Guppysnail Aquarium Journal

[Guppysnail]

My red mangrove arrived yesterday

My Anthurium gave me the first flower since she has come to live with me. 
New Peace lily leaf

Calathea is very happy and pink

The baby plant I placed beside her is growing great

Fontina is happy

Aglaonema pink hybrid is starting to grow

All the inchplant cuttings are rooting well. 
The African violet cutting got pinched and did not make it. 
 

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW

[Tihshho]

The mangrove you got, did the vendor mention how they were being grown? Some progagules are raised in freshwater, others brackish and others marine. Upon reciving adding them to water they were not raised in can cause issues and die off. Ideally, starting with freshwater sprouted and rooted propagules will provide the best success. Otherwise you'll have to acclimate them to freshwater over time. 

Generally red mangrove requires salt for the minerals they need to grow. Black mangrove tends to be easier to grow in freshwater. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Tihshho

[Guppysnail]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:43 AM, Tihshho said:

The mangrove you got, did the vendor mention how they were being grown? Some progagules are raised in freshwater, others brackish and others marine. Upon reciving adding them to water they were not raised in can cause issues and die off. Ideally, starting with freshwater sprouted and rooted propagules will provide the best success. Otherwise you'll have to acclimate them to freshwater over time. 

No they did not. The red mangrove I researched is suppose to be different than others and that is why I chose it. It does not actively use salt at all but send it directly to sacrificial leaves that are damaged so it does not hurt the actual plant. The instructions that came with it said it could be placed directly in the sump with no acclimation so I did not think to ask. I will shoot them an email to confirm if I need to acclimate.  Thanks for the heads up! 🤗 

[Tihshho]

Mangroves being sold for aquaria are mainly marketed to the salt and reef side of the hobby. It's an assumption that's been in place for decades for deep sandbed refugiums or refugium sumps. Being that plants are popular in the hobby, and have been for a while this assumption needs to be modified so people know what they are getting into. 

When acclimating salt reared mangrove propagules, ideally make sure your water is hard and you're using some quality reef (not your standard) aquarium salt. Over a handful of months you can migrate them from full salt to brackish to freshwater. This process will take time, but will provide you solid growth, reduced chance of rot and healthy plants. Just be aware, once these guys take off, you're going to have a fun time keeping up with the growth 😉

Another thing to be aware of is the propagules need adequate humidity to make sure they don't dry out. Even though the roots could be submersed, the exposed propagule is used to high humidity areas. This is where you start seeing the exposed sections wrinkle. Once the propagule becomes more of a tree, the humidity will be less of an issue.

[Guppysnail]

@Tihshho my water is very very hard. I’ll be sure to mist them. Thanks for the tips. I did contact them and this was my response from them. With your tips I’m hoping they do well. If I notice any unhealthy signs I’ll pull them and add some REEF salt.  Thanks again. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Guppysnail
Edit add reef

[Tihshho]

Not a problem! Interesting that they had such a blunt response without any details though... I'm guessing these are collected from the wild and not from farms? 

Another key thing for them is lighting. Sunlight is ideal, but make sure they get enough of it and/or supplement it as well.

[Guppysnail]

On 5/6/2022 at 3:07 PM, Tihshho said:

collected from the wild and not from farms? 

Not a clue. Got them on the big E buy 5 get 5 free. I only paid like 21$. I just thought it would be cool to have a tree in my tanks . Silly old fool tries anything. 🤣

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I think we are all inspired by you constantly evolving your hobby, trying new things, not afraid to fail and enjoying most minutes of it. Thanks as usual for an inspiring journal @Guppysnail!

I have definitely given thought to those mangroves. When I setup fishroom 2.0 I will go for it!

[Torrey]

On 5/6/2022 at 2:53 AM, Guppysnail said:

Not hard at all from my understanding. Wet paper towel and a small styrofoam container from my understanding but I’ve never done it. There are tons of you tube videos on it. I shipped a friend a bunch of the gold bladder snails they did fine. I’ve bought actual hatched partial clutches before that did fine even pea size. I think it would be safer to ship the eggs than actual hatched ones since they are protected in the egg sac. 

::gets ideas::

[Guppysnail]

Babies are here. 5 of 6 out of the shell. The 6th is in there tight  but seems to slowly be moving a bit. 
 

When these kids get old and I get sad at the aging out PLEASE someone show me these pictures and remind me how awesome baby mystery snails are. 🥰❤️

Edited May 9, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Guppysnail]

All 6 are movin and groovin today. Between them and Lucky this is what is left of 2 green beans and 4 small wafers. 

So far I am very pleased with the UGFs. I have not noticed an increase in nitrates that was my worry. Of course I added gobs of emergent plants so if the ugf is causing extra they are eating it.  I now have to add phosphates to all the tanks to stave off GSA which makes me think the nitrates are higher but the plants eating it balances it.  
I have to add the rest of the mangroves today to the tanks. The first ones are doing really good. I also got 6 more swords and 6 corkscrew val to add to tanks.

