Creatures,  Hobbies,  Ramblings

There Ain’t No Air and There Ain’t No Light

I shared a video of an amazing blackwater tank with Brian. Here’s the video, in case you’d like to find yourself a new hobby. We have similar tastes in a lot of things, so it wasn’t a surprise that he also loved the blackwater tank. It’s not necessarily a replica of a natural betta environment, but the dark water and the submerged branches, leaves, and other debris create a much more realistic glimpse into the natural world than a tank full of shimmering plastic castles and pink gravel. The tanks seem more like cutouts of a pond, one that happens to have fish (or not), than something focused on a pet. So, with the sharing of my interest, and his interest in that interest, we’ve decided to proceed with making our own.

I mentioned in my previous post that we were going to buy some silk plants for Esme’s tank. We didn’t. We bought real plants. The difference is amazing and definitely worth the additional care. They move with the current, they shift with Esme as she swims, instead of standing rigid against her, and make the tank look infinitely more pleasing.

We were also contemplating a couple snails and shrimp to help with the cleanup. Of course, we didn’t want to buy any until we had everything established. However, it seems we had a stowaway on one of the plants we purchased from a local aquarium shop. A tiny mystery snail was spotted a few hours after we set the new plants. I know it’s a mystery snail because they had mystery snails for sale in 94% of their freshwater tanks, and it looks exactly like a miniature version of those. I would take a picture for you, but I apparently can’t take proper pictures anymore, and the little guy disappears for days at a time, only to reappear on the wrong side of a leaf.

We will be temporarily transforming Esme’s current tank to be a small blackwater tank while we wait for a new, larger aquarium to arrive. She’ll be upgraded to a bookshelf-style tank, since that will fit where she is sitting and apparently replicates their long, shallow pond habitats better than a tall box. Her current tank will then be transformed into mostly a plant tank with the possible addition of shrimp and/or snails, but no fish.

So much for not adding to the responsibilities, eh?

Title From:
Jesse Got Trapped In A Coal Mine
by Goodnight, Texas