snail!

The biggest surprise I came home to was a tiny snail creeping about my aquarium.

My older daughter discovered it. It's only as big as one of the pebbles in the substrate, so hard to spot but makes for some entertainment, peering closely through the tank to try and find it.

Snails can be good in the aquarium because they eat algae and debris, but they can also reproduce prolifically and become pests. This guy probably came in on my live plants. If I only have one, I'm happy with that. Not done with my initial cycle, though, so the snail might not survive...