#5 gallon water filter

[saganlife]

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[bijoumikhawal]

Hurricane Helene Relief Funds

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue operates out of Asheville, which has been hit aggressively by storm and flood damage

The Asheville Survival Program is reaching out. They appear to actually be the ones who use the Cashapp $Streets1de, and they just got put with Appalachian Med for convenience.

Beloved Asheville is reaching out. www.PayPal.me/belovedasheville and venmo.com/beloved-asheville

Homeward Bound helps the homeless in the Asheville/Buncombe area

Theres a fund for smaller rural communities around Asheville. It's close to its goal, but I really wish they'd set it higher considering what people are gonna need. Someone make sure they surpass it!

Charlotte NC is reaching out. Charlotte Mutual Aid: Helene Disaster Relief. CashApp: MutualAid704. Venmo: MutualAid704. Open Collective: Helene.cltfnb.com

Olive Branch Ministry is reaching out from West NC

Josh Griffith is fundraising for his efforts to deliver food in WNC

Breathitt County in Kentucky is fundraising to help NC through the Rousseau Volunteer Fire Department, as well as asking for physical supply donations. Their paypal is jrousseauvfd, put "for NC flood". Jaxon Flower shop in Jackson KY will also take physical donations. They aren't looking for clothes, moreso cleaning supplies and other items.

North Durham Mutual Aid is reaching out.

Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid is also reaching out for funds. There looks like there might be two orgs with similar names, but if so both are helping. There's PayPal.me/ekymutualaid, Venmo - @ekymutualaid, or Cashapp - $ekymutualaid. There's also a Facebook group where individuals are posting requests for aid.

There's a fund for relief in Erwin, Tennessee

Helbender Harm Reduction is collecting physical supplies in Knoxville alongside First Aid Collective Knoxille, whose Cashapp/Venmo is: $firstaidcollectknox. If you're nearby they're looking for clothes, blankets, shelf stable food, rain gear, flashlights, and batteries, which is what most other groups asking for supplies are looking at too.

The TriCities Mutual Aid group is mostly asking for volunteers and supplies in the Tennessee/Virginia area. However, they may shift to donations, and you can reach out to them to see if they would be welcome either way.

Food Not Bombs Tallahassee has a cashapp: $fnbtally2022. They and Mutual Aid Athens are also boosting any community calls for funds, labor, or supplies in various states on their Instagram pages

Taylor County FL is reaching out. Paypal: Mskatonic138@gmail.com and Venmo @Mskatonic138

The Footprint project's Florida team is asking for people to support their response by texting HELENE to 44-321

Since I don't know if the post I made late last night will get traction I'll reiterate that Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a trusted org. You can send funds at the linked site, or via Paypal: MutualAidDisasterRelief@gmail.com Or Venmo: @MutualAidDisasterRelief

Appalachian Med is another trusted org I shared last night. They have Venmo: @AppMedSolid. Put Flood Support in the description

Animal Disaster Relief Coalition is helping people make sure their animals are fed.

A list of Mutual Aid groups can be found here

A friend of mine, Vyn, is asking for help since he'll be out of power for around a week in Southeast GA

Other physical supplies people will be looking for in flood impacted areas include:

bottled water, potentially water filters

personal hygiene items: wipes, camping showers, tampons/pads/other menstrual products, handsanitizer, mosquito spray, laundry detergent, washboards, toilet paper, diapers, and especially any products safe for sensitive skin

medications- ibuprofen, monistat and other meds for yeast infections, cold and cough meds, any diabetic meds that can be safely shared, etc

individually wrapped low or no prep food items, baby formula, and Gatorade

duffel bags, backpacks, heavy duty storage totes and trash bags, 5 gallon buckets, coolers

Fans, dehumidifiers, moisture sensors, generators, gas and gas cans, solar charging items and battery banks, first aid kits

chainsaws, crowbars, hammers, air filters, respirators, 2×4 planks, bleach, roofing nails, heavy duty gloves, and potentially waders.

and board games or other non electric activities for children

Double check if you can before you donate these items to make sure whatever local drive you're headed to wants them and can distribute the more specialized ones where they're needed

And please! Add any funds you know of, especially for South Carolina and North Georgia since I wasn't seeing many funds for those areas! I know South Carolina is in desperate need and there's definitely parts of North Georgia in need too. Atlanta saw some bad flooding so keep an eye for them too!

[transmasc-rose]

Fish!!!

I am going to get... little fish...

[elvexen27]

🐠Cove Holden Aquarium/Fish Tank Headcannons🐠

STEP 1

- I think in step one all Cove has for an aquarium is just a 10-15 gal freshwater aquarium

- Aka the standard for most 8 year olds

- Cliff does 99% of the work at this age, it’s one of his ways of showing Cove he cares

- Cove doesn’t really care about the fish. Not in a bad way!! I just think Cove wouldn’t be as into it as his older counterparts are.

- Not to say he doesn’t want the fish, he just doesn’t think of them as top of his priority list

- Has the world’s most gentle and calm male betta EVER. It’s actually crazy how chill he is.

- His tank is a mix of real plants and colorful decor, but it’s overall not bad.

- This fish lives for like 4 years

Walking into Coves room for the first time was a really big moment for you. It was made even more important by finally being able to meet the smallest member of the Holden household.

As Cove opens the door to his bedroom, you’re immediately met with the crunch of the sand on the floor and the trickling of the water from the hang-back filter of his aquarium.

Sitting across from his bed sits a 15 gallon cube aquarium, housing the prettiest blue betta fish you’d ever seen. Well, you hadn’t seen many, and none in person, but you could just tell it was the prettiest.

“What’s his name?” You look over at Cove, but he just shrugs “Does he not have a name?”

“Not really” He replies, moving closer to look at the tank. “Dad’s been calling him Reef, so I guess if you want to call him something, that would work.”

STEP 2

- After the passing of his Betta, Cove goes to Cliff and asks him for a saltwater tank.

- Cliff is, naturally, apprehensive at first. A 13 y/o with a saltwater tank? Risky

- Cove is able to prove to him he’s done his research and they slowly acquire what they need for Coves new tank

- They decide to upgrade the tank to a 30 gallon, keeping the 15 gal as a temporary tank or hospital tank if they need it

- They get 2 clownfish and a medium anemone

- Cove absolutely adores them, and such the fish love begins in its truest form here.

- If provoked he is fully willing and able to go on an hour long rant about how they should be cared for and how they behave in their natural environment, it’s sweet.

- Does eventually get more fish in the tank, perfecting his setup during school that year

“I can’t believe someone kept an adult yellow tang in a 40 gallon aquarium. That’s wildly irresponsible and just bad for the fishes overall health.”

Your lips curve into a small smile as you listen to Cove rant about fish ethics. You’d learned a lot, but the only thing you could focus on was him.

He was pacing back and forth in front of his bed while you sat on it. You look over to see Coves clownfish tank, the two swimming idly around the anemone.

It’d made all the sense in the world that the ocean boy you grew up with started taking care of saltwater fish. His love for the ocean penetrated all aspects of his life, from his hobby’s to his pets.

STEP 3

- Cove now has 3 different saltwater tanks in his room: a 75 gallon and two twin 55 gallon tanks

- The 75 gallon tank is nothing short of a show stopper, and it’s been made into a focal point of Coves room.

