Pokey’s Freshwater Journal

[Pokey]

Hi Everybody 😃 

I have a confession to make. I’ve been reading the forum since early spring! I didn’t have an aquarium at the time, in fact I was looking for a retirement hobby. And your journals are what got me researching to figure out if aquariums are it. I want to thank you all for creating those journals as they have set me off on my own freshwater adventures! And many thanks to Cory & crew for starting it! I also want to possibly be an encouragement to other seekers by adding my own journal. 🤗 

My brother & I had an aquarium when we were kids. Not only zebras, neons and an angelfish, but also we each won a goldfish at the field days and each spring we brought home pollywogs and raised them til they lost their tails and had to be let loose. We were enchanted. 

Life moved on and I’ve never had another one. My kids weren’t interested so it never came up. So second childhood maybe … 🤣

Here is a summary then of what I’ve done between spring and now:

Spring to June - read and read and read! Decided it was much more involved (& expensive) than I expected. So I chose to start with a ten gallon, no heater. I really wanted a betta but after finding out they’re happier in warm water, I decided on a paradise fish and golden dwarf barbs, snails of some sort and shrimp. 

June - got equipment, water sprite, java moss, pearl weed, duckweed, anubias nana, added bit of fish food each day and waited. And waited. 🤪 Did more reading & lots of YouTube watching. The duckweed & pearl weed all died, diatoms appeared. I didn’t like the hood & came up with a different setup from a houseplant grow light setup I had. 

July - Yay! Diatoms! I immediately ordered snails. 🤣 By now I had a LOT of bladder snails which stowed away on the duckweed. I’m sorry to admit I don’t like them at all! I ordered and received Japanese Trapdoor Snails (I call them TDs for short.) I love them. Will do separate post so this doesn’t run tooooo long. After 4 or 5 days when they settled in well, I ordered 10 shrimp (mixed colors) and Malaysian trumpet snails. Also got some lucky bamboo. 

 
Didn’t like background so removed it - the gravel was for houseplants & will be replaced in future; the little shelf wasn’t treated like the main part and got mold from splashes so had to throw it out.

September - finally got shrimp & snails at end of month (delay at shop), drip acclimated - love them both right off the bat!

October - first week: shrimp come out and eat, 6 or 7 of them I can identify anyway, and aren’t afraid of me watching them, but then they hide the rest of the time; the trumpet snails aren’t afraid at all - sometimes I don’t see any during the day and other times they’re all over exploring.

 I can’t budget in fish til the new year, but I’ve changed my mind anyway. I don’t want any predatory fish because I absolutely love these shrimp! Originally, they were meant to be mainly cleanup crew and my fish choices factored in population control. But they’re so dang cute, I can’t do it. 😏 So, instead of fish for this ten gallon, I’m saving for a larger aquarium and then decide what kind of fish I want. I don’t want any especially active fish, it’s not relaxing to me and definitely no live-bearers. The ten gallon will be my shrimp tank. 😎

What have I learned so far? Patience!!! “Aquariums as a hobby” means ongoing experience, not one & done! Maybe most importantly that they enchant me still! 🤗

(PS I chose “Pokey” because it took me so long to jump in both getting aquarium & joining forum. But to be honest - most decisions take me a long time going back and forth between all possibilities! 🤣)

[Guppysnail]

Thank you for sharing your journey so far. I don’t care for background either. Tanks look so much brighter and more cheerful to me without them. 
Looking forward to following the rest of your journey 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/8/2023 at 12:44 PM, Pokey said:

(PS I chose “Pokey” because it took me so long to jump in both getting aquarium & joining forum. But to be honest - most decisions take me a long time going back and forth between all possibilities! 🤣)

Reminds me of earthbound. 🙂

Good food takes time. Welcome, happy to see what you do with the tank in future!

[TeeJay]

Yes it starts off very easy.them you see this fish and that fish. Then find out you cant put fish A with fish b. So then it's another new tank. So on and so forth. Then you end up with a dinning room full of tanks 😆. Good choices so far. Welcome to the forum and keep it fish my friend. 

