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Full Native tank


Baccus

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Well the tank I call my "Native Tank" is now I think officially full. The little spotted blue eyes have been doing their thing and I recently just spied another 2 newborn fry and a slightly older one. I am hoping to eventually end up  with a really decent sized self maintaining school of them. Sharing the tank are Blackmore River Shrimp which seem to go through phases of heaps and lots of babies down to a few, back up to a population explosion as it warms up again. The tank is heated of course other wise they would freeze in winter, but they still seem to decline or slow in breeding during winter.

Then there are the Northern Australian Chameleon Shrimp also in the tank, I don't often get to see them but when I do they are always a pleasure. The tank is now also home to a group of Darwin Algae Shrimp, and most recently some Darwin Red Nose Shrimp. In all honesty I think instead of simply calling this tank my native tank I need to call it my NT tank.

But then there is the snails that are sharing the tank with all the NT beauties. Slowly but steadily I have increased the notopala snails up to now 8 which has taken many hours of regular searching in a local stretch of river watching all the time for crocs. With the notopala snails I have also found some other gems, namely a HUGE type of long black snail along the lines of MTS, but these black ones are a LOT bigger and have pretty yellow spots on their bodies. The other snail of interest is a smaller snail again similar in shape to MTS and roughly around the same size but it has very defined blunt spikes on its rather chunky shell.

Some of the spotted blue eyes

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The huge black snail

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The chunky little spiky snail

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And my Notopala species

P1090859_zpsxvmytpv7.jpg

P1090890_zpsqrauwe5j.jpg

 

 

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@Baccus, this is flaping awesome man, love native tanks, more photos please, have you considered a group of Threadfin Rainbows? How large is the tank? Have you noticed at all that Darwin Red Nose Shrimp eat plant life? Where abouts did you get the native snails from? North Australian Chameleon Shrimp are great aren't they, a seriously under rated Shrimp, actually my favourite of all Shrimp that are on offer to keep, Darwin Algae Shrimp are pretty cool also, what are the plants you have in there? Natives also? More photos man, more photos!

ARGH! I wanna do another native tank!

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Thanks for the encouragement !

I do have some threadfin rainbows but they are in the 4ft tank, this NT tank is only 61 x 30 x 38 cm. The log in the tank pretty much dominates the tank. The spotted blue eyes where mainly only in the tank as mosquito control, but I am also quite taken by them in their own right and so far they and the shrimp seem to co-habit very comfortably. Pacific Blue eyes I know would have made a meal of these much smaller native shrimp, where as Cherry shrimp seem to be able to out breed any predation by the pacific blue eyes.

Plant wise they pretty much are native aside from the java fern that hitched a ride somewhere along the line and has attached itself to the log. In the tank there is thin leafed Val, Hornwort (from the NT) and I think Rotala Mexicana (also from the NT) and probably an introduced plant that I have always known as parrots feather (but that could be the wrong name).

The hornwort grows like crazy so if the rednoses and DAS want to eat it by the bucket load it saves me having to throw it out all the time. I always hate having to throw away weed since I know the blue eyes have often laid eggs in it. Plus the jungle tangle helps the fry and shrimplets survive and find food.

The native snails have all come from the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, I have looked in some other local creeks for snails but so far have not come across any as interesting as from the Fitzroy. Apart from this next snail that I am having trouble identifying.

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The above snail has not separate mouth part like the notopalas, nor does it have the trapdoor flap that the notopalas and some other snails have. Since putting some other new plants in the tank with it, the snail has taken to hanging around the new plants (I don't think its eating it so far just cleaning it) where as it ignored totally the existing plants all ready in the tank.

Just for you some more notopala species

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The collection of big black ones

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and this notopala that I call Bolt since he bolts all about the tank

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More notopala

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Chameleon

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Darwin Rednose

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The spiky snails

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and the tank

P1100456_zpspxcx2ryx.jpg

 

 

Edited by Baccus
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Nice photos! Man I love NA Chameleon Shrimp, is this tank outside? I ask because you said about the Blue Eyes for Mozzie control, check out those spiky shelled snails, look mad hey!

The Parrots Feather is I think called  Myrio (Myriophyllum aquaticum), grows like crazy doesn't it.

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The tanks are in the car shed, with open tops so the mozzies are always laying eggs in the tanks much to all the different fishes enjoyment.

The parrots feather certainly does grow long, between it and the hornwort the tanks tend to fill quickly with plant life.

The spiky snails are certainly interesting, but I think easily confused with MTS if you don't see the two together and see how much spikier the shells are and squatter than the MTS.

Couldn't resist putting up a rednose

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Actually a group of them decided with a couple of DAS that the end of the log had something especially tasty to munch on

P1100479_zps2tmdns6f.jpg

 

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Very nice set-up mate. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the 'big black' snail is almost certainly the same species as the smaller black snails - Stenomelania denisoniensis. They can reach up to around 5cm in total shell length. I could be wrong if it continues to grow as there is another snail Stenomelania cf. aspirans that gets to 6-10cm long (I have pics of them in some of my threads) but their shells are a bit different from the ones you have.

the spiky shelled snail is almost certainly Plotia scabra. It has a distinctive shell.

 

 

I can email you the paper I use to ID these snails if you PM me your address.

Edited by fishmosy
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Its never bad news to possibly have the potential name of an other wise unknown snail. The large black ones have quite sharp angles I guess you would call them where the swirls meet, the photos don't quite do the snails justice. But I do like the almost glowing greenie/ yellow spots they show on their bodies. One that I photographed even has like a little yellow moustache which looks comical and cute at the same time.

P1090916_zpsnaboujjl.jpg

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Its a nice gold/yellow isn't it? Bob and I found some that are alomost completely yellow, however they dont seem to be maintaining their colour in aquaria and are reverting to look more like yours. 

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Interesting that the snails would be changing body colour in the aquarium from gold to black, you would expect it to go the other way with no threat of predation.

Knowing how many inverts show some amazing natural glowing capabilities and even display eerie glows under certain light I think these huge black snails would be worth investigating with a good black fluro/ UV light. Especially since they seem to be nocturnal willingly coming out at night but during the day burrowing away under the substrate or hide in the log.

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I haven't tried looking at them under a black light. Will have to try it. 

I think the loss of colour must be something to do with diet, something mossing in our tanks that is found in the wild. 

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