- It’s filled with coral, anemone, and saltwater fish. Coves ensured it’s not too overcrowded though.

- Its got 6 blue-green chromis, 1 royal gamma, and 5 cardinal fish

- The twin 55 gallons are nothing to turn your nose up at either

- One contains a pair of ocellaris clownfish and a large anemone, he couldn’t resist after his last pair passed.

- The other contains only coral and a single adult dwarf lionfish

- Anyone who goes over to Coves room is pretty much guaranteed to make at least one underwater or aquarium related joke

Walking into Coves room was second nature to you, it was your home in the Holden household. Feet crunching over loose sand, you pass the threshold.

Coves three large tanks illuminate the room in a soft, cool light. Each unique, joined only in the fact that they were Coves and they were saltwater.

He himself is standing over by his clownfish tank, his personal favorite, features gently lit up by the tanks light. His inspection is quick and methodical, something he’s clearly done hundreds of times before.

“It’s so natural to see you like this” You smile at him “Hovered over a fish tank, checking to make sure all is well. It’s like you were meant to be there.”

All he can manage is a sweet smile, and that’s all you need.

A/N: AAAAAAAAAA I love this so much it’s not even funny. I’m an avid fish keeper myself, though I’ve only got space for one tank at the moment. I learned so much about saltwater tanks while writing this, it’s not even funny. I feel like if MC was a freshwater fish keeper debates would definitely ensue over which is the superior type (it’s blackwater/botanical tanks, it will always be).

[proud-leech-dad]

Comprehensive leech care guide: Updated as of 4/17/25

There's not a lot of public information on the domestic care of leeches outside of their medical uses and niche forums and facebook groups, so I wanted to create as comprehensive a guide as I can for proper leech care, referencing scientific papers whenever possible. This guide is open to corrections and input from other keepers and will be updated regularly as new information comes to light. If found in a reblog, always check to make sure you have the most updated version of this post. This guide pertains to the Hirudo verbana leech SPECIFICALLY but pulls from what information we know from Hirudo medicinalis due to their similar morphology and classification that only split in 2013. This guide will be operating under the assumption that bare minimums are not enough to thrive and has been written accordingly.

There are a lot of citations needed at the moment.

Tank specs

Size and Equipment Requirements

• For ideal leech care in display tanks, tanks should be at least 2 times the size of your leech tall, and have enough room to fit their body when stretched out at least 3 times length wise. This allow for swimming, the ability for leeches to escape each other, and the observation of various leech behaviors.

• 5-10 gallon fish tanks are great for a leech tank, with larger ones being good for groups. Bowls are suitable according to some keepers if your leech is solitary or small, but not recommended as studies have shown a tank without corners can stress fishes and aquatic life.

• Tanks should have dedicated land area in the form of exposed logs, cork bark, tank shelfs, etc. Preferably, these areas should have moss for leeches to deposit eggs. Tanks are able to be kept completely aquatic according to some keepers, but it is of my own personal opinion and is proven by researchers that this, and making your leeches breed late. can increase mortality in your leeches.

• Leeches thrive in low oxygen environments and typically produce very little waste, as such, tanks do not need a dedicated filter, especially if planted. If more oxygen is preferred, a bubbler on a low setting or high oxygen producing plants can be added. Large amounts of water movement should be avoided.

• Your tank must possess a tight lid of some kind as leeches will gladly squeeze through cracks to escape and explore. This lid can be a tight mesh, cheese cloth or some similarly breathable but secure fabric. This can be fastened with elastic to keep it secure over your tank or secured over a terrarium style snake lid.

Light Requirements

• Leeches should be kept out of direct sunlight and prefer dim or dark areas, though will still benefit from a regular light cycle.

Substrate

• Leeches require gravel/small rocks to dig through. Small lava rocks are highly recommended for their light weight and rough surface that encourages leech shed. In addition, lava rocks have shapes that provide large gaps for your leeches to hide in.

• Other substrates such as sand, soil, or clay balls may be added for planted tanks, and small clay balls work well to fill the bigger gaps between lava rocks if you don't want your leeches to burrow too far.

Plants and decor

• Plants are highly recommended for leeches, both as an area to breed, hide, and for general enrichment. Plants should be low light to match the light requirements of your leeches.

• An aquatic moss of some kind doesn't hurt for adding a little extra oxygen to the aquarium and acting as a hide. Prioritize mosses that have a lower temperature range, such as java moss, which is commonly cultivated, readily available, and is able to live in temperatures from 15-28⁰C.

• A land moss should be planted/attached to a surface above the water and maintained where your leeches can crawl onto it. This should be kept at varying levels of dampness for cocoon depositation. Please note that some mosses are illegally harvested, and you should do your best to get ones that have been cultivated instead.

• Anubias varieties of plants are also good for their low light requirements and low maintenance and can add a visual interest to your tank.

• Leeches should have dedicated hides to provide a dark, safe place and reduce stress. Hides do not have to be large, and rough areas of the hides do not have the same concerns that exist with fish (ie. Fins getting caught), so are fine for your leeches.

• Adding wood can be beneficial as it leeches helpful tanins into the water and can provide a land area for your leeches. If wood is collected from outside sources, it can be boiled for 1 hr to kill any outside bacteria or funguses. For wood gathered this way, it should be a hard, dry wood. Wood can be soaked in water for a few days before adding it to the tank to assist with sinking if desired.

• Cork bark makes a good floating platform, though it shouldn't be kept free floating to let the leeches get on easily. I found that wedging two pieces between the aquarium walls makes for a suitable platform, and wood can be arranged around that to create damp, partially submergerged hides.

• Plastic plants can be a welcome additon to add places to hide or shed extra skin, but be cautious of sharp edges that may harm their soft bodies. Plastic plants should be periodically taken out to clean to prevent algae build up.

Water specs

• Leeches prefer colder waters and can survive in freezing temperatures. The survivable range of temperature to keep them at can range from 0-34⁰C (32-93⁰F) at the Absolute Extremes but ideally, your tank should be kept in the lower middle range of that (50-70°F) [Tentative info. Research required] with only minimal or very gradual temperature changes. Leeches can survive being briefly frozen but obviously ideally will not be.

• Leeches should be in dechlorinated water, either through treating tap water, rain water, or spring water properly remineralized. Though pond water is suitable, the risk of adding parasites, unknown contaminates, or harmful bacteria means that it is not recommended.

• The total hardness of your water should be in the 50-100 ppm range to match freshwater sources. If your water has less, aquarium salts should be added to prevent the water from leeching minerals out of your leech.

• Distilled water should typically be avoided being used as sold as it's "dead" and all minerals have been removed, but the use of leech specific salts in distilled water will provide your leeches with the needed minerals to thrive.

Water changes

• Water changes should be performed roughly once a week, but sources vary on length of time, with the leech's low waste meaning that a planted, maintained tank may only need a water change monthly. You should be replacing about 20-30% of your water to remove dead skin and reduce the build up of nitrites and nitrates.

• Additional water changes should be done when leeches deficate after feeding, usually denoted by a brown or red tint to the water, and the water should be monitored for a few weeks after for ammonia spikes and changed as needed.

