Walstad Jar & random terrestrial plant posts

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I moved some more shrimp out using the feeding dish, but there are 2 berried females in the jar that are going everywhere but the dish.  Looks like we will have some shrimp families in the jar soon. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Mama sleeps like this every night. She is just waking up.

 

 

My husband commented that the jar looks pretty. ☺️

Edited May 18, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Welp! Time for another trim!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The lady is still berried. Not sure why her undercarriage is clear-dark-clear (?)

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2023 at 2:15 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Not sure why her undercarriage is clear-dark-clear (?)

Hard to tell from the photo. Might be easier to net and snap a bunch of photos in a specimen container or something.

You'd want to keep an eye out for fungus in that region or parasites.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/27/2023 at 5:58 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Hard to tell from the photo. Might be easier to net and snap a bunch of photos in a specimen container or something.

You'd want to keep an eye out for fungus in that region or parasites.

Net her out of this?

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2023 at 3:50 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Net her out of this?

I just netted one small little swordtail out of the big tank. Plenty of room for it to run from me and it was annoying, but I just used patience instead of grabbing the big net.

You could do it! But I totally understand.

Hopefully you're able to show off what you're seeing. I know it takes a few days sometimes.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/27/2023 at 8:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I just netted one small little swordtail out of the big tank. Plenty of room for it to run from me and it was annoying, but I just used patience instead of grabbing the big net.

You could do it! But I totally understand.

Hopefully you're able to show off what you're seeing. I know it takes a few days sometimes.

I tried to make a video but 1) she was behind some glass algae and 2) seems everybody decided they wanted to be in the video too

Looks normal to me. I don’t see any fungus or parasite.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:09 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

2) seems everybody decided they wanted to be in the video too

😂 Apparently everyone in your fishroom wants to be the center stage star!

She looks good to me.  The eggs are a "fun color" a slightly steel grey color and the body looks like a wild mixed with a bit of carbon rili genes.  I don't know if you were commenting on the pattern or just the coloration on the underside being a bit more pale / clear.  I think most of the shrimp, even the bloody marys can be that way and they are supposed to have red flesh. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/27/2023 at 10:19 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I don't know if you were commenting on the pattern or just the coloration on the underside being a bit more pale / clear

She looks a bit different than carbon rili because she has extra blue stripe in the middle. Carbon rili body is usually blue-clear-blue and she is blue-clear-blue-clear-blue. Interesting. This video doesn’t really show that well, I’m afraid.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/28/2023 at 3:37 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

She looks a bit different than carbon rili because she has extra blue stripe in the middle. Carbon rili body is usually blue-clear-blue and she is blue-clear-blue-clear-blue. Interesting. This video doesn’t really show that well, I’m afraid.

Very similar to the shadow pandas which are black / white caridina shrimp crossed with blues and so underneath the white bands you see specs of the blue peeking through.

Normal:

With the Cross:

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Water change day. Fancy drip system.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I got a better pic of this shrimp today. Neat.

 

[nabokovfan87]

Beautiful shrimp! That's wonderful.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I caught the wilds out of the Walstad jar because the colony has scutariella japonica, and these wilds were from that same colony, and I want to treat them in a tank with other wilds.

As I’m working my way around the plants with the brine shrimp net and a “shooing skewer” I’m thinking, wow. This jar is very prolific with plant life. But what now? What’s next for the jar? It’s successful but I didn’t think it would be THIS successful.

Just for funsies, let’s put the day 1 photo.

So I think on this a minute, and then it dawns on me. What would Foo the Flowerhorn do? That’s right. A big trim.

I took my time and rescued every limpet and bladder snail from the trimmings. The jar gets a different treatment than the tanks. I do my best to preserve the ecosystem.
 

There we go. Better. That taller plant there is actually a shoot/second plant the rosette sword made!

But we have a surprise, don’t we? Lil tyke:

There are more. I don’t think I will transfer them. It would be darn near impossible to find them all and I’m a working girl and it would be too much to undertake on top of everything else. I added some Repashy Soilent green powder. I usually do that once a week anyway.

Just as I was cleaning up, and had finished the 45 min acclimation to the tank for the adults… I see another adult in the jar. UGH! At which point the light clicked off. That will be for another day. Perhaps tomorrow.

This is their quarantine tank. There are about 35 shrimp in there, even though it doesn’t seem like it in the photo. Most are up in the floating plants.

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

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/11/2023 at 6:21 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

There are more. I don’t think I will transfer them. It would be darn near impossible to find them all and I’m a working girl and it would be too much to undertake on top of everything else. I added some Repashy Soilent green powder. I usually do that once a week anyway.

Just as I was cleaning up, and had finished the 45 min acclimation to the tank for the adults… I see another adult in the jar. UGH! At which point the light clicked off. That will be for another day. Perhaps tomorrow.

This is their quarantine tank. There are about 35 shrimp in there, even though it doesn’t seem like it in the photo. Most are up in the floating plants.

