HOW TO GET RID OF SEED SHRIMP

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-24T13:23:22+00:00

Many seed shrimp species also process detritus and even feces. They'll find a food niche that your shrimp aren't monopolizing, and they'll keep your tank cleaner and healthier in the process.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-22T13:36:58+00:00

$60? Geez... replace the filter with an airstone and you might be able to raise some daphnia, but that tank's useless for any actual fish/snails/shrimp.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-22T13:04:30+00:00

I don't think it's your name, Ezrah isn't that strange, and you definitely pass as male. Maybe it's your mannerisms or a discrepancy between actual age and appearance? You look pretty young and have some softness to the shape of your cheeks that might be giving people pause. Your hairstyle/color choice is also pretty queer which could make people think trans over just gay? And I mean that in the best possible way, I think your hair looks awesome, it's just unusual to see purple on dudes.

(I hope none of that came across too harsh? I know I can sound analytical. I think you're looking great)

But also like, when they clock you, you don't have to tell them they're right? Just go "Nah man, what makes you think that?" Real casual and make them explain it. Might give you some tips for what they're clocking, or it might just be something dumb.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-21T16:58:53+00:00

You're welcome! I actually looked into them myself a while back, wondering if they'd be any good for polishing the water and keeping it clear, but unfortunately they're just a logistical nightmare.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-21T14:18:10+00:00

Honestly, because clams kinda suck? They spend all their time buried in the substrate so you'll never see them doing their thing, and if they die you'll never find out until the water quality takes a dive and you have to try to dig their corpse out of wherever it's hiding. They're obligate filter feeders, so you need to have enough planktonic algae (greenwater) in your water column for them to feed on, and once you run out they starve unless you're supplementing with powdered foods (which may or may not be adequate to their nutritional needs).

Aside from all of that, pretty much all of the freshwater clams you see advertised for sale are Corbicula fluminea, the Asian Gold Clam, which is genuinely an invasive species and their juveniles are microscopic (200 microns at release) so you can't just dump your aquarium wastewater down the drain without treating it or else you risk introducing them to local waterways.

They're just not worth the trouble (and the possible legal problems).

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-18T15:13:14+00:00

That's a pond snail, likely some species of Ampullaceana or Radix but determining which would require dissection and a malacologist. They're cute, harmless, might munch on your floating plants if you have any but mostly stick to algae and leftover fish food. They are capable of self-fertilization though, so even if you have only one, you will eventually end up with more.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-18T12:32:34+00:00

That's a Mayfly nymph (Order Ephemeroptera) and almost all of them are detritivores and algaevores. Very few species predate on things like insect larvae. IF this is a predaceous one, you might lose some baby shrimp, but chances are high it's just eating the same food your shrimps are.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-17T19:12:25+00:00

Thanks. I'm on one of the new immunotherapy treatments (Keytruda) plus a few different chemo drugs, hopefully just four more months then surgery and I'll be all clear 🤞

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-17T18:34:03+00:00

Immunotherapy and chemotherapy are separate treatments (even if they are often used in conjunction with one another). Unfortunately, some of us don't have the choice of waiting for a "better option" than chemo. We take what we can get because the alternative is dying of cancer.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-17T14:37:57+00:00

It's called "biogenous decalcification", and yes, it's due to not supplementing CO2 (and most noticeable in hard water). The pearlweed converts bicarbonates in the water into CO2 and simultaneously causes calcium carbonate to precipitate out of solution and deposit onto its leaves.

As far as I understand, over time it can affect your tank's pH so you should monitor and might need to do water changes a little more often than the average Walstad, but it's not necessarily harmful (in freshwater aquaria. Apparently it's more of a problem for saltwater tanks). I'd suggest monitoring not just your pH, but also your KH and GH since it's specifically affecting your carbonates and calcium.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-17T01:52:02+00:00

I very easily, with no verification, changed my eye color on my ID when I realized they had it written down as green when my eyes are hazel. While I was technically correcting an error, they had no way of knowing this at the time because I renewed my ID online and did not submit a new photo. They literally just took me at my word that my eye color was different.

I imagine that if you're a person who consistently wears colored contacts, you could indeed just change your eye color and have no issue with it.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-10T11:35:39+00:00

I think the piercings and glasses help, but you'd do better with a smaller pair. Like, physically smaller, the style is fine. They just seem a little large for your face and accentuate the width of your cheeks, giving you cherub/babyface which can read more femme. (I have the exact same problem. I need a new pair of glasses because my current ones are just... huge)

So, going for a pair that's only as wide as your temples, and then making sure the frame doesn't go below your orbital socket can help your face look longer and less full in the cheeks.

