Theplatymaster's NEW journal: A treacherous 20.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/2/2023 at 5:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Con- higher bioload than a fish 

so like pleco bioload? or just a slightly higher bioload?

On 3/2/2023 at 5:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Con- they eat a lot. Not as efficient with algae cleaning as a nerite, but they do clean it. They cannot exist only on tank algae though. They need calcium, protein, and veg in their diets.

will they be able to compete with fish for the food?

On 3/2/2023 at 5:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Con - can crawl out if you don’t have a tight fitting lid.

the one hole i have in my lid is for my HOB, do you think they could escape from here:

On 3/2/2023 at 5:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Pro- mesmerizing to watch

i love watching all snails, nerite to mini ramshorn, i saw something really interesting earlier where a bladder snail was moving up a hornwort plant, that was very interesting to watch.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 3/2/2023 at 5:49 PM, Theplatymaster said:

so like pleco bioload? or just a slightly higher bioload?

I don’t have a pleco to compare. But they say, or used to say, an inch of fish per gallon of water. One mystery snail per 5 gal. That being said, I have 8 adult mysteries in a 29g with 18 fish and my parameters are fine. Sometimes nitrates creep up. I do over filter though. I run a sponge filter and I have a penguin 200 HOB

Your lid looks just fine for them.

You should offer sinking food and they should be able to compete. They can smell and find the food quickly. I like to offer foods that are too big for fish to carry away, like boiled vegetable or Repashy cube w/calcium powder and bloodworms in it. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Theplatymaster]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea

my biggest challenge will be finding a color that i like, im not really a fan of the standard yellows, and a bunch of shells laying on the bottom of a tank at my LFS doesn't give me confidence that those snails are alive, though if i saw one crawling up the glass id know its okay.

@Cinnebunshas offered to send me some once the weather warms up, they have magenta and ivory i believe.

i know aquahuna has a bunch of colors, but im not paying $15 for 1 mystery snail, so its mostly what i can find thats healthy at my LFS, or i might go to the other LFS near me and see how their selection is.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 3/2/2023 at 5:57 PM, Theplatymaster said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea

my biggest challenge will be finding a color that i like, im not really a fan of the standard yellows, and a bunch of shells laying on the bottom of a tank at my LFS doesn't give me confidence that those snails are alive, though if i saw one crawling up the glass id know its okay.

@Cinnebunshas offered to send me some once the weather warms up, they have magenta and ivory i believe.

i know aquahuna has a bunch of colors, but im not paying $15 for 1 mystery snail, so its mostly what i can find thats healthy at my LFS, or i might go to the other LFS near me and see how their selection is.

Yeah for sure you want to select an active snail.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/2/2023 at 6:04 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Yeah for sure you want to select an active snail.

the last time i went to my LFS the only mystery snail i saw moving was yellow, which is why ive been thinking about expanding my sources, but if i see one of a color i like (ill know i like it, when i see it) that is active, ill probably get it.

[Theplatymaster]

Photo Dump:

baby corydoras acting more like the adults daily.

adult corydora close up

Algaecide the nerite snail in her favorite spot to hide during the day. (she is nocturnal, IDK if this is normal).

[Miska]

Gimme gimme gimme I need Corys so baaaad. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/3/2023 at 7:08 AM, Miska said:

Gimme gimme gimme I need Corys so baaaad. 

I can understand that, cories are amazing.

 

[Theplatymaster]

platies not interested in peas ( i spoil them):

Runty/Runter the corydora fry runt next to his siblings (if anyone has better name ideas im open to them):

Edited March 3, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

I have a hunch one of these gals gave birth, but platy fry are practically invisible at birth, so i cant tell yet:

baby corydoras doing their things:

cloudy water, ill be cleaning my filter media tommorow when i do tank maitainance, some filter floss should help, though  i think my intake sponges are clogged:

the one thing i dislike about cories, i cant have clear water for long with them, with platies, clear water no problem, the cories are ALWAYS stirring things up in the tank cloudying the water.

also @Chick-In-Of-TheSea im starting to re think the mystery snail thing, IDK if i could get them vegetables, i have calcium and vegetable based fish foods, but getting blanched vegetables themselves will be hard for me.

tommorow i plan to go to my LFS and look for

A.Mystery Snail (still a maybe)

and

B.Repashy foods, (IDK if my LFS carries these though, i might call them before i go and ask).

all the hair algae i just pulled out (Can i feed it to my cherry shrimp in the 2.5gallon?)

the picture does not show well how much i pulled out #outbreak.

though these guys seem to eat it, so its a shame they are in Isolation for a sickness, (the adult platy, the juvinilles were just in there and im too lazy to catch them out, they are perfectly healthy.)

also what causes hair algae outbreaks?

i want to balance my tank better to combat it.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 3/4/2023 at 7:07 PM, Theplatymaster said:

IDK if i could get them vegetables, i have calcium and vegetable based fish foods

They like Repashy. Crab cuisine has calcium. They will eat algae wafers. A piece of cuttlebone in the tank is good (make sure it’s not flavored cuttlebone. You’d find this in the bird section); it will slowly dissolve over time and they will occasionally graze on it. They will eat canned green beans also, you have to get the ones with no salt. For the leftover green beans, I freeze them in ice cube trays. Also they can eat these vegetables raw: cucumber, zucchini.

