[dancelady]

OK, do you remember when I asked if the Ramshorn snail would hurt my baby Mollies? Guess what, after I fed the babies some of the fine First Bites and some of the Baby Bites, I looked in and a whole bunch were nibbling at the snail, on its shell! I think it got a dusting of baby food on itself, and they were feeding from its back. Poor snail was having a hard time, was fleeing fast as it could, and bounced around trying to get rid of them. They looked like they were going to eat him... he was not happy about it at all. Just thought I would throw this out, never saw that before, and wouldn't have imagined it.

Meanwhile both of the Ramshorn snails have made themselves at home in two different tanks, so don't expect any new snails from them. Nerite snails are hatching in the catfish tank, so I will have plenty of snails for use in the future.

oooh, this snail got smart -- hustled over to the airstream and stayed there and let the baby food wash off, thereby giving the baby mollies no more food on his back to eat. Who says that snails aren't smart cookies -- this one certainly is!

 

[henningc]

Great observation. Funny, people have tanks and they never really look at what is going on. Some of our common aquarium fish are simply amazing. If you have never watched bettas spawn then you need to do so some time. I've watched hundreds of times and it is always way too cool.

 

[dancelady]

Watching Bettas do their "thing"

When I was a child, my Mom used to have some long Betta tanks, a couple of males with the female in between, separated. She would let them make their nests, see which one looked the best, and then let the female out to talk to him. I watched with fascination the whole mating routine, at first worried about whether he would hurt her with all that swerving and ballet-like swooping. But she would lay the eggs, he would be a great father putting them back in the nest all the time, taking care of them. Then suddenly they would hatch, and he would be frantic to scoop them up and put them back until they were strong enough to swim. What a great Dad, and then to see the babies "grow and prosper" was awesome! I was able to see it happen many times, too, as she was raising Bettas -- only I had to feed each one in its small jar while they were all growing up. That wasn't the best chore, but I loved watching them get their colors and their fins. Isn't life amazing!