Recent content by PlatedLilyAquatics

Like the other commenter said watching and waiting is mostly what you can do. I'd keep an eye out for mantle collapse, where the snails muscle tears and detaches from the rim of their shell. You can find examples of the condition online and it is usually fatal. If it gets to that point, I...

I added a second light and some new plants. New layer of top sand, too. Really happy with how the snail and cherry barb tank is going. :)

I am always looking for new things to try feeding my snails to increase the strength and coloration of their shells. Mollusc shells are composed of organic and inorganic components. The major inorganic component is calcium carbonate and one of the major organic components is chitin, complex...

Purple leopard ramshorn 10g Snail tank :)

Not sure which product you mean. Glasgarden and AquaticArts both carry a product marketed as shrimp snow flakes. They both look like they would be good for snails. Edit: to be honest with you I would not buy either of these products as they are massively overpriced. You can purchase spy husk...

I use a plastic pipette and aquascaping tool to stir the mulm around and aerate it every couple days. I think of it like a little compost pile. If there's too much I will suck it out and feed it directly to my houseplants.

Under ideal conditions, some species of ramshorns can get to the size of US quarters. IIRC the shell size of ramshorms was connected to the amount of food they eat, so increase feedings and quality of feed perhaps? This is a picture from the past couple months of one of my oldest ramshorns. She...

I believe there was a study done on the spread of honeysuckle and it was found to be strongly correlated to white tail deer movement and, subsequently, deer ticks. It's a trifecta of problematic organisms all moving and working together.

From my understanding, almost all ramshorn species have red hemoglobin which gives them their red coloration. The more translucent the snail the more red color appears. This is convenient because you can easily tell when one of the snails is sick as their red color will dull (I assume from...

I have been busy. lots of wood to process this summer. Longest piece i have pulled out so far is over 9 ft long.

As long as you plant to put some plants in I think you'll be able to easily hide that sponge. I use the sponge as a growth point for plants and they seem to really like all the accumulated gunk that gets under the sponge. I use small sticks or even bamboo chopsticks, stick them into the...

Thank you for your service Edit: awareness month is in April, oopsies! Still a good cause tho!

This is what they look like in the ground. Twisty branches all come up from a central root ball which is of a typically shallow depth - this makes the complex root structures easier to preserve when the plant is levered out of the ground. Picture of the plant pulled out and trimmed of leaves...

I think most parts of the United States, unfortunately. It is quite lovely wood, though. I have started making walking staffs out of it in addition to the driftwood decor. In talks with my LFS to see if they will start carrying my stuff instead of their current imports! Very exciting stuff...

Haha yes I had the same thought. The thing is there is so much of it all around that I don't think we're in danger of running out anytime soon.