[Theplatymaster]

doing a WC:

The 2 tidal "mods" ive done ( @nabokovfan87)

intake sponges on the intake

cut off some of the grating on the bottom of the basket (got this idea from you)

 

also this is not too applicable to a lot of people, but when cleaning a Tidal 35, empty the body, then pull off the motor, i did it the wrong way and pulling off the impeller caused the body to jerk back spilling water everywhere, not so fun.

though ive cleaned the impeller (part of it was clogged) so im hoping the filter will work better now, and ill get clear water.

also @Chick-In-Of-TheSea i think ill hold off on the Mystery Snail, ive tested my water, the PH is too low for the snails right now

however i want to go to the LFS today to just hang out and talk fish, and if i can get some more Repashy, because i have like 2TBLS left.

oh, here is the tank after the WC:

Edited March 5, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

i found a 9gallon hydroponics tub in the garage.

after listening to last weeks livestream about mosquito larvae, i wanted to try some for myself.

I asked my mother if i could set up the tub (20x15x7, great dimensions for its purpouse) for a "science experiment" i was thinking green water, and i got a

"DONT BREED MOSQUITOs!" (she was mad).

so thats off the table, (for now).

[Theplatymaster]

spamming everyone:

I dont know what it is in Hikari Crab Cuisine, but my fish go CRAZY for that food.

when i saw them they were ALL swarming the food area, but when i took the pictures a few dispersed when they saw me walk up to the tank:

[Theplatymaster]

ive realized my current plant setup isnt working,

the large anubias in the back/mid ground was dying (it was RIGHT in the light though)

and so was my pennywort in the background.

So ive tied the anubias to rocks (with acrylic yarn), and moved them to the back where it is not as bright, and i will be replanting the pennywort in the midground, once it grows a little floating, where it can get ALL the light.

also just a general tip, when doing AM, do it barefoot, otherwise there are high chances of getting WET SOCKS!

[Theplatymaster]

I was on my way to the LFS, when i saw my neighbor up the street outside.

He is a pretty serious gardeners and has these beds and everything. So i told him that i keep fish and asked him if he wanted any old fish water (i still had it sitting in a bucket from the WC) and he said yes, so i ran back home (like 3houses down) and filled him up a bottle of water from my old tank water.

also turns out my high nitrates on the test yesterday was from a dead platy in the filter, i found its decomposing body today when i cleaned it.

also this is not fish related just funny and it happened on this trip to the LFS. but someone in my neighborhood was giving out some stuff. there was a table and some stuff on it. On the table there was a paper that said FREE but what i found funny was under the FREE it said "Not the tables" which made me laugh.

 

also please meet my:

New Snail!

the water parameters looked fine (i tested them) before i left, so i got a Mystery Snail at my LFS.

Following @Chick-In-Of-TheSea's care guide, i set it up to temperature acclimate for 20minutes.

here is a picture, it is not a fancy mysery snail at all, but it was moving around at the store.

The one i really wanted that i saw had a blue foot, white shell, but i couldnt tell if it was moving, so i decided to pass.

the one thing this snail needs is a name, ill make a better post for it, but any ideas?

i cant tell the color of the foot right now, the shell is yellow with thick brown stripes, as i said, not the prettiest snail, but i mostly wanted one for their behaviors not their looks.

It is moving around exploring the bag while it acclimates, which is a good thing.

here is a link to the naming contest:

Update: snail has been released: (turns out its purple):

i also almost got a guppy with the snail, but the guy noticed before it was too late.

this checks another animal off my bucketlist!:

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Lennie]

On 3/3/2023 at 1:49 AM, Theplatymaster said:

so like pleco bioload? or just a slightly higher bioload?

I wanna say no. Plecos poop  more, and they are mostly are a heavier animal protein eaters, eanwhile although mystery snails need some protein in their diet, they are mainly eating calcium rich veggies/algae tabs. their poop is usually pretty small in size but they poop so many little ones mostly at once when they are eating or taking a nap. But I personally believe my pleco has a much bigger bioload than a mystery snail.

 

On 3/3/2023 at 1:49 AM, Theplatymaster said:

will they be able to compete with fish for the food?

I would feed them after the lights off for sure as platies can be competitive for food I assume. Mystery snails want to eat a lot really

Edited March 5, 2023 by Lennie

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/5/2023 at 2:00 PM, Lennie said:

I would feed them after the lights off for sure as platies can be competitive for food I assume. Mystery snails want to eat a lot really

so far nobody is touching the zouchini, but if the snail will eat it, then it will be a good food as the platies are not interested.

[Lennie]

On 3/5/2023 at 10:23 PM, Theplatymaster said:

so far nobody is touching the zouchini, but if the snail will eat it, then it will be a good food as the platies are not interested.