[Pokey]

On 10/8/2023 at 7:54 PM, Guppysnail said:

Tanks look so much brighter and more cheerful to me without them. 

Thank you @Guppysnail! 😃 - that’s it exactly. Especially with this gravel. It gives everything a yellowy tinge. 

On 10/8/2023 at 8:50 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Reminds me of earthbound. 🙂

Thank you @nabokovfan87! What is earthbound? The only reference I could find was to a video game. 🤪

On 10/8/2023 at 9:10 PM, TeeJay said:

Yes it starts off very easy.them you see this fish and that fish. Then find out you cant put fish A with fish b. So then it's another new tank. So on and so forth.

Thank you @TeeJay! 🤣 yes, I’m afraid I’m heading in that direction already! Luckily my budget will keep it at a leisurely pace. 

So, I wanted to make a note of the snails so far…

Japanese Trapdoor Snails - I ordered six and August 24th received seven, five male & two female. They settled in well and within a couple of days there were nine babies! They all cuddled up together a lot and I thought, how cute. Then one of the females died and I kept closer watch, finally realizing what was really happening. I believe the one that died was the one that had the babies. They are liveborn and surprisingly big. I believe that she was exhausted or depleted from that, then having the males constantly pestering her just did her in. 😢

As soon as I thought that might be the case, I separated the males into their own container. It has a bubbler, Java moss & duckweed. (I ordered more duckweed when the first batch died.) They’re fine & no longer cuddle. 

But the clincher is that the female, (whom I’m going to call Abbie from now on 🤪) found a spot, crawled into her shell, and didn’t come out for THREE days! I thought I was going to lose her too. She seems to be fine now. Yay! The babies are getting big and as soon as I can be positive of their sex, the males will be going in with their poppas!

Abbie stayed here for days.

A girl baby, both tentacles are same size so she gets to stay with mom!

The reasons I chose them were, first I wanted one that wouldn’t crawl out. Maybe I’ll be able to have a couple of mystery snails eventually. They were my first choice. Second I wanted a kind that wouldn’t over produce. And third I wanted them to be pretty too. 🤪 I had considered nerites but didn’t want those eggs stuck all over everything.

General activity so far: they’re not very active and when they do get around, they don’t go very fast. Other observations: they’re extremely cute! And it’s also very handy that it’s easy to tell the males from females. I’ve read they can live three to ten years. Guess I’ll have to wait & see on that one. 😃

Trumpet Snails - I ordered five and got eight. One was so tiny it might have been born in the bag. I know they could over populate too, but their faces are so cute & shells so pretty. Funny too the way they stick straight up out of the gravel.🤣And also, they don’t crawl all over Abbie & the babies which is the worst thing about the bladder snails!

Trumpet snail with shrimp photo bomb!

The shrimp all look like boys too me, but I have zero experience with them. What do you think?

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/9/2023 at 12:45 PM, Pokey said:

Thank you @nabokovfan87! What is earthbound? The only reference I could find was to a video game. 🤪

That's it. yes!  It's a SNES RPG.

[Guppysnail]

Snails have odd sleep patterns. They stay awake for a week or more sometimes and then sleep 1-3 days. I’ve noticed this most in my livebearing white wizard and piano snails. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I love the journal so far @Pokey! It has snails so of course I’m following along. 🙂

I do think some of your shrimps are females. Females are bigger and have a more rounded/fuller abdomen. The males have an inward curved abdomen.  Shrimps love boiled veggies like green beans or spinach. 

On 10/9/2023 at 3:45 PM, Pokey said:

They are liveborn and surprisingly big. I believe that she was exhausted or depleted from that

Be sure to have a calcium food source to help them out with shell growth.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/9/2023 at 4:44 PM, Guppysnail said:

Snails have odd sleep patterns. They stay awake for a week or more sometimes and then sleep 1-3 days. I’ve noticed this most in my livebearing white wizard and piano snails. 