• During water changes, it can be helpful to take a moment to clean the glass of the tank, or to manually skim any excess protiens off the surface of the water if not in possession of a filter or skimmer.

Number of leeches

• Leeches can be kept solitarily or in groups. The minimum tank specs are as follows: 1, 50g leech or 5 10g leeches in a .5 liter tub 17cm in and 6-8 cms high with .5 liters of water (Spencer and Jones, 2007), please note though, that this research is outdated, and it's likely that they need much more space than that. As previously mentioned, a larger tank size is obviously recommended to show a full range of behaviors and allow for a more visually interesting experience.

• Though able to be kept solitary, leeches are best kept in groups of 3 or more according to some keepers. Personal research to follow.

Leech behaviors and care:

Leech anatomy and lifespan

• Leeches are soft bodied worms, meaning their skin can be punctured by hard tools and caution should be used with damaging their bodies.

• Leeches possess 2 suckers, one posterior (Rear), and one anterior (mouth). These suckers are used to ambulate or latch onto surfaces.

• Leeches are hermaphroditic and possess both male and female sex organs that are only plainly visible during their mating season. Leeches can self fertilize.

• Leeches breathe through their skin like other worms, and this skin sheds off them periodically throughout the day by rubbing up against rough surfaces.

• Leeches possess small 'teeth' and separate jaws that leave a three pointed star mark behind when feeding.

• Leeches keep blood in their blood crop, where symbiotic bacteria keeps the blood fresh as they slowly digest.

• Hirudo Leeches have a lifespan of up to 8 years

Basics of leech behavior

• Leeches will remain at rest with their heads above the water, and will do so either folded in half or stretched out with both their suckers attached to the glass.

• Leeches love to hang out under the water when tank conditions are suitable, and will attach their posterior sucker to a surface, occasionally undulating to move water over their skin.

• Leeches will swim from one end of the tank to the other through anguilliform swimming similar to an eel but vertically.

• Sudden, dark shadows or changes in light can invoke a prey response in leeches and will cause them to hide until they feel safe.

•Leeches will often "sniff" the air or water around them.

• Leeches become overly active when hungry, showing an increased responsiveness to movement and shadow, and will swim to heat sources such as hands

• When feeding or reproducing, all of these normal behaviors halt in favor of the new ones, and leeches stop responding to stimulus at all, to the point that they can be cut in half and not stop their actions.

Reproduction

• Hirudo Leeches reach sexual maturity after about 1-2 years on average

• In the case of Hirudo leeches, mating season naturally takes place in summer, spanning June through August where your leeches female genitalia known as the clitellum will appear as a ring around the body, simalar to an earthworm.

• Breeding can be artifically induced by gradually warming up your tank, but is not reccomended so as not to stress your leech

• Mating takes place in the water, and while many keepers use a lack of land space as an effective form of egg deposition prevention, it should be noted that research shows that this is harmful and potentially deadly to your leech.

• Leeches will not show signs of pregnancy. Any lumps are sickness and you should refer to the proper section.

• Cocoons are commonly laid in damp land areas, either moss or soil in the wild, and take from 2 to 4 weeks to hatch as ~6 fully formed nymphs. (Conflicting information found. Citation TBA)

• Cocoons are soft when laid and proceed to harden over the next hour. Avoid puncturing or moving these cocoons while still soft.

• Termination of cocoons can be performed by freezing them and cutting them in half. Please note that freezing alone will not necessarily kill the eggs

• As previously mentioned, leeches can self fertilize, meaning you may have a cocoon even with one leech. Keepers should be prepared to terminate a cocoon in these cases.

• Unlike other leeches that die after mating, Hirudo leeches can reproduce for the duration of their lifespan.

Feeding

• Hirudo Verbana leeches feed once every 3-4 months with some suggesting more like 4-6. (Citation TBA) Feeding more often than this is likely to harm your leech by causing it to grow too quickly or cause it to vomit blood back up.

• The medically recommended way to feed your leeches is to get a sausage casing and fill it with animal blood (usually beef) warmed to body temp for your leeches to latch onto. This animal blood should be free of antibiotics and bloodthinners and can be collected from your local butcher.

• Please note that pig and raccoon blood should NOT be used, as they will kill your leech.

• Many leech owners will choose instead to feed off themselves for an easier, cheaper option. This comes with its own medical risks and care should be taken to avoid infection of the bite. You should ask your doctor before feeding your leeches off yourself. Once again, your blood should be free of antibiotics as they will kill your leeches.

⚠️ Note that sterile medical leeches kept in non-sterile environments like this will cease to be sterile

Now that I've legally covered my ass, assuming you are feeding off yourself, the following is important information to have.

◇ Materials: Antibacterial soap, isopropyl alcohol, sterile surgical pads (available cheaply at pharmacys), medical tape or masking tape if not available, liquid bandage (optional) and a pill bottle (optional)

◇ Skin should be cleaned before feeding to avoid risk of infection.

◇ Leeches should be fed on thinner skin, but avoid feeding directly over veins. Common bite locations for keepers are feet or the arm due to the thinner skin there.

◇ To have your leech bite in a specific area, avoid veins, or encourage biting, your leech can be placed in an empty pill bottle and held to your desired bite location.

◇ Leeches will inject an anesthetic similar into the bloodstream, which may cause feelings of mild euphoria or lightheadedness, in addition to the injection of a powerful blood thinner. You should not self feed if you are on any combination of blood thinners. The bite will range from painless to feeling like a small prickling similar to a shot or gentle tattoo.

◇ Feeding takes up to an hour, and after feeding, your leeches will simply drop off of you. The blood thinners will mean that you will bleed constantly for up to ~10 hours afterwards.

◇ After your leech has fed, hold pressure to the location, move to the sink, and thoroughly clean your wound(s) with your antibacterial soap and alcohol before bandaging properly and applying pressure with a surgical pad and medical tape

◇ Liquid bandage on the wound will quickly stop the bleeding but has been reported by some to increase risk of infection. Risk of infection COULD possibly be lowered by letting yourself bleed to flush out bacteria from the wound for an hour or so, but this is a hypothesis and has not been proven.

◇ You should be prepared to bleed a LOT. Pads should be changed every 2 hours or when bled through to the point of being soaked.

• Baby leeches are often too small to penetrate skin and, in the wild, would bite through the thin skin of frogs. In captivity, baby leeches will feed off their parents or can be helped during self feeding by pricking with a sterile diabetic needle to help break the skin.

• NEVER try and pull a leech off your skin without first breaking suction. Doing so will cause the leech to possibly vomit up blood and bacteria into the wound, greatly increasing the risk of infection, or harm the leech itself.

•If your leech bites when you don't want it to and you Absolutely need to remove it, slide a nail under the anterior sucker to break suction. Note, though, that it's easy for this to harm hirudo leeches by damaging their skin and jaws. It should be avoided when possible.

Handling of leeches

• Leeches should not be handled after feeding for about a week as it can cause digestive issues

• Gloves recommended during handling

On the care of sick leeches

• Leeches when sick will have a lumpy appearance to their body, often caused by an internal twisting of their blood crops. Inexperienced leech keepers will oftem mistake this for "pregnancy". This can sometimes be healed typically by adding extra tannins to the water via betta leaves or Adler pine cones. Your leech should NOT feed until all lumps are gone.