I feel the UGFs are doing what I wanted. CPD fry are showing up daily in both mom n dads tank and the Pygmy tank.  I rescue the ones I can but the parents are quick.  I have about 11-16. I just started pulling one or two daily. I did not keep count. They are starting to be visible on camera.

My Prayer plants are giving me new leaves

HAPPY ADVENTURES.. TRY SOMETHING NEW 

[Guppysnail]

I finally got to see Pygmy cory eggs. I was looking on glass and leaves this entire time. They are strewn all through my pothos roots!

[Guppysnail]

4 of the CPD fry hit the BBS eating mark today. Couple more are within a few days. Once they eat BBS they are usually out of the danger zone. 

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW 

[Torrey]

On 5/11/2022 at 2:07 PM, Guppysnail said:

4 of the CPD fry hit the BBS eating mark today. Couple more are within a few days. Once they eat BBS they are usually out of the danger zone. 

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW 

ORD 😍😍😍😍

[Guppysnail]

My CPD are usually more brownish than blueish.  Ever since I put in that very ugly Java moss they have been in full dress blues.  It only shows slightly on camera but in person it really stands out. 

 

[Guppysnail]

All mine pleaz ☺️ 

I took out the sponge filters when I put the ugf in. Now they can’t play in the bubble stream so they play in the canister outflow. 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Guppysnail]

I added the 2 blue boys I selected and 2 girls 1 bluer body 1 electric blue tail. These 4 are cousins so I am nervous about birth defects. I have no more unrelated guppies and do not want the heartache of starting another blue line to keep them from crossbreeding. My older girls have been dramatically slowing on births. 

Mom has slept like this every afternoon since I have had her. Still makes my heart stop every day I have to watch for breathing. 🙄
 

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

😃🙃 she's a back sleeper!

[Guppysnail]

 

[Guppysnail]

My Magical Mystery tank is under construction for a project. It qualifies as one of my ugly tanks. I find I spend the most time watching this tank 🙄. The baby snails, CPD fry, shrimp and Lucky the filter pleco.  The fry are almost all visible on camera now. There are roughly 15-17. All fry rescued from the two adult colony tanks. 

Frozen BBS day while I wait on my next hatch

 

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW

Edited May 16, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Atitagain]

So neat to watch what you do! Always an inspiration . Those mystery snails are amazing, what color is that?

[Guppysnail]

On 5/16/2022 at 9:36 PM, Atitagain said:

So neat to watch what you do! Always an inspiration . Those mystery snails are amazing, what color is that?

They are magenta. I’m hoping to breed to sell. I’m to scared to ship fish. I did it twice and lost sleep I was so scared. Snails are much easier to ship so I’m going to give it a go.  

[Atitagain]

On 5/16/2022 at 9:45 PM, Guppysnail said:

Snails are much easier to ship so I’m going to give it a go

I call dibs, when your ready let me know I would love to get some of those. Mystery snails are so beautiful.

[Guppysnail]

Lots of changes in the tanks.  Some already done and some on the way. I want more root feeders to grow down through the UGFs to eat the mulm. Plus, well I’m me and that means a constant state of change is where I’m happiest 😁.

i got some stuff already that’s in the tanks. I gave in and got my 🦐 shrimp some Java moss and susswassertang.  I have new CPD babies surviving in both tanks daily since I put in all the extra emergents for root fry cover and I’m hoping for some Pygmy and panda fry survival so they need ground cover. 
 

What is already in the tanks went into 5 plus the “under project construction Magical Mystery tank” with the CPD fry and new snails. The crinum is what I’m still waiting on from this order. 

One of my all time favorite places to order plants is having a huge sale so nice order placed today

 

Current state of the tanks I already added to.  I’ll take better photos of these plus the other tanks after everything is in.

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW

[Guppysnail]

This is fish related though it may not seem to be at first.

Inspired by and a few questions for @Biotope Biologist I’ve chosen isopods for my Northeastern grey tree frog. Since I have upgraded her to m bearded dragons 40g exo-terra enclosure it makes more sense to go bioactive. I have slowly been making this happen. One of my final additions is these cute little ones.  
I chose powder orange Porcellionides pruinosus  for the softer exoskeleton.

I am starting their colony in a Rubbermaid container with air holes in the lid. I bought the substrate premix with all the yummy goodness mixed in, added almond leaves and sliced carrot pieces. Moistened one corner so they have a moist and dry area. I also placed almond leaves under the substrate to rot for them. Got some wheat bran premix chow because it was a small portion and well it was there so I did not have to order larger quantities and mix myself.

Once the colony becomes prolific 🤞🏻 I’ll make my own substrate and nutrient enhanced food.

The container for now lives in a corner of Froggin’s enclosure so humidity and temp controlled. 

How this is fish related and my questions:

1. Once the population becomes large enough for the entire enclosure🤞🏻 and I feel I have extras can I feed the smaller ones to guppies and corydora?  I know they drown right away but since they will be gutloaded for my frog I thought they may make a nutritious treat for fish. 

2. Is there anything else I should add to the breeding setup or interesting details about these guys? 
 

3. I am planting plants with roots in the bio active substrate in the frog enclosure.  Are there any plants harmful to these isopods that I should avoid.

HAPPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Guppysnail