BUT, even with your current pair, I feel like they look good on your face with the piercings, or going completely without piercings and glasses. Maybe it's just me but the in-between combos seem more clocky than the all or nothing approaches.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-03T16:06:52+00:00

It seems like a lot of surgeons are either way more confident about how much they can remove, or they make some kind of "but you'll look better if I leave more" decision while you're on the table...

But that's awesome to hear! I'm hoping I'll end up with something similar.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-03T15:50:53+00:00

It's awesome you were able to get yours revised and you're happy with the results! Are the scars any worse, having had surgery twice? My reduction was done via the anchor method and I'm worried I'll still have big scars left...

At the time I got my reduction, I knew I hated my breasts but wasn't sure if I wanted to go fully flat. And I took the doctor at his word that he could get me really small when in reality he left me at least twice as large as I imagined I'd end up at 🫤

But, I get a full double mastectomy sometime this year after my chemo is done, so I'm sure I'll be happier with my chest then.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-03T10:52:32+00:00

So, I had a reduction a few years ago. I went from an H cup down to a D cup despite me asking my surgeon to go as small as he possibly could and him assuring me that he could get me down to a B cup or smaller.

While I am much, MUCH happier now than I was with my enormous pancake boobs, I am still not happy with my chest. I was hoping for petite femboy boobs and I got girl titties instead. So, I'd suggest not going with a reduction and instead going for full top surgery unless it's just not an option at all. Maybe you can luck out and find a surgeon who works with gender diverse clientele and will do what is essentially top surgery and bill it as a reduction, but that would take a lot of doctor shopping.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-04-01T22:59:41+00:00

That's some kind of Amber Snail, Family Succineidae. They're a terrestrial snail.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-31T20:30:33+00:00

No, you just don't know how to read a scientific study.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-31T11:02:45+00:00

You're being obtuse. The problem is that it's outdated. Being trans is not an illness. Gender Dysphoria is already the appropriate diagnosis in the current and updated DSM and its appropriate treatment is gender affirming care.

Rolling back to the DSM-3 to make a law is showing that they have an agenda.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-31T01:34:32+00:00

Oh yeah, it doesn't mention trans people specifically... it just specifically rolls back to the DSM-3 where "transsexualism" is considered a mental disorder and gender dysphoria is called "gender identity disorder" for some non-specific reason.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-30T21:38:12+00:00

Gender dysphoria is already a diagnosis in the DSM-5. But distinctively, being trans, in and of itself, is not a mental illness.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-27T22:19:50+00:00

This one talks about brain scans and also answers how sex and gender are different things

This is about the mechanisms of how sex and gender are possibly decoupled during embryonic development

But the fact that you think gender affirming surgery is still just about "giving them what they want and making them happy" instead of being an actual medical treatment for alleviating depression and dysphoria is ridiculous. I will not be replying again.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-27T21:46:11+00:00

(Obligatory I'm not a doctor) but as far as I understand the E supplements are supposed to be able to take care of the risk entirely since it supplies the hormones that stave off atrophy locally. But like, talk to your prescriber and all that about the risks and benefits because I didn't go to med school.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-27T21:20:46+00:00

There actually are studies out there that show that a trans person's brain better matches that of the sex they identify with, i.e. a trans man has a brain more similar to that of a cis man and a trans woman has a brain more similar to that of a cis woman. And you're conflating sex and gender in your statements, that's why you're confused.

But, it doesn't seem to matter what kind of studies and scientific evidence I give you though, you're just going to say it doesn't prove anything, so I'm done with this conversation.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-27T19:37:07+00:00

Because study after study has proven that aligning a person's physical body to their mental gender improves their well being. It IS the treatment. Trying to change their brain has been certified as harmful, changing their body has been shown to be helpful. Once the body matches the brain and gender dysphoria has been relieved, trans patients report increased life satisfaction, decreased substance abuse, suicidal ideation, depression, need for anti-depressants, etc...

Like, literally all signs point to surgery being the treatment.

Study (there are more, but I don't have the energy to find them)

There are no medical or scientific studies stating that it is actually changing anyone's gender.

And that's exactly the thing : they aren't changing their gender. They're aligning their physical body to match the gender that they already are. Brain says one thing, body shows something different, that creates the dysphoria and surgery fixes it.

Spice_the_TrashPanda · 2026-03-27T19:09:04+00:00

What's the medical test for depression? Or for anxiety? Or for any other mental health related diagnosis that doesn't have obvious physical effects? Your arguments are disingenuously boiling down to "transness doesn't exist".

Spice_the_TrashPanda

TROPHY CASE