• It's possible if not given enough to rub against that your leech's shed may get stuck. This can usually be solved by gently rubbing the leech between your fingers.

• "Air taken in during a feed can be potentially life threatening. (C. Peters, pers. comm.) The leech should be held between finger and thumb, and both digits run along the length of the body, expressing as much air and blood meal from the animal as possible" (Spencer and Jones, 2007) Confirmation of success needed.

How to aquire leeches

⚠️⚠️⚠️Do not buy from leech.com!!!⚠️⚠️⚠️

More info to be added.

Conservation status

• Hirudo medicalis leech populations have declined in their natural habitat spanning across Europe and parts of Asia due to over harvesting of leeches for medical purposes in the 19th century, drainage of wetlands, and the reduction of horse use.

• Hirudo leeches are currently considered near threatened in the wild and are protected from wild harvesting

• Any hirudo leeches should be bought from a reputable breeder

• NEVER release your leeches into a non-native environment

Helpful Groups

(Please note that not all advice will align with the one given in this guide. I try to use the most recent scientific articles but this is still largely unstudied as a hobby)

r/Leeches (Link TBA)

Leech Gang on facebook (Link TBA)

References

Spencer, W. & Jones, G. (2007): The captive breeding and educational display of the Medicinal Leech Hirudo medicinalis (Linnaeus 1758) at Bristol Zoo Gardens NOTE. OUTDADED AND NEEDS CORRECTION

TBA. So many TBA. Adding pics in the meantime until I cite the articles in mla

Search Engine Terms. Ignore if using guide

leech care leech care guide hirudo leeches hirudo leech care leech tank requirements leech tank needs leech tank setup hirudo verbana leeches Hirudo verbana care Hirudo verbana care guide pet leech care guide medical leech care guide

[pumpsoul-oct123]

The Importance of Preparedness: 10 Essential Items for Your Survival Kit

1. Water and Water Filtration

What to Include:

Water: At least one gallon per person per day for at least three days.

Water Filtration System: Portable water filters or purification tablets to ensure you can make any water source potable.

2. Non-Perishable Food

What to Include:

Canned Goods: Fruits, vegetables, and ready-to-eat meals.

Dry Goods: Rice, pasta, cereals, and protein bars.

Specialty Items: Baby formula, pet food, and items for dietary restrictions.

3. First Aid Kit

What to Include:

Basic Supplies: Bandages, antiseptic wipes, adhesive tape, and scissors.

Medications: Pain relievers, antihistamines, and any prescription medications.

Specialized Tools: Tweezers, a digital thermometer, and a CPR mask.

4. Emergency Lighting and Power

What to Include:

Flashlights and Batteries: LED flashlights with extra batteries.

Solar-Powered Lights: Solar lanterns and portable solar chargers for electronic devices.

Hand-Crank Radio: A multi-function radio that can receive weather updates and charge your phone.

5. Shelter and Warmth

What to Include:

Emergency Blankets: Thermal blankets or sleeping bags.

Tarp and Duct Tape: For creating makeshift shelters.

Warm Clothing: Hats, gloves, and extra layers of clothing.

6. Personal Hygiene Items

What to Include:

Sanitation Supplies: Wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and biodegradable soap.

Toiletries: Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and feminine hygiene products.

Waste Bags: Plastic bags for disposing of waste safely.

7. Important Documents

What to Include:

Identification: Copies of passports, driver’s licenses, and Social Security cards.

Medical Information: Health insurance cards, medical records, and prescriptions.

Financial Information: Bank account details, credit card information, and insurance policies.

8. Tools and Supplies

Why It’s Essential: Having the right tools can make a significant difference in an emergency, allowing you to perform necessary repairs, signal for help, or navigate your surroundings.

What to Include:

Multi-Tool: A versatile tool that includes pliers, a knife, and screwdrivers.

Whistle: For signaling for help.

Maps and Compass: Local maps and a compass for navigation if GPS is unavailable.

9. Communication Devices

What to Include:

Cell Phone and Charger: An extra charger or power bank.

Two-Way Radios: Battery-powered radios for communication if cell service is down.

Emergency Contact List: A written list of important phone numbers.

10. Personal Protection Equipment

What to Include:

Face Masks: N95 respirators or other protective masks.

Gloves: Durable work gloves for handling debris.

Protective Clothing: Long-sleeved shirts and pants to protect against exposure.

[martincrushcameback]

As some of you may or may not know, i have 5 glofish (tetras) and they all have such distinct personalities.

This is Egg The Undying. She was with me when we moved from Arizona to Nevada and she and her tank mates were all in a bucket and I did my very best to keep them alive during the move but inevitably something went wrong. Every single one of her tank mates died (I was devastated) and I thought I had lost all of my little friends I worked ao hard to keep alive. (Note that this was after major issues with water quality in the previous AZ house that had claimed many more of my fishy friends so I was not handling this well) but lo and behold even though she had spent several hours in the waters of the bucket surrounded by deceased tank mates Egg The Undying was the only survivor and I have cherished her presence ever since. The only side effect of all this is that occasionally she tilts when she swims and she's a badass that won't let her randy tank mate try and seduce her. She rules the tank with an iron fist I think.

Avocado is the randy tank mate that wants to seduce her and has failed on so many occasions he's finally given up. He's not without his weird quirks though, he's bright green and has a Very Bad Habit of sleeping/resting in such a way that makes him look 100% dead. I often come in finding him half upside down in one of the fake plants thinking he's died but no. Every time I give it a little jiggle he moves and swims around totally normally as if I'm the one being weird about it. This is just what he does to rest and every single time it startles me. He has a bad habit of swimming into the worst places to do this and thus he inevitably frays his lower fins in some way. I have tried to treat him, I have tried to limit the plants he does this in but no. He is rowdy and randy and sleeps like he's dying and nothing I do prevents this. It is his way. The water is in constant treatment for fin repair solely because of his shenanigans.

Blueberry (Bloob) is smaller than everyone in the tank and very hard to photograph because shes Very Fast. Itty bitty, she likes to swim around and lazily follow another fish that is pink (Jamn). She likes to poop in the shell at the bottom of the tank. I don't know why she's chosen to do this. She will come to see what's going on if Jamn is having a good time but she doesn't like the strong current of the filter.

Jamn is one of the most social (also hard to photograph girl can you please sit still) If you come up to the tank she's coming to see what's going on. She loves swimming in the faster current the filter makes and often dances in and out of it.

And finally we have Hamn. She's shy and antisocial. She does not want to be out of her hidey hole and she will continue to stay in the same location forever and ever. I love her anyways. She is also Very Fat- she's not pregnant or bloated she's just fat and will forever continue to be so.

Tank mates! (Sans Hamn cause she's hiding as always)

I bring up my beautiful fishies because eventually we're getting the floor reinforced so we can set up the 50 gallon tank and they'll have so much room! (They have enough room now, it's a 10 gallon) but they'll have even more room!

[critter-creature-or-beast]

I should probably clarify that I’m not constantly picking Tiny up and rewrapping her in an old (clean) rag I just give her access to one this time of year. She’s had the same one for the past 5 days if it gets messy I’ll change it out. And I only feed her when I see she needs assistance this time of year.

