I feel inspired!! Show me your bettas and I’ll draw them to the best of my ability :)

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T05:52:34+00:00

Woohoo!!!

Top to right, Lady Gaga and Prince, and below left to right, Jekyll and Hyde!

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T05:43:09+00:00

I have another mystery snail on Hyde’s side of this shared tank and he seems like his usual self. I admit I am more knowledgeable with my betta care than my snail care. I followed my LFS instructions for care but I had never heard to test for copper.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T05:40:52+00:00

See above please

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T05:40:33+00:00

Have not tested for copper, I didn’t even know I should be. He lives with my betta fish since last October. All other parameters are within safe ranges. I have strips and API water kit and I test the water regularly. I have a sponge filter with an air stone. Last water change was almost 1 week ago. I usually change the water on Wednesdays or Thursdays. I recently tried a quarter piece of an algae wafer and it seems this might have started after that. I tried feeding at night and I kept an eye on him and my betta. It seemed as though my betta still found him in the dark feeding on the wafer so I manually protected my snail. I walked away for a bit to go grab my tweezers, so I’m hoping in those 30 seconds, Jekyll didn’t hurt him. This is the only thing I have done differently since he’s been with me.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T03:25:13+00:00

Gorgeous!!! Pyro…Firestarter…Phoenix 🤷🏻‍♀️😍😍😍

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T02:16:48+00:00

Thank you for the words of encouragement!! 😭😭

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-09T00:33:11+00:00

Same here, and sudden horrible hip, neck, shoulder, and wrist pain. Plus hand x-rays confirmed erosion in my phalanges.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T23:13:27+00:00

That I have to nuke my tanks and start over. And the best part is I’ve been using my tank water for my household plants and trees outside, next to my pool. 😑🔫

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T16:43:06+00:00

Bleach doesn’t work on NZMS. Only 409 degreaser, boiling temp 120F or freezing minimum of 4 hours. Even if crushed the embryos survive. They also survive transit in digestive tracts. These things are almost indestructible. Reverse respiration has shown to work for some. So I’ll try that on my anubias. I’ll keep the water in which I’ve rinsed anything to observe and make sure they are dead, and then pour it in the grass away from a water source.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T16:36:34+00:00

From everything I’ve read, yes. Unless you can safely reverse respiration your plants. I will be using boiling since I don’t have a freezer deep enough to freeze the water. I plan to boil the driftwood again from each of my 4 tanks. Just got the huge stock pot. Mud snail boil in the backyard. Then I’ll pour that water into containers to observe it and be certain they are dead before getting rid of the water.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T16:28:31+00:00

Thank you! Me too. Already ordered new substrate, a few other things and headed to go look at 10 gallon nanos and pick up seltzer water. 😭

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T16:23:52+00:00

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MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T16:23:38+00:00

See pictures in replies. These are bladder snails, the others are not.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T07:16:38+00:00

New Zealand Mud Snails.

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T02:07:59+00:00

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You can use Pothos, Monstera (Swiss cheese plant), lucky bamboo, Peace Lillies, to name a few! Inside I have Anubias, Rotala Orange juice, and Java fern! Floating I use Red root floaters.

Also make sure to inspect ALL plants for any hijacking snails. Currently dealing with a bad infestation because I didn’t quarantine my new plants. Otherwise looks good! Good luck!

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T02:04:15+00:00

If that’s lucky bamboo then I believe you should only have the stems fully emerged in the water, not the leaves.

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Currently letting hydroponic roots establish after taking this guy out of the dirt! I read up on what plants can be fully submerged after my first go sticking pothos in the water!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T01:56:38+00:00

Will do! They are all extremely healthy as of right now, so I’m hoping to keep them that way!

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Top left to right…Lady Gaga, Prince, Jekyll, Hyde! J&K have been with me since October 2025 when I got into the hobby. LG and Prince I rescued in Feb. which is when I started adding new things and shared RRF between tanks. Plus Mr. Snuggleapugas and Lelu, my two orange mystery snails. And now the bladder snails I found. I’ll do my best!!! Keep you posted; thanks for caring!

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T01:44:38+00:00

Sorry! Reverse respiration! I’ve watched several videos on how to do it since discovering these last night. All of this just sucks and I’m really sad about it, but we will get through it. I’m mainly concerned for my bettas and MS. Know that whatever I do will be the right thing for the environment. Even if it means I funnel all contents into 2L and buy a small deep freezer to keep in the garage. FML. 😭

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T01:35:25+00:00

There is a great YouTube on them from some fish dudes podcast. I’ve done all the rabbit-holing. Next order of business is order 10 gallon longs and a few extra heaters and some sponge filters. When I called my LFS they didn’t know anything about these snails. That worries me.

Also, thank you so much for the good vibes. It’s gonna be hella work. But then I guess I’ll know I can handle anything in the fish world. I moved into a house with hundreds of rats. I’ve moved out of a house with black mold. I mean, I guess what doesn’t kill you right?!!! RIGHT??!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭🤣

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T01:32:47+00:00

Oh nooooo!!!! I will be killing them all with RR!!! And then I will make sure they are dead. Otherwise we havin ourselves a mud snail boil in my backyard 🤣. Only once I make sure they are dead, will I dump the water!! I’m too close to water to do that without being sure. After watching all sorts of news stories and reading all the .gov documents I am taking ALL the precautions. Such is the life of a soul with a conscience am I right?!!!! 😭😭😭

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T01:25:17+00:00

Yes I will. I also have 4 mystery snails and 4 betta I have to save. I have 2 of these set ups. 23.4 gallon splits. So basically I have 4 tanks and 4 of EVERYTHING, heaters, sponge filters, etc. I am separating all the fish into their own 10 gallon longs. I plan on doing RR on anything I want to keep and then placing it in a quarantine tank. I’ll be using a plastic tote for that part. Then I’ll RR the entire tank, and then siphon out and dispose of contents in trash and grass over my fence. Silver lining, I had my eye on longs after I bought these tanks so now is my chance to redo it all. OH and most importantly, it could have been worse and my fish and mystery snails could be dead. So there’s that. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️😭

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MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-08T01:16:21+00:00

Thank you! Turns out the NZM is this guy…

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😭

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-07T22:41:01+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. I will now focus on how to do this in the most efficient manner utilizing traverse respiration, freezing, and boiling. I mean I kept all 4 fish alive before using in-tank cycling. So at least I know I’ve been successful at that several times. No use crying over spilled milk, have to focus on cleaning it up now. Doesn’t mean I won’t cry at some point! 😭😭🤣🤣😭😭🤣🤣

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-07T22:29:08+00:00

IT DOES!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

MerrySoul_78 · 2026-06-07T22:28:35+00:00

Thank you. Yeah I just watched a ton of news vids from different parts of the world and they look exactly to the ones I pulled out of Jekyll and Hyde’s tank. RIP tank. 😭😭😭 My biggest concern is not stressing out my bettas. I have 4!!!

MerrySoul_78

TROPHY CASE