Make sure to peel zucchini just in case it has been exposed to any pesticides. Rachel O leary was even peeling the ones she got from her neighbour and she was sure it had no pesticide. It just may kill whole tank otherwise, not worth to risk it, also they don't really like seeds or its peel. You will be likely to remove the peel and seeds if you feed it as a whole circle anyway due to not being eaten.

Zuchini is good from time to time, but it is not rich in calcium. My snails don't really like zucchini but most snails do! Stuff like kale, collard greens, spinach, mustard greens, brussel sprouts,green beans, and broccoli are more rich in calcium content. 

Stuff that failed for me: peas, broccoli, zucchini

my snails favs: collard greens, carrots, pumpkin, green beans

I find making snello to be the easiest personally. But I had most success when I had a chance to try what my snails like, and making a snello from the veggies they like afterwards. Rabbits are more picky than mysteries tho, in my case. So I try to find something in common for both. When you have a snello batch made, just save it in the freezer and feed a small cube once every 2 days. Much much easier than blanching veggies all the time

 

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/5/2023 at 2:33 PM, Lennie said:

Make sure to peel zucchini just in case it has been exposed to any pesticides. Rachel O leary was even peeling the ones she got from her neighbour and she was sure it had no pesticide. It just may kill whole tank otherwise, not worth to risk it, also they don't really like seeds or its peel. You will be likely to remove the peel and seeds if you feed it as a whole circle anyway due to not being eaten.

Zuchini is good from time to time, but it is not rich in calcium. My snails don't really like zucchini but most snails do! Stuff like kale, collard greens, spinach, mustard greens, brussel sprouts,green beans, and broccoli are more rich in calcium content. 

Stuff that failed for me: peas, broccoli, zucchini

my snails favs: collard greens, carrots, pumpkin, green beans

I find making snello to be the easiest personally. But I had most success when I had a chance to try what my snails like, and making a snello from the veggies they like afterwards. Rabbits are more picky than mysteries tho, in my case. So I try to find something in common for both. When you have a snello batch made, just save it in the freezer and feed a small cube once every 2 days. Much much easier than blanching veggies all the time

 

i peeled it, though the snail is more interested in exploring its new home then eating.

I dont have the ingredients for snello, repashy was on my shopping list for today, but the LFS didnt have it, ill have to check my other one next time i can go there.

snail is being funny: (its likes its trying to get through the java moss with nothing but brute force) :

more snail! (should i give it its own journal?)(ill probably never update that journal, after like 2weeks of starting it)

my little brother's comment on it is that it is "Huge" which is accurate compared to the bladder and mini ramshorn snails he may have been used to seeing.

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

mystery snail (It really needs a name) is parachuting down, it dropped onto a leaf, and has been sliding down leaves.

[Miska]

I totally get where your mom is coming from- especially as a mom. I spend so much time trying to keep mosquitos away that the idea of breeding them for my fish makes me squick out. 

https://petkeen.com/snello-recipes-for-healthy-snails/

I am really considering making these for my Magenta Mystery Snails 

[Theplatymaster]

at the exact time that my snail was doing this, my computer decided not to coorporate.

I can start to see why mystery snails are so popular.

While i wish i got a more colorful one (the black blends in too well), im starting to see the behaviours.

Mine climbed to the top of the tank, then rode on the air flow a little before parachuting and landing on the sponge filter, very fun to watch, maybe i should get mine a friend? though i want to sex this one before purchasing another, if i get another i want to breed them, not just have 2males/2females pooping  all over the tank.

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea@Guppysnailif you can provide some help with sexing mystery snails that would be great!

 

thats where the mystery snail landed after its ride (oh, my nerite snail is in this picture too, if you can find it you will win a fistfull of air, collected from wherever you are)

[Theplatymaster]

me:sitting here waiting for the aquarium light to turn on.

@Lennie@Chick-In-Of-TheSea  the mystery snail has not been eating the zuchini, should i leave it in if they get hungry, or just take it out?

the lights have now turned on.

ive scattered around some hikari mini algae wafers , though i like the normal ones better for my application.

baby corydoras doing well:

the mystery snail is in the back of the tank so getting a picture may be difficult. (its also a black mystery snail, against a black background, and a black gravel, if i end up getting a 2nd its going to be a light colored one).

 

nevermind, mystery snail has found food:

me having a fascination in genetics i definetly want to breed these snails, but considering the 1snail per 5gallons rule that @Chick-In-Of-TheSeaadvised, i might need to take out some platies first. (or am i misunderstanding the rule?)

[Lennie]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:11 PM, Theplatymaster said:

me having a fascination in genetics i definetly want to breed these snails, but considering the 1snail per 5gallons rule that @Chick-In-Of-TheSeaadvised, i might need to take out some platies first. (or am i misunderstanding the rule?)

You can play around the bioload rules as long as you are willing to track your nitrate readings and make more water changes. It is up to you.

If your snail is a female and has reached sexual maturity, it is likely that it may lay eggs from many different partners she has mated before/in the store. So you may get eggs anyway.

The problem with sexing is, if you see the penis sheath, it is a male. If you cant see it, it is not certain that it is a female.

Maybe you may want to read this one:

https://www.fwgna.org/dillonr/MSCGP/mscgp.pdf