Plus I saw someone saying don’t release amphibians but I got her from my artificial above ground pond cover raised her in a brand new fish bowl I bought for her filled with pond water from my pond and released her to that same pond so she had no contact with my indoor fish, animals, or from what I can tell new germs. (Please don’t put fish in a fish bowl 5+ gallons with an optional heater depending on the species and non optional aquarium filter with activated carbon and fully cycled).

*sorry thought I would clarify

🐸

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Okay I am in fact intrigued now - what is a blackwater biotope? 🐟

tumblr has GOT to get better about actually giving me notifications when i receive asks--i'm so sorry for leaving you hanging, anon!

i want to preface this first by saying i am NOT an ecologist and i'm not really in the hobby anymore, so if my observations are out of date and someone who IS in the hobby sees this.... please be niceys to me. also i'd like to clear up a bit of confusion/ambiguity around the difference between biotope vs a biotype, because in the aquarium and fishkeeping hobby they are similar, but hardcore aquascapers will roast you like a christmas chestnut if you conflate the two together, and i refuse to be responsible for that lol. so!

biotopes:

a biotope in ecology refers to the real physical conditions of a specific geographical region where plants and animals live, e.g. the small, near-stagnant pools of low-pH water where most wild betta species exist in their indigenous range, mostly in indonesia. in the fishkeeping and aquascaping hobby, the goal with creating a biotope aquarium is to use only those components in your build that the fish would naturally encounter in their native range. in short, the goal for a biotope aquarium of any kind is to create the most authentic replica of a fish's native environment as you can.

so for wild type betta species like betta rubra (my faves), betta uberis, betta imbellis, etc., to create a blackwater biotope aquarium, this means you will be building an aquarium with:

1. very slow-moving water, accomplished through either baffling the flow of the water out of a traditional output valve from your filter, or through using a sponge filter (my preference) and hiding it from view so it doesn't disrupt ~the aesthetic~;

2. aquatic plants native to the area where your fish live naturally, like bucephalandra;

3. a hardscape (aka sticks and rocks for design and to give the fish things to explore, and to encourage the growth of biofilm and other microfauna) made up of the same types of wood that you would find at the bottom of these slow-moving creeks and pools of water in indonesia;

4. a substrate (aquarium soil and stuff that hangs out on the soil) composed of pH-lowering soil and decaying plant matter that will release tannins, giving the water that 'black' appearance. the water isn't dirty despite what some people think. in fact, dirty water (aka water with lots of nitrites and nitrates, particulates and high ammonia) won't sustain much of anything in it, particularly not fish that are sensitive to fluctuations in water parameters the way most wild betta species are;

5. if you're creating a community tank (aka a tank with multiple species of fish in it, which i would only recommend in an aquarium with a capacity of at least 20 gallons), a biotope aquarium should only include species of fish that your centrepiece species (a wild betta, for example) is likely to encounter in its native range. a good example of this would be adding little chilli rasboras to a tank with wild bettas in it, because they're a very small and non-aggressive species of schooling fish, and most of the smaller wild betta species will co-exist peacefully with them.

conversely--

biotypes:

the goal with a biotype aquarium isn't authenticity, but to use what is available to a given aquarist in their specific location to recreate the best possible alternative to the biotope their fish would experience in the wild. a very good biotype build is almost indistinguishable from a very good biotope build at first glance, because you are going to find similar ecosystems in different parts of the world; e.g., there are blackwater biotopes in the amazon rainforest, and there are blackwater biotopes in indonesia, because the conditions to create these biotopes developed concurrently but in different parts of the world. this is actually why invasive species are such an issue; there's actually a species of larger wild betta that can be found in parts of the amazon now, not because it evolved there naturally, but because they escaped from captivity and the conditions in the amazon tributaries are virtually identical to those that allowed them to thrive in their native habitat.

(tangent: i'm personally more of an advocate of biotype aquariums than biotopes because i find them more accessible to most people, and because where possible i do think we should be using what is available to us in our specific regions of the world when building aquariums. that said, while i won't say that habitat destruction isn't a real concern when it comes to sourcing items from these regions for biotope builds, because it is, it still isn't a key driver of habitat destruction or species being placed at risk; there has been a lot of very good work in recent decades between local communities and importers, where funds from importing stay with the local communities, who then try to do more work to create sustainable conditions for the fish. it's not perfect, but nothing is, and i think people who immediately jump down the throats of aquarists who do import their fish and other supplies should press pause on their outrage and try looking up some of the work being done by these communities on the ground in south america and south/southeast asia. tl;dr if you want to have a thriving captive population of something to reduce reliance on importing, you do occasionally need to import wild fish to introduce greater variety into the gene pool. anyway we can talk about that later if someone wants to.)

so, to build out a biotype aquarium for wild bettas, to continue using them as my example:

1. you still need that same, slow-moving flow! and you accomplish it the same way, but maybe you don't care as much if the filter is visible lol;

2. maybe you can't find the right aquatic plant species at your local shops for a biotope aquarium, but you can find species that grow in a similar environment. so you buy and use that instead.

3. same with the hardscape, and the substrate. i have literally used fallen canadian maple branches in my builds, i just try to clean them first before i add them to the tank.

4. maybe you can't find chilli rasboras at your shop, but you can find neon tetras, which are another micro schooling species that can exist comfortably in a wide range of water conditions. your betta really won't be able to tell the difference anyway lol.

so there you have it! a high level breakdown of biotopes vs biotypes, which i am realizing now was not really what you were asking since you were more curious about blackwater biotopes specifically, rip 😭

[sergeantgoggles]

Say a prayer or six for me, chat.

Milton is coming for my house.

(No, we are not evacuating. I have two cats and a small senior dog and only one small carrier, and the nearest pet friendly shelter is 30 minutes away. We are sheltering in place. We are not in a flood zone, and we have sandbags to help with aerial flooding. Our complex does not allow us to board up windows, but we're taking precautions where we can. We have a full case of bottled water, two 5-gallon jugs, and a gallon filter. We have a gas grill so we are able to cook, and have plenty of canned foods that are fine cold.)

All that said, if you have any cloneship fics you wanna recommend, feel free to drop them in the replies so I have something to read when we lose power.

[saganlife]

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[akit-draws]

Kit's Aquarium-Keeping Tips!

I'm increasingly frustrated with people not taking the best care of their pets so!! I'm making a little guide for my own sanity. Starting with the big one!

MYTH: Fish grow to the size of their aquarium! FACT: Keeping fish in too-small aquariums will stunt their growth and generally be unhealthy for them!

Fish need room in their aquarium to swim around, and having plenty of space means your tank will overall be cleaner!

Want to get into the hobby but don't know where to start? Get a tank anywhere from 5-20 gallons! That's big enough for most small fish to thrive! Fish bowls are not sustainable for most fish without bio-active set ups because they lack one key component: a proper filter for your beneficial bacteria to grow in! It is one of the worst things to enter main-stream media.

Here's the most common things I come across:

BETTA FISH

These guys are typically kept solitary, but can have friends if you have a big enough tank! Just make sure to have the tankmates in prior and a backup tank if your betta decides it likes being alone, since they get territorial (this is why you notoriously cannot keep two males together) and especially so in smaller tanks.

