So after years of not having fw snails, I have some once more. I don't think this build will warrant a full journal thread but wanted to share some details on it nonetheless since it now has an interesting feature: incorporating 3D-printed parts.
Up until a couple weeks ago I had a horrible, years-old tupperware container of java moss sitting where it got just enough light to survive. It was a container that used to be used for fish/snail transport during a time many, many years ago when I had to move every couple years - so I just kept it going as a travel container. Then, when I was no longer moving frequently, I kept it because, well...."I'll throw it out when the plants die!" and wow guess what the plants never died.
There's been nothing else in it, just some empty old MTS shells to help stabilize pH of the water and those scuzzy plants. I never even added water during that time; it was nearly a closed system so I'm kind of amazed it never ran dry. Anyway, no more - I finally cracked it open to do something with the mess that's less of an eye-sore. Somewhere in there was also an ancient piece of driftwood that I reused.
And here's what's become of that muck! 2gal glass fish bowl with Planorbids I got from Amazon that just rewarded me with a first egg case - which I am actually quite excited to watch develop since I have really been missing having fw snails. I think these Planorbids are a Planorbella speices. Most of my past experience was with Helisoma anceps but I've had a bit of Planorbella experience in the past. There are two color morphs, both with clear shells (shell pigment absent). The red or "pink" morph has the body pigment absent and the "blue" morph has body pigment. Having delved into Planorbid color genetics a bit in the past, since blue snails can be BB (homozygous dominant) or Bb (heterogeneous) for body pigment and the red form is bb homozygous recessive, this population should continue to give me a mix of the two colors in varying proportions over time.
The MTS shells on top of the gravel are still the empty ones that I was using for long-term pH purposes - honestly not keen on those now that I can see them better (just kind of reminds me I dont' have MTS anymore) so I might swap those for a piece of regular aragonite at some point. The white thing on the bottom is a weekend feeder type thing; provides an edible calcium source and more immediate pH buffering than the aragonite shells. The waterline is low at the moment because I only just got the lid made and I have an absolute horse of a dog that thought I might have just given her a new water bowl
so I had to keep the level low enough that it couldn't be easily reached by a dog snoot. As for the lid, it's 3 parts, the main big part and two inserts to lock in a ring-shaped little LED thing I found online. I'm using an FDM printer with PLA filament. PLA in non-fancy colors like white/black/clear is pretty inert and considered food-safe, and it's used by many people with aquariums at this point. PETG is another aquarium-safe material but my lower-end printer really does not have a fun time with that material, so I gave up with it a while back and have been sticking to PLA since then. If at some point I'm ever able to print PETG and have the final product remotely resemble what I designed, then I might reprint these parts at some point since PETG is more resilient.
So now the question is...do I stick to the scuzzy moss mess or do I dare try to trim that back a bit and add in some other kind of plant that doesn't care too much about light? It does get indirect sunlight too part of the day. And then the other question is can I actually limit myself to just Planorbids now that I know I can just Amazon a variety of types of snails to my door?
Up until a couple weeks ago I had a horrible, years-old tupperware container of java moss sitting where it got just enough light to survive. It was a container that used to be used for fish/snail transport during a time many, many years ago when I had to move every couple years - so I just kept it going as a travel container. Then, when I was no longer moving frequently, I kept it because, well...."I'll throw it out when the plants die!" and wow guess what the plants never died.
There's been nothing else in it, just some empty old MTS shells to help stabilize pH of the water and those scuzzy plants. I never even added water during that time; it was nearly a closed system so I'm kind of amazed it never ran dry. Anyway, no more - I finally cracked it open to do something with the mess that's less of an eye-sore. Somewhere in there was also an ancient piece of driftwood that I reused.And here's what's become of that muck! 2gal glass fish bowl with Planorbids I got from Amazon that just rewarded me with a first egg case - which I am actually quite excited to watch develop since I have really been missing having fw snails. I think these Planorbids are a Planorbella speices. Most of my past experience was with Helisoma anceps but I've had a bit of Planorbella experience in the past. There are two color morphs, both with clear shells (shell pigment absent). The red or "pink" morph has the body pigment absent and the "blue" morph has body pigment. Having delved into Planorbid color genetics a bit in the past, since blue snails can be BB (homozygous dominant) or Bb (heterogeneous) for body pigment and the red form is bb homozygous recessive, this population should continue to give me a mix of the two colors in varying proportions over time.
The MTS shells on top of the gravel are still the empty ones that I was using for long-term pH purposes - honestly not keen on those now that I can see them better (just kind of reminds me I dont' have MTS anymore) so I might swap those for a piece of regular aragonite at some point. The white thing on the bottom is a weekend feeder type thing; provides an edible calcium source and more immediate pH buffering than the aragonite shells. The waterline is low at the moment because I only just got the lid made and I have an absolute horse of a dog that thought I might have just given her a new water bowl
so I had to keep the level low enough that it couldn't be easily reached by a dog snoot. As for the lid, it's 3 parts, the main big part and two inserts to lock in a ring-shaped little LED thing I found online. I'm using an FDM printer with PLA filament. PLA in non-fancy colors like white/black/clear is pretty inert and considered food-safe, and it's used by many people with aquariums at this point. PETG is another aquarium-safe material but my lower-end printer really does not have a fun time with that material, so I gave up with it a while back and have been sticking to PLA since then. If at some point I'm ever able to print PETG and have the final product remotely resemble what I designed, then I might reprint these parts at some point since PETG is more resilient.So now the question is...do I stick to the scuzzy moss mess or do I dare try to trim that back a bit and add in some other kind of plant that doesn't care too much about light? It does get indirect sunlight too part of the day. And then the other question is can I actually limit myself to just Planorbids now that I know I can just Amazon a variety of types of snails to my door?
