new things for the tanks...

Sometimes I can't help myself. I stopped in the pet store to buy something for my cat, and of course browsed through the fish department. From store 'B' I found, for the first time ever, tissue-culture bucephalandra in gel. Heard it was being done, never seen it before. I bought the only two on the shelf, one packet of 'green' and the other is 'kapuas brownie ghost'. Tickled pink.

Across town on the way home I stopped at store 'A', just to look. Noticed quite a few small ramshorn snails in the tanks. I thought of my paradise fish and asked the associate if I could have a few "pest snails" (but not the pointy ones). He obligingly plucked out some ramshorns for me. Tied the bag shut and handed it to me, then I saw there was a small bumblebee horned nerite in there. And a few pebbles the snails must have been clinging to. I pointed out the nerite and said "I'll pay for that one" so he wrote the item number on the bag. So I paid $2.60 for this handful of snails-

five little ramshorns

and three horned nerites.

The buce packets were $10 each. This handful is the sp. 'green'

Which separated out into this many plantlets

This is the 'brownie ghost'

individuals are very tiny- I will have trouble fastening them down-

separated out into this many little plants. Doing so was quite tedious. I don't like how dense and clumpy tissue-culture plants grow. Thus painstakingly teased and pulled and cut apart the little plants using my smallest aquarium scissors and tweezers.

By the end of all that, light was low in the room and I was ready to be done so I got some poor photographs. I have two small glass boxes picked up at thrift shop because they looked like would make a decent containers for plant cuttings, fitting neatly on windowsills. I plunked the divided buces into these containers with a few cups of tank water. The little horned nerites went in with the buce 'green'

(here's a slightly better photo)

and the ramshorns in the other with the 'brownie ghost'

I didn't see any ich at the store the snails came from, but playing it safe again I'm keeping these snails in a short quarantine period. The plants will just give them a bit of oxygen, and the snails can feed off the dead parts I was unable to remove with tweezers. I put them on top of the fridge at night wrapped in a wool scarf for just-enough warmth, and each morning am doing a small water change siphoning out the bits of snail waste and adding some new tank water. I frequently pick up the container during the day just to look at it- see the little snail feelers waving gently around- make sure they're still alive and the movement I think oxygenates the water some.

I am trying to decide how to use the buce in my heated tanks. Currently cleaning and testing some rocks- that's for another post. Should be ready to use the safe ones in a few days, and if the snails need to stay in longer I'll give them hornwort.

I really wanted only ramshorns. To feed Perry. Not sure if he will eat the largest- I think he would only eat the tiny young ones, and if the oldest died or got eaten I would pull others to keep in a separate little tank for breeding... I finally figured what he does in the morning that makes a sudden sploosh noise in the tank. I thought before, that he was flashing? or jerking snails off the glass? Nope. Watching close (but from across the room) I see him dart at the surface and then dash around excitedly with fins flared. I think he's nabbing baby trumpet snails off the surface film of water, where they are still suspended from feeding at night.

Not sure where I will put the bumblebee horned nerites. I like the idea of them in the tenner, with a betta. I don't want to overload that tank by adding nerite snails...  I guess they can live in the main tank until I'm ready to put my next tank plan in action... but I don't know how long that will be, and it will be harder to find them to remove from the big tank...

Another new thing- I trimmed moss off one of the ceramic pieces in other tank, and both mesh ledges. Moved the white plastic ledge from the main tank into Perry's- it blends in better there. Made a new one out of black plastic canvas for the main tank, using all the trimmings. Will show photos when something is growing. There is so much more to note, but now I'm busy having to get the garden started too.