I recommend getting at LEAST a 5 gallon, you'll see a ton of activity from your little guy! They're best in low-flow tanks with plenty of taller decorations/plants to rest on. NOT shrimp-safe (they WILL eat smaller ones).

GOLDFISH

One of the most iconic fish pets, one of the most abused. Lots of people get these as prizes at fairs and don't realize how massive they get! These are usually feeder/comet goldfish that reach 6 inches in length and require much bigger thanks than the standard fish!

Not compatible with sensitive fish due to the amount of ammonia they produce, best in larger tanks (20+ for even the smaller ones). With proper care, these guys will live SEVERAL years, if not dozens.

COMMUNITY FISH

These guys are usually tetras or other small fish! They like being in SCHOOLS or SHOALS. You know what this means? They like COMPANY! Three is the BARE MINIMUM for these guys. You want to see your little guy out and about? Give him some guys to hang out with for a confidence boost! Want to see them swim around in tighter groups? SIX fish or more will get you there!

ALGAE

The bane of hobbyists everywhere. ALL tanks will grow algae, and this will more often than not require manual removal from YOU! Yes, there ARE algae-eating critters, but they will not keep it at bay forever! Reducing algae growth is a few simple steps even!

Manage how much light your aquarium gets every day! It should be getting 8 hours MAXIMUM. That means after 8 hours, the lights are off COMPLETELY. The blue "night mode" still contributes to algae growth, so make sure to turn this off, too!

Don't overfeed! Most fish will only need to be fed once per day at most, and they only need a small amount of food! Their stomachs and eyes are of comparable size, to put it in perspective.

Test your water for nitrates and phosphates! This is basically fertilizer that algae will feed off of and the main reason why you should be doing water changes. If your nitrates are up, do a water change to bring it down. If your phosphates are up, get a phos-pad to remove it! It's just a sponge you can add to your filter!

For pesky free-floating algae (aka algae blooms), you can simply turn the lights completely off for a couple weeks until it clears up! For planted aquariums, you can either encourage the plants to out-compete the algae with CO2 or add a UV light to your aquarium (either a bulb insert for your filter or a filter with a UV light included). Make sure the bare UV light isn't directly in the tank because it is harmful to both your fish and YOU!

KNOW YOUR TANK

I run into a surprising amount of people who can't tell me the size of their aquarium or what kind of fish they're keeping in it. Some people can't even tell me what kind of water they have! (Hint: It's either freshwater, saltwater, or rarely brackish)

Can't remember? Write it down, take pictures, whatever helps! It makes it much easier to research or get advice with when you have the proper names and sizes of everything!

BE RESPONSIBLE!

Want to get your bestie new fish for their tank as a surprise? Ask them about it!! They'll love to talk about it and you can unwittingly weasel all the information you need to know.

Need to move and can't take them with you? Fish grown way too big for you to feasibly take care of it? Something else? Ask your local fish/pet stores or fish & wildlife rescues if they take donations or will otherwise accept them! Ask around community groups! Whatever you do, just don't dump it outside in a pond/river/etc., ESPECIALLY if it's a species that is non-native to your area! Some places like Florida have a HUGE invasive species problem because of irresponsible (if not illegal) pet dumping!

[reality-detective]

If you're lööking for a water filtration system and that lööks good I would recommend this 👇 one and you get the benefits of the copper.

If you want to go a little cheaper 👇

I have the Pro-One and I have filtered salt river water through it and the water tasted great. Both of these filter out fluoride, chlorine and other contaminates for drinking.

Or you could make your own using 2-5 gallon buckets, just buy the filters and the tap.🤔

[auckie]

waiting for the beta fish post to drop ill wait however long it takes idc 🦦

Okay. I’m ready. Nothing demotivates me more than losing progress on like. A game, or word document or whatever. A lost ask is like a grain of sand dropped into the ocean.

Anyways!

So betas are often sold in little cups, right? And the people at say, pet smart tell you, ‘yeah a bowl will do’. WRONG! While betas are somewhat low maintenance fish compared to many— a cheap but beautiful option that seemingly needs no filter or heater and very minimal space, it is now widely accepted that this is flat out untrue. Everyone knows males cannot be kept together, but even having just one fish I would highly recommend a ten gallon. May seem excessive but considering that betas do well in high tannin naturalistic setups, you’re going to want to fill this space with plants and hides. What’s more is if you don’t want to do a self filtering tank (which will still require moving water and regular changes/cleanings or refills), it is still generally recommended that you do invest in a filter and heater. I’ve seen some people go about this by using natural sunlight or heat lamps but 1) harder to regulate 2) risks overheating.

I used to keep fish. Betas and a warm fresh water 1 gallon with a few species together. I don’t anymore for a few reasons. Mostly the upkeep, and because for me personally. I just don’t like keeping fish. Any animal that’s bigger than your thumb, if it lives in a cage or tank and spends most of its time in there. This isn’t to say it’s wrong by any means, but like birds…I’ve just come to think ‘yeah we probably shouldn’t be keeping them outside of their natural habitat esp if they’re highly social or mobile creatures. Moreover with long life spans and high social/mating needs.’ Again! Not condemning the practice for others. It can certainly be done right! But it’s often a lot more time consuming and costly than people realize. Now if you’re willing to invest in what it takes to keep the animal comfortable by all means! Aquarium keeping can be super rewarding, and making naturalistic setups makes for beautiful and calming decor. It’s an amazing hobby. Even if you can’t keep something as simple as duckweed alive for whatever reason, artificial hardscapes with plastic plants and such can still look okay. And a ten gallon + tank vacuum + simple filter and heater really won’t cost you much! I highly recommend looking to YouTubers for tank inspiration, and tips!

If you do decide to go for a 3-5 gallon, or some nontraditional choice of habitats, like a large vase. Well I can’t stop you, and that doesn’t t mean your fish will die. It was a common myth not to long ago that fish couldn’t feel pain, and that their memory spans only lasted for 3 seconds. This is false, and luckily not as widely believed thankfully— but it’s a great example of how people will assume that non mammalian animals have simpler needs due to misunderstanding how their bodies operate, simply because of how different they are than say a cat or dog. Not accusing you of this by any means— you may very well be waaay more informed and aware of this than I am. But it’s a necessary disclaimer.

Other easy to keep fish include neon tetra, fantail guppies (but do not mix them with fish who will nip their tails), and the classic goldfish. another disclaimer about the latter: flushing goldfish thought to be dead, or simply tossing unwanted ones into local water ways has caused them to become a highly invasive species in many areas across North America. Do NOT do this. They’re outcompeting native species due to how fucking hardy they are, and growing to insane sizes. The lack of natural predators and peoples unwillingness to fish for them makes for a particularly nasty pest :/

These aforementioned fish save the goldfish will need the same basic things as a beta, but can be kept in mixed sexed groups, and tetras are often kept with great danio, mollies, and even tiger barbs (who are cute but can be a little aggressive for smaller beginner fish). All of these are available at big chain pet stores for very cheap.