I have this king koopa nerite snail that hibernate for weeks!  Then one day it will go on an eating binge.  Then back to hibernating for another few weeks.  It is the most boring snail I've ever had.  🤣 It believes in "energy conservation" and always stays near filter intakes and just allows food to be delivered via Grub Hub.

(Then again it could be nocturnal, but I don't stay up to see what happens at night.  It's always in the same spot though when I look for it.  Next to sponge filter, or next to PFS on the HOB)

Edited October 16, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Pokey]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea Yay snails! 😃

Thanks for looking at the shrimp! I’m encouraged - they all still look the same to me. 🤪I’m watching them everyday and as they get closer to mature size, I’m sure I’ll be able to tell after a while. 
I feed them algae wafers, shrimp food pellets, green beans and blanched zucchini. They have cuttlebone in with them right now, but I’d like to experiment with Repashy when able to and include supplements in it. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/16/2023 at 12:35 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

It's always in the same spot though when I look for it.  Next to sponge filter, or next to PFS on the HOB

Also the little spikes on its shell have collected mulm.  I'm always tempted to take a toothbrush to the dude, but eh- I just let him be.  He doesn't like being messed with. If I nudge him by accident during tank maintenance, he will travel a little bit to look for a safe area to continue to be lazy in.

On 10/16/2023 at 12:39 PM, Pokey said:

Yay snails!

Crayfish Empire is a fun site if you haven't been to it yet - you can load up your cart w/ free samples for snails and shrimp and just pay shipping. Their samples of snail foods actually go a long way, because when you put ONE pellet in the tank (and I stress this - start with ONE), it gets fluffy and spreads out and feeds a bunch of snails.  You can also get a nice size bag of calcium carbonate for $0 and mix that into foods you make, if you are ever inclined to do so.

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/16/2023 at 9:35 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I have this king koopa nerite snail that hibernate for weeks!

Well is it Yogi or Boo boo?

[Schuyler]

Rather than go with a bigger tank you could just get more small tanks...

People are often just getting rid of them for free. Plus then you can keep different stuff and not have to worry about compatibility. They you could have your passive fish and your shrimp.

But be careful, they will spread...

[Pokey]

Thanks @Schuyler, I do like that idea. Someday I’d still like to have a betta which got me researching in the first place. In fact I think that’s how I found this forum. 😃I would have a 5 or 10 gallon dedicated to just him/her and a couple of friends.

My idea of a “big” aquarium (for me) is no larger than a 40 gallon. Not sure if that would be considered on the smaller side after reading about some projects here! 🤪

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/18/2023 at 11:09 AM, Pokey said:

My idea of a “big” aquarium (for me) is no larger than a 40 gallon. Not sure if that would be considered on the smaller side after reading about some projects here! 🤪

40B, 60B, 75G are all giant to me. I would add an asterisk for your 40B there and just pencil in a 60B.  Same thing, but a foot longer.  There's a ton of options when you have more lateral swim space, but.... I'm right there with you. I'd be happy with either one any day.

[TheSwissAquarist]

Nice journal @Pokey! 

[Pokey]

October 2023

Well, it’s been a quiet month in the aquarium. The snails are well, the only female old enough to have babies right now (Trapdoor), has had two that I’ve been able to see. The nine babies born when I first got them are growing up well. They’re all brown right now with a couple of the very tips being tan maybe.

The trumpet snails are fine. If they’ve had babies, I haven’t seen any crawling around.

And of course the bladder snails are doing great, 🤣 I have set up the jar trap again. I know I am over feeding but I can’t help it - it’s the only time I get to see the shrimp. 🤭There’s a lot of good biofilm, almond leaves & some green ?algae I guess, on the side so I only feed every three days. But I think it could be even longer if I didn’t want to see them. Seven of them are still alive for sure, and maybe an eighth, out of the ten so I’m very happy about that! 😃

This is the jar I use for snail catching. I tried to get a close up of the shrimp to post here, but it was too blurry. It’s a beautiful true blue. This pic just doesn’t show it.

