomenon! 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 (edited) And the small kitchen tank: Light is different left to right, but not as pronounced as in the picture. I added a twig that I stumbled upon, seen mid; shrimps as usual got very excited for some time. They'll always scramble to investigate new items. Taiwan moss clump is looking fine! Edited January 7, 2022 by darkG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 So I received the long awaited Nymphaea stallata bulbs. Quite smelly, but two out of five actually alive. After a few days under observation, they're now in the tanks. Two bulbs I just threw away. One is still being evaluated... The light ramp up/down apparatus is installed and functional in the small tank. Next one will have its own timer (if I persevere). The last "Hercules" snails may be dead. The guy supposed to provide some more went under the radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 (edited) @darkG; Yeah, the US Customs Service is broken. First, they'll hold a shipment of plants, birds, or animals to check with the Committee on International Trade of Exotic Species to see if that plant, bird, or animal is on the list of endangered species. Then they check with the Country where the plant, bird, or animal is from to find out they are a problem in their native habitat, and yeah, it takes time. To give you an idea why it's necessary, The Bronx Zoo imported two Asian Chestnuts trees for display, Asian Chestnut trees carried the Chestnut Blight with them while at the same time they're immune to the blight, American Chestnut trees weren't. A lot of American Chestnut trees died from the blight, and now there are very few American Chestnut trees remaining. I could mention other plants, birds, and animals, but I think you now understand the why the US Customs Service is so slow. It's easy to see that you've put a lot of hard work into your tank, and it looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and please don't be too hard on the US Customs Service, they're looking out for us. Edited January 7, 2022 by Gator 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 (edited) I see, and agree. However this package didn't come from, thru or to the US ☺️. I think it wasn't properly labeled as containing living plants. It's just shipping generally. Edited January 7, 2022 by darkG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 One of the two surviving aquarium dwarf lilies really going for it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 I cut four lily pad attempts in a row, but the one living in the 55 gallon didn't seem to bother with that kind of thing. But suddenly: I am happy that they made it through the extended shipping ordeal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) Homecooked filtration/circulation in the 55 gallon is failing. Unfortunately, fixing it means a lot of mess, kind of rebuilding the tank. I'm not ready 😞 I made a pretty good* external filter thing like this. The bottle is filled with light AquaClay-style medium. Water pushed up through. Small Eheim pump hangs near the bottom in the tank (I mean not in the hidden volume). (I haven't had issues with shrimps or smell or unusual algea growth or anything like that, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.) * I'd imagine Edited February 17, 2022 by darkG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 I manage my two aquariums simlilarly. But a lot of circumstances are different. So plants develop differently. One striking difference is how my newest members, the aquarium dwarf lilies, develop. In the small tank it is pretty small, maybe 3 inches side to side, while in the 55 gallon a single leaf is like 4 inches. Though that bulb was actually much larger. I can't seem to manage good photos. Another thing that differ is the hornwort. Lately, I notice that one is a bit sparse, but long-leafed, while the other is much more compact: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 The thinnesses in the stem of your hornwort in the sparse one indicates lack of needed calcium. @Torreytaught me a lot about hornwort care and knows a lot more about it. I find the same size difference in my lotus leaves between 40b and 29 not as much but the one in my 10 stays small. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 Cool, always things to learn! I do think that calcium may not be the case here. The tap water is rather hard and calciumy if I recall correctly, and no obvious signs on other plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 6:47 PM, Gator said: @darkG; Yeah, the US Customs Service is broken. First, they'll hold a shipment of plants, birds, or animals to check with the Committee on International Trade of Exotic Species to see if that plant, bird, or animal is on the list of endangered species. Then they check with the Country where the plant, bird, or animal is from to find out they are a problem in their native habitat, and yeah, it takes time. To give you an idea why it's necessary, The Bronx Zoo imported two Asian Chestnuts trees for display, Asian Chestnut trees carried the Chestnut Blight with them while at the same time they're immune to the blight, American Chestnut trees weren't. A lot of American Chestnut trees died from the blight, and now there are very few American Chestnut trees remaining. I could mention other plants, birds, and animals, but I think you now understand the why the US Customs Service is so slow. It's easy to see that you've put a lot of hard work into your tank, and it looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and please don't be too hard on the US Customs Service, they're looking out for us. My sister tries to explain this to people regularly. May I screenshot this and send it to her @Gator? She was NC F&W until she chose to stay home and raise her kids. Now she's a public school life biology liaison. On 2/17/2022 at 3:03 PM, darkG said: Cool, always things to learn! I do think that calcium may not be the case here. The tap water is rather hard and calciumy if I recall correctly, and no obvious signs on other plants. Hornwort is both your calcium hog, and also your canary in the coal mine. I used hornwort to suck up enough calcium for shrimp to be able to have successful sheds (our water is best described as liquid calcium) and I kept some in the shrimp tanks because the color starts to change, and then the stems get sparse, when the calcium levels drop too low. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 Thanks Torrey, I'll keep it in mind for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted March 31, 2022 Author Share Posted March 31, 2022 Hornwort suddenly going for it. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Now that's some hornwort! Looks great and what an environment for your aquatic friends?!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 Yeah, it's a bit overgrown, but I like it a little wild. Extremely low effort, hehe. It is a bit strange; my hornwort was doing fine but not fantastic, not growing too long before the other end began looking tired. Then this madness. I didn't knowingly change anything. Still quite low fertilization. I haven't checked in on chemistry for ages. Nitrates has always been way lower than people tend to find desirable. Epiphytes seem fine but stay small, stem plants and crypts kind of thriving. The one thing that did change, maybe or maybe not related, is that circulation pumps started acting up so I added the device described above. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted April 10, 2022 Author Share Posted April 10, 2022 I was in bed and heard a noise, I assumed it was my daughter coming home, though she didn't answer my "hello". Well, maybe she had to go to the bathroom urgently, or perhaps it was the neighbors being noisy. A little too loud to be from next door really, and maybe the sound of splashing water, neighbors be crazy? But I really had to go and have a look around. My ingenious filter thing had slipped, and maybe 20 gallons of water had squirted onto the floor! Suspicious steaming from the electrical stuff! Such fun, so inspiring 😃 I didnt think this would happen, but I should have taken into consideration that it might. Mostly taken care of now, all is well. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndfi78 Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Well, at least you have a good attitude about it. 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewzero1 Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Oof! Sorry to hear about your filter, and also your Hercules snails. Mine died a few months ago after getting stuck behind the heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted April 12, 2022 Author Share Posted April 12, 2022 On 4/10/2022 at 3:31 PM, ndfi78 said: Well, at least you have a good attitude about it. 😄 Well, once it's over it's nothing to be upset about. Primarily I just want to be a little eccentric or unexpected. 😛 Sometimes I can actually trick myself into enjoying things that ain't terrific. Sometimes. On 4/11/2022 at 2:05 PM, drewzero1 said: Oof! Sorry to hear about your filter, and also your Hercules snails. Mine died a few months ago after getting stuck behind the heater. One lives. Unfortunately, I can't reach the guy who gave me them (he thought it was all MTS!). Them getting stuck, that must suck. Bad luck. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkG Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 Rebuilding the filtering, I am using a longer tube. To make it less ugly, I glued coir to it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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