If you’re hellbent on forgoing heaters and filters you could try triops (they don’t require much space but love to dig so have some specific substrate needs, and don’t live very long but can be multigenerational and sustained if done correctly. They’re also insanely cute and entertaining to watch), shrimp (so many different kinds!), snails, or even a mixture of these!

There’s also ecojars. Very cheap to make, and very educational! I love microfauna and follow a lot of YouTubers who’ve had great success making both aquatic and terrestrial ecojars from the local environments around them. If you live by the coast, brackish and saltwater jars are a lot harder, but freshwater ones are very simple! Terrestrial ones are basically just vivariums/terrariums you can even stock by going out to forage for things like snails, slugs, isopods, millipedes, etc. Clean up crew critters do well, but larger predatory insects are a bit harder to keep in an enclosed/self sustaining habitat. That brings us to our next options!

If I can sell you out of aquariums for an easier and possibly cheaper or equal price with a lot less upkeep! But. It involves insects so I’m going to put it under a cut in case that is not something you’re looking for. It’s long too, so feel free to ignore it. BUT! If I’m able to wet your whistle please feel free to ask for more info 🤠

Bugs! Well, arthropods. Such as: isopods (I have rubber duckies and they are doing exceptionally well eating nothing but leaves with the occasional fruit or veggie and calcium sources! They cohabitate with spring tails, harmless soil mites, and terrestrial amphipods. There are many much cheaper and hardier species that are easier to find such as dwarf whites, dairy cows, or even local wild caught ones! Another warning is to NOT dump these outside. And be careful foraging for things from outside for them to eat because you never know what’s been treated with pesticides or beneficial nematodes, or is infested with fungus, mold, or harmful pest species like parasites or mites).

Really all you need for any given species is a little container with a few air holes, substrate such as coco fiber, reptisoil, jungle mix, or your own backyard topsoil which ideally has been baked to sterilize. You can also bake pinecones and oak or magnolia leaves for them to feed on. Crush them up and mix them into the substrate, and add either crushed oyster shells or maybe bits of limestone or coral if you have them available. You can buy cuttlefish bone online as well. They love cork bark, but again, I’m sure if you find and bake bark or bits of drift wood, you can make that work too. They loooove to eat moss, and some species will readily gobble up fish food and bee pollen. Josh’s frogs (as well as other brands) make some specific powder blends that I feed mind. I think it’s called bug burger. The general practice is to create a ‘moist side’ and ‘dry side’ gradient so the isopods have a choice of where to go. They have gills but that doesn’t mean they want to always be drowning in 90% humidity. There’s a lot of beautiful exotic species but they get expensive fast, and are often fond of burrowing or hiding in sphagnum moss so you won’t always see them, and well. They’re usually tiny.

Millipedes are very similar— some are huge and beautiful, some even look like giant isopods (pill millipedes), but burrow, so…you won’t get the most visual bang for your buck.

A lot of people are very fond of finding and keeping jumping spiders. They’re cute to look at and fun to feed, but this requires buying feeders (crickets, meal worms, roaches, or fruit flies depending on size and what’s available near you), but that’s not always everyone’s speed. Plus they don’t live very long once they’re adult size and sexually mature. You can buy them as well but, I prefer to just enjoy them outside. Why take a solid guy out of his environment if he’s not gonna live much longer and is doing his part in ridding your yard of gross bitches? They do a NUMBER on mosquitos.

Beetles! Some species stay grubs for the majority of their lives and will be buried until they’re ready to go out and find love, so as much as I love larger species that are fun to interact with, I’m going to lean towards what I own: the blue feigning death beetle

Very silly little beasts. Very low maintenance! They live in American deserts and are covered by a powdery residue that helps them retain moisture. You can make a mix of sand and coco fiber and keep them in an open top tank (I keep mine in a huge fish bowl), and provide them with hides such as cholla wood or cork bark, rocks and even plastic decor. They will eat almost anything and get most of their moisture from their diet. I feed mine cut up fruits and veggies, the occasional roach, beetle jellies, bug burger, chicken feed, cat food (wet or dry), sugar water in little bottle caps with a sea sponge, moss, or cotton ball in them, fish flakes, freeze dried peas, bee pollen, and even like. Leftover bread or popcorn so long as it’s unseasoned. They can go a while without food or water too, so handle neglect well. But so long as you give them a ‘wet sweet food’ and protein at least once a week you should be Gucci. They’re diurnal afaik and will begin moving about when it’s light out. They don’t need heat lamps or anything of the sort.

They rarely bite and when they do it’s because you have food on your hand, and it doesn’t hurt. They can’t climb or fly, and play dead when threatened. Very cute to watch, and hold, and they’re constantly fucking. Sometimes a male will see another male trying to feel up a larger female, and will climb atop them both and start trying to have sex with the male. I’ve seen two males feeling up and trying to go at it with a rock. They’re so funny. But it’s very difficult to breed them in captivity. They live a while tho so hey, you got a while to research and experiment! Because of this, however, most available for purchase are wild caught. And I personally am not crazy about that.

Scorpions! There’s a good amount of largely harmless species that make for great pets! Asian forest and emperor are the first two that pop into my head. They glow under UV light, making them easy to find, and don’t have to eat super often. The one I own loves to run up to the side of its enclosure whenever I walk by, throwing its claws up to show me it means business. I’ve never been stung but I hear it’s like a bee sting. The two species listed are cheap and prefer it moist, and afaik don’t really sting once they’re mature. They prefer to use their claws to do the talking. Below is a random species under UV light:

And finally, the most visually pleasing, long living, and low maintenance yet entertaining things I own: tarantulas. Given that I work at a tarantula breeder and am incredibly biased feel free to ignore this next bit, but also hear me out. I’ve never been afraid of tarantulas, but used to be a bit wigged out by spiders as a kid. T’s, at least the new world species I own, are so. Much more stationary, slow, and just. Nonchalant than most true spiders I’ve kept. You will usually know if and when they’re about to strike.

Orb weavers have never done well for me, but I’ve had some luck with cobweb weavers (they don’t tend to remake their webs every fucking day which helps with setting up a habitat), but they just don’t live very long— and when something has such a short lifespan I feel guilty for keeping it from its primary goal of breeding. Tarantulas, however, can live for up to 20+ years. And you can make money breeding them! But a lot of discords or Facebook groups dedicated to this are. Like full of the most obnoxious people you’ve ever met. Males don’t live as long, they usually croak after sexually maturing and then molting again. If they’re lucky they might make it one more. And they don’t have a great chance when it comes to breeding and surviving. Depends on the breeder controlling the situation. I’ve read that the longest lived one on record was a female Goliath bird eater* clocking in at over 30 years old. That’s a fucking cat. Not all get huge either! There’s dwarf species, and many are arboreal meaning you’re likely to see it often!

The shop I work at, along with most tarantula breeders recommend a GBB as a first time spider. I fucking Do Not. They’re aggressive, cute as spiderlings but less cute as adults, gross (web and bolases and shit everywhere), kick urticating hairs* that drive me nuts. And they just suck.

I have two coworkers who follow me and will strongly disagree but I don’t care because I know I’m right on this one: my top beginner picks are the caribena (formerly avicularia) versicolor.

As slings they are bright blue and so fucking funny. They walk like a cat with mittens on and their urticating hairs are so fucking mild that you won’t even notice them. Their red mouths stick out like a shitty lipstick on their stupid blue bodies and they love to shake their butts before they jump, like a cat but way worse. They’re not terribly fast and their bite is nothing. It’s worthless. They’re…somewhat sensitive and do like to randomly die, but so long as you keep them in an arboreal enclosure with ventilation and a weekly misting? You’re golden baby. They eat well, are arboreal so you’ll always see them, and can be kept in fairly small enclosures for quite some time! Here’s what they look like as adults:

Still pretty! And not scarily massive.

I own an even more sensitive species: the Brazilian jewel tarantula. It’s a dwarf species but stupid expensive and makes a shitty trapdoor so you don’t see it often which is a shame bc they’re beautiful and so adorable. Similar mannerisms and levels of ‘this piece of shit can’t hurt me’. Ideally you won’t be handling them but, well, I can’t blame you if you do bc it’s fun. I don’t own any species that care hurt me bc why would I want to?

For some. More common first time reccs tho, I would probably say the Arizona blonde (very chill and fuzzy. Somewhat more itchy), the Brazilian black (a little less stunning but also pretty chill and fun to watch because they will completely rearrange the furniture of their habitat for no reason), the Chilean rose hair (read previous)— basically any grammastola or brachypelma species. Hamorii (Mexican red knees) look cool. Another controversial pick are cyriocosmus. They have golden hearts on their butts! They’re pricier though, and again, other t keepers act as if they’re hard. They’re not. Most new world species are simple if you just research them— my boss often will balk and laugh when she hears people are buying 1/2 inch slings and putting them in like, 5 gallon tanks. But it’s literally fine. They def don’t need that much space but if they burrow. Look for the hole. Give them enough substrate, keep it moist but not sopping. Ventilation is key. Some people use empty, clear take out bins or medicine vials to keep these things in, and that’s fine so long as there’s air holes. You can use a soldering iron or small drill, or even a pin to poke some into the container, depending on how hard it is. Even larger spiders have been kept in big empty jars and such. You feed them once a week unless they’re in premolt (they get fat and shiny or lose their hair on their asses and may make a molt mat of web, or a little enclosed webbing bubble, or bury themselves and won’t eat during this time which, depending on species, could be a while), or whenever they look skinny!

If they’re arboreal give them a vertical climb, be it a real plant or plastic, cork bark, even aquarium decor. So long as it’s not sharp because tarantulas are surprisingly delicate.

Feed them something the size of their ass give or take, and disable it using little, sharp feeding tongs (grab the head and drop it in near them, or hold it to them at a distance and if it’s moving they’ll usually strike). Some super tiny slings will even eat springtails. Larger, adult T’s can take multiple dubia or even big ass roaches like hissers. It’s kind of sad feeding them off but, the spiders gotta eat 🤷‍♂️ if you’re interested and have any questions on other species, or the ones I listed, lemme know!

Okay. And by far. The least wanted or liked recommendation I have. Are roaches 😔 there’s some beautiful species out there man. Hissers are super fucking docile, but prolific. They hiss when scared, but never bite. They don’t even eat each other in times of duress! They do have spiky leg bits which can scare some people off. But take a look at emerald roaches (which are. Expensive 😶), don’t they look like cool beetles? They’re arboreal! Then there’s the table mountain roach, which SQUEAKS when scared! The domino roach! I’ve posted pics of molting roaches many times— they’re soft and white and have huge, mantid like eyes. It’s very disarming and cute. They’re so much more intelligent than we give them credit for. The roaches I keep at work know when I’m about to feed them and they all clamor at the tops of their bins, and once the feed is in they all grab a bit and run off with it in their mouths like dogs! Many tropical, burrowing species are basically little cows, and many are amazing parents which is a rarity in the insect world!

Most of these fellers can do well in a plastic bin with a top, with ventilation of course. And the usual substrate, hides like cork bark and rocks and moss, misting, and similar feed to isopods and the beetles I mentioned. As for price and availability, well, you’re probably only going to be able to find hissers and dubia unless you have a niche store near you or are willing to have them shipped. And while I love both of them. They are gross. They’re R strategists to a T and will multiply to the point that they require sell offs or regular culling. Which, if you own species that eat them, it can be a win win! But they also are hard to keep clean. So I probably, actually do not recommend them 😞 the less prolific, more beautiful species are cleaner, but more expensive. But hey, I had to shoot my shot, right?

Okay. Well. Thank you for listening if you got this far. Good luck either way and thanks for being patient!

*Goliath bird eaters and any similar named bird eating tarantula do not. I mean they *can* eat birds yeah but that’s just a shocking name that stuck. Don’t let that scare you. But also that species sucks so it doesn’t matter

*pretty sure I put another asterisk in here but I can’t find it and don’t remember what it was for sorry. Shoot me an ask if it was like. Killing you ig

[eurydactylodes]

What makes Eurydactylodes care different from other New Caledonian geckos?

[This is the start of my writings on Eury care. This will be edited and updated as necessary, and should be treated as a reference, but not as a comprehensive care guide. For Eury care, this site by JeckosGeckos ended up being very helpful. This guide will be helpful if you already have knowledge on the husbandry of other New Caledonian gecko species, such as the Crested Gecko, Gargoyle Gecko, Leachianus Gecko, and Chahoua Gecko.]

1. SIZE! The most obvious difference between Eurys and the other New Caledonian geckos is their size! Eurys stay very small, with adult females at their largest getting to ~7 inches nose-tail (this can also depend on subspecies). This means that they’ll get a much smaller tank. Right now I am using a 5.5 gallon converted aquarium, but I plan on upgrading mine to a 10 gallon vertical tank (12x12x18) once he’s grown a little bit. Care guides recommend 5-10 gallons per individual (cohabitation can happen with these guys, but I’ll get to that later).

No matter how much you give them, these guys WILL use the space, because they also tend to be more active than other NewCal geckos! I was very surprised to see how often my Eury moved around his tank compared to my crested gecko. Like with most reptiles though, babies/juveniles will benefit from a smaller space, as they’ll feel like they have more safety in cover and ease finding food.

2: Small tanks and temperature! Like I mentioned before, my Eury is currently in a 5.5 gallon converted aquarium. I learned on the first day of keeping my Eury that a small tank like this will heat up quickly and it’ll retain that heat.

I originally set up my tank with a rainforest-specific UVB bulb that put off a bit of heat (I was originally using it to create a lower-temp basking spot for my crested gecko). Within the day, this bulb heated my tank up to 80°, which i consider to be the heat limit for my tanks. I removed this bulb and replaced it with a 5.0 UVB bulb that does NOT give off heat, and the tank went back to a room temperature. I highly recommend using a UVB light that does not give off heat, and to still keep adequate coverage so that your gecko can use the shade.

3. Water and Humidity! Many people report seeing their Eurys drinking standing water, so many recommend keeping a water dish available to them at all times. (In addition, I recommend this for all reptiles. People say that crested geckos will just drink the droplets off their leaves, but I’ve seen mine drink standing water). I also have a small humid hide available to him, and I keep moss spread throughout his tank to retain humidity.

4: Food! Eurys can also eat CGD (I personally use Pangea), along with SMALL insects. Please make sure that the insect is smaller than the width of