I wish I could help!  I am sorry for the struggles. 
 

On 6/11/2023 at 6:21 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Just for funsies, let’s put the day 1 photo.

I am not saying anything negative! I REALLY love the look of that jar on day 1.  A small section of stem in the back, the bigger plant to the left / front, and the grasses (especially at that height) are awesome to me visually.  It's something I can't imagine I'd ever get tired of having in the kitchen or something. 

Maybe "what's next" for the jar is to get it back to having a rock visually? (I think you ended up removing it, if I am remembering correctly)

Considering the prolific and efficient nature of the jar, it seems like the worlds best "breed for profit" setup too!  Maybe the stem plant turns into a buce plant and some trade-in options for you at the LFS or local hobbyist?

Some cool photos here:
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/bucephalandra
 

My personal choice is the Kedegang variety, but there are tons to choose from.

Edited June 12, 2023 by nabokovfan87
image overrun issue and fixing spacing.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:32 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

is to get it back to having a rock visually?

That was a chunk of driftwood. It’s still in there but absolutely covered with moss. The moss looks beautiful up close.

On 6/12/2023 at 12:32 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Considering the prolific and efficient nature of the jar, it seems like the worlds best "breed for profit" setup too!  Maybe the stem plant turns into a buce plant and some trade-in options for you at the LFS or local hobbyist?

If only there weren’t an army of bladder snails clinging to each plant 🙂 I don’t think buyers would appreciate that, LOL

On 6/12/2023 at 12:32 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

and the grasses (especially at that height) are awesome to me visually

The grasses are the only plants that failed. Walstad had the same experience with grasses and now avoids them. They were such a mess to work with as well. 

One of the reasons the jar got so full is that I was replanting the cuttings. Cuttings such as this:

I didn’t want to throw those away because I knew they’d root, yet I couldn’t plant them in my tanks due to the bladder snails and their sneggs.

 

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

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/12/2023 at 5:22 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

The grasses are the only plants that failed. Walstad had the same experience with grasses and now avoids them. They were such a mess to work with as well. 

KGT just put out a video with DW and she mentioned her enjoyment of dwarf sag.  🙂

On 6/12/2023 at 5:22 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I didn’t want to throw those away because I knew they’d root, yet I couldn’t plant them in my tanks due to the bladder snails and their sneggs.

Yeah 😞 that's unfortunate.  Maybe a dose of RR is in order?

I dig the moss! It looks like a rock. I totally forgot it was a piece of wood.  It will be interesting to see if you can get the moss to grow tall and then have it pop out of the top of the jar.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

KGT just put out a video with DW and she mentioned her enjoyment of dwarf sag.

I had bad luck with it in a tank, but it may be very well suited for a jar, due to the soil.  I did have it in inert substrate (sand) in a tank, and it's tricky to fertilize from below due to the runners.

On 6/12/2023 at 12:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Maybe a dose of RR is in order?

It crossed my mind, but I invited and encouraged these snails and I feel responsible for their care. They may be small, they may be "pest snails", but they are my pest snails. 🙂 

On 6/12/2023 at 12:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It will be interesting to see if you can get the moss to grow tall and then have it pop out of the top of the jar.

Oh it does when I have my weekly bit of evaporation.  It looks cool.  To do things over again, I probably would use a rock instead of driftwood, because the jar water doesn't look great with the tannins.  I like tannins for a tank, but I like to be able to clearly see into the little jar.  Still, the tannins aren't that bad, as you can see from the photos.  I notice them a bit when I'm doing the water change. Me just being nitpicky.

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

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:01 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

It crossed my mind, but I invited and encouraged these snails and I feel responsible for their care. They may be small, they may be "pest snails", but they are my pest snails. 🙂 

I totally understand that!

On 6/12/2023 at 10:01 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I notice them a bit when I'm doing the water change. Me just being nitpicky.

I have the same thing in one of my mopani tanks.  Looks clear as day to me, but the water in the bucket is definitely shaded.

Lava rock is delightful! Might fit what you're wanting and very easy to stumble upon at the hardware stores.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/17/2023 at 5:31 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Looks like a Graham (get it?). Beautiful little shrimp. 🙂

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I got 2 shrimplets out of the jar this week, and put them in the wild-type shrimp tank.  I just felt they should be with family/their parents.  There is a "healthy population" of bladder snails in the jar.  Yeah....😳  This is me feeding the fish tanks and then seeing the jar.

Don't do it Chick!  Don't feed the jar!  

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@nabokovfan87 suggested this ez gif maker tool on the Tank Evolution thread, so I figured I would make one for my jar. 
 

Jar upkeep is really just trimming floater roots and topping off with the occasional water change. I do water tests on it when I test my tanks, and it remained consistent since the beginning.

I still find the occasional shrimplet in there. Found another today, in fact. Moved him to a tank just for community and scalability of the shrimp colony.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea