shuffled

It was very warm last week- I had the heat turned off and windows open all day. So nice. Even moved Pinkie and Flash to the desk and kitchen coutertop, respectively. But then we had a very cold night, below freezing- had to cover up the seedling jugs outside and my Sage plant (think I lost the Dogwood sapling though) and moved the bettas back to the top of the fridge. Nights have been a bit chill since, I will wait for steady warmth again before moving them back. Don't want them to get cold.

It was very nice to have a desk companion for a day, though. And Pinkie seemed to like the change- he was making a new bubble nest for the first time in months (none of that activity all winter).

Someone else who did not appreciate the cold was Snaily. I'm worried about him. He's slowed down a lot lately- I will find him in the same spot for hours, all day long. Used to move around a lot. When fell to the substrate (off a leaf) and didn't move for 24 hours I lifted him out and sniffed- no stink, still alive. It seems my aquarium heater failed to keep the temp completely steady- that night it dropped below freezing I hadn't turned the heat on, and the apartment thermostat read below 60° in the morning- the aquarium was at 72° but I usually keep it closer to 76°. I wonder if the snail suffered from the cold? I got the temp raised again- slowly- over a period of several hours- and his little feelers emerged again, but he still hasn't come out of his shell to crawl around. I wonder if he's just reaching end of lifespan- ramshorn snails live one to two years- I've only had this one five months but maybe living through the early weeks of tank cycling shortened his life? or perhaps he ate something off the new plants that harmed him? As soon as I noticed he wasn't moving checked water parameters, all fine. Zero Ammonia, zero Nitrites, very low Nitrates. Fishes look fine, too. Just the snail doing poorly...