The lucky bamboo is almost up to the light now. I want to cut the top off when they get there and try rooting them to fill out the whole back area eventually. Also I don’t want them to touch the light. If anyone has any experience cutting them back, I’d love to hear about it! I haven’t been able to keep the stems in place except with the floss. Kinda unsightly, but it works. 🤪

The water sprite and Anubis’s seem to be very happy with their growing conditions, so I’m content to leave things be for now. Future plans include a HOB, Mostly because the box filter floats for a while after I clean it. When I weigh it down with a rock, eventually the rock falls off and I’m afraid it will squish somebody! I want to get more shrimp and I keep going back & forth whether I want to keep this shrimp and snails only or add a few fish. I’d also like a few rooting plants. Things to look forward to! 😃

And finally: duckweed.  Now I totally understand the love/hate feelings! 🤣 I love the look of it but I hate having to put my hand in the tank, even after I move it off to one side I always end up with it all over. Here is this months harvest. I dry it out on a plate and then put it in a baggie. When I get enough, I’m going to add it to my houseplants.

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/27/2023 at 7:15 PM, Pokey said:

October 2023

Well, it’s been a quiet month in the aquarium. The snails are well, the only female old enough to have babies right now (Trapdoor), has had two that I’ve been able to see. The nine babies born when I first got them are growing up well. They’re all brown right now with a couple of the very tips being tan maybe.

The trumpet snails are fine. If they’ve had babies, I haven’t seen any crawling around.

And of course the bladder snails are doing great, 🤣 I have set up the jar trap again. I know I am over feeding but I can’t help it - it’s the only time I get to see the shrimp. 🤭There’s a lot of good biofilm, almond leaves & some green ?algae I guess, on the side so I only feed every three days. But I think it could be even longer if I didn’t want to see them. Seven of them are still alive for sure, and maybe an eighth, out of the ten so I’m very happy about that! 😃

This is the jar I use for snail catching. I tried to get a close up of the shrimp to post here, but it was too blurry. It’s a beautiful true blue. This pic just doesn’t show it.

The lucky bamboo is almost up to the light now. I want to cut the top off when they get there and try rooting them to fill out the whole back area eventually. Also I don’t want them to touch the light. If anyone has any experience cutting them back, I’d love to hear about it! I haven’t been able to keep the stems in place except with the floss. Kinda unsightly, but it works. 🤪

The water sprite and Anubis’s seem to be very happy with their growing conditions, so I’m content to leave things be for now. Future plans include a HOB, Mostly because the box filter floats for a while after I clean it. When I weigh it down with a rock, eventually the rock falls off and I’m afraid it will squish somebody! I want to get more shrimp and I keep going back & forth whether I want to keep this shrimp and snails only or add a few fish. I’d also like a few rooting plants. Things to look forward to! 😃

And finally: duckweed.  Now I totally understand the love/hate feelings! 🤣 I love the look of it but I hate having to put my hand in the tank, even after I move it off to one side I always end up with it all over. Here is this months harvest. I dry it out on a plate and then put it in a baggie. When I get enough, I’m going to add it to my houseplants.

 

Some Asian countries use it in salads if you’re feeling brave…😅

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/29/2023 at 8:06 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Some Asian countries use it in salads if you’re feeling brave…😅

it is a superfood. You can make fish food out of it for veggie eaters.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

[Pokey]

Thank you both! Perfect - I was figuring I’ll have a lot more than I need for the houseplants because I have also been using tank water or de chlorinated water with a bit of Easy Green in it. 🤪

[Guppysnail]

These work great for lucky bamboo

[Pokey]

Thanks @Guppysnail I have the pothocarry but it’s not enclosed like that, they’re open in front sorta like a clamp like idea. I guess I didn’t notice the ones in that image. They would for sure work better!