#hornworts

[infp-mess]

[m0ssistardus4]

mmrs

[forestgreenivy]

Tried to take a picture of my new aquascaping addition to the patio garden, and I ended up getting a selfie. The summer heat has not been too kind to the garden, but we’re trying to make it through. Then I can replant for the autumn harvest!

[thenativetank]

Okay so I finally got around to sorting out my overgrown native tank - after a week of being away the hornwort exploded. In a good way. Pictures of progress and result under the cut!

Okay maybe this was more than a week in the making. Am I the lazy one? Am I out of touch with the tank's needs? No, its the aquarium who is wrong.

In any case, I pulled a 4 foot strand of hornwort out. Welp.

For what started as a few collected strands of hornwort I'm honestly pretty happy.

Middle progress.

After! Still lots of plant there but, like, it's okay. I'll trim more and save it for the garden club's next plant sale. I'd love to be the only member specializing in the sale of native aquatic plants!

Less impressive though was the Potomogeton, which I picked like 3 years ago and has just been a steady grower over that time. I have less now than I did then, just because the other plants outcompete it, but I enjoy it all the same.

[coridallasmultipass]

It took me, ugh, MONTHS (2), to get to cleaning the two shrimp tanks I have... I had IRL issues going on that would have made it extremely difficult to do a water change especially while injured, and I just had to keep putting it off. It's just shrimp, so it wasn't like, the worst situation, especially since I have established plants and the tanks are a couple years old. There was just a lot of algae build-up on the glass, and, well... Let me just say it was not contributing to my mental health and well-being while the tanks were in that state.

I tested the water before I started cleaning and the parameters were fine (like, I could have left the tanks even longer if I would be okay with selling my soul to the Algae Collective), and the plants and shrimp look fine, too (I mean, I've obviously been keeping an eye on the tanks bc I sit right next to them). Actually, I'd wager to say that the plants are looking really great (the lilies haven't died off [yet? This is the longest period of time I've seen them stay... foliage... fol... foliated? Idk.] and the cryptocoryne in the 10gal is fucking huge and needs to be rearranged, just not right now). That fucking algae was a motherfucker to get off the 10gal (it's a plastic tank and I think that makes the algae grip harder than the glass 5gal).

[Also, fyi, depending on the tank's needs and stability, recommended water changes are a small one every week or every other week. My parameters don't seem to do anything dramatic, so I usually aim for a 20-30% water change every third week (just depends on how much vacuuming needs to be done and how cooperative the shrimp are with moving aside). So 2 months is still a lot. I still did the normal 30% ish amount, since doing more will risk the shrimp's well-being if there's a sudden change in everything, and my water parameters indicated a change was unnecessary - but I don't test for more than the minimum freshwater tests, so there could be a buildup of some mineral I'm not testing for, which is why the change IS actually necessary regardless of what my test kit says - because these tanks were evaporating a lot in summer, it condenses the minerals added with each water addition, even tho I usually top up with R.O. water.]

My back is fucking killing me lol. It has been killing me since spring when it 'went out' for the first time, and I'm not getting any relief, it sucks. But this had to be done.

The 5gal is looking pretty cloudy still, since the filter was super gunked up and I accidentally spilled gunk back in, so I may need to retest the 5gal parameters tomorrow just to make sure I don't have to do another water change, but it'll probably be fine, right? Shrimp love mulm and detritus. I did give both tanks a big ole algae tab for their trouble, tho. (I need a fuckening dish for the big tank. I really wanna clean off that white quartz rock again, but being white means it's an algae magnet, and it's just gonna go green again after a month or two.)

Anyway, shrimp tax:

I lov thees widdle oange bebies.

Wish I could take better pictures rn, but I am. Like. Dying. My recommendation: never live in an A-frame style room if you have the option. The wall above my tanks is slanted, and NOT fun for my back to bend underneath the wall for maintenance. (My only flat wall in the room is for my TV/PC.) Also, treat your back nicely, in general. I unfortunately have not had the option to treat my back nicely since spring (fall now), because 'when it rains it pours,' and heavy shit that needs to be moved will not move itself. Once I get a few more things in my room in order, I will hopefully be done with the IRL chaos, bc I have Halloween socks to knit, and I'm not putting that off for another year. (I'm still mad that I couldn't make the ones I planned last year. And I found more Halloween yarn I forgot I bought, so I'm gonna try to make multiple socks.) And I just really need to fucking chill and knit and stop having panic attacks and meltdowns.

[mossinformed]

Are you a fan of moss? Want to find out what Bryophytes even are? Well, here’s a link to 5 books published by the author for free, no paywall and no sign-up necessary! You can even view in the browser. And there’s cute pics :-o

“Bryophyte Ecology is an ebook comprised of 5 volumes written by Janice Glime, Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University. Chapter coauthors include Irene Bisang, S. Robbert Gradstein, J. Lissner, W. J. Boelema, and D. H. Wagner. If you are a returning visitor, be sure to refresh your browser in case there have been recent updates.”

Want to curl up in the moss and never come out? Garden your own, make art, close a wound, or make human proteins by genetically engineering moss?

Why are bog bodies preserved so well? Sphagnum occupies 1/3 of the land on our planet, where can you see some? Mosses can be dead and alive (and another secret third thing).

What are mosses, why are they so much weirder than you thought?

Mosses, fish, frogs, slugs (and more!) and a checklist of bryophyte-dwelling salamanders just in case.

What you can do for mosses, how to curate your own archive, collect, identify and donate them to an herbarium so mosses can be protected! Seriously, you can’t get more mosscore than that.

Once I ID the specimen in this photo I’ll add the name : )

[kangals]

here’s what the shrimp house looks like currently! my scaping method is very “throw everything in the tank and see what lives” so it’s not the prettiest currently, and I need to get something for the back glass, but they seem to be liking their space so far

[m0ssistardus4]

simply

simply put a Gerard here

[thirrith]

the next six animals i get in stardew valley are going to be named after the geologic periods of the paleozoic era

[melangle]

more of that odd hornwort that was mostly sporophyte with tiny gametophytes

[juniperharvest]

this hot take does not matter in the least but I’m still putting it on my tumblr bc I do what I want forever

I know urbanization and y’all are incredibly disconnected from your food systems but can white ppl pls learn about their ecosystems? Lmfao like tender queers, moss will NOT consume your body because you’re full of bacteria and once you die the bacteria starts breaking you down and makes a toxic environment for plants. It is in fact, a good environment for fungi which will continue to break you down.

Yes let’s all love moss and bogs. They’re great and unique and there are species of moss that only grow on moose feces in a bog and there’s another species of moss that only grows on wolf feces in a bog like !!! That’s so cool. Anyway moss is very particular to specific substrates. They like porous material that doesn’t have a lot of vascular plant growth on it: wood, rocks, there’s another species of moss that grows in very limey soil / desserts / and graveyards

Anyway imma go fuck myself, this literally does not matter don’t read it. There’s a lot more to focus on in this world I just… moss.

[coridallasmultipass]

So many spimps. Smimp heaven. Skrimp skeven.

[emeraldreverie]

i was finally (pay day!) able to get more plants for my pond that i've started and i think i'm mostly in a "now wait for it be lush" stage and i'm so bouncy excited! i'm so happy that this project has actualized

[kitsu-smiec]

They are lucky I love em.

I really do tho :3

[notabagofmoss]

[m0ssistardus4]

Just two Earth gurls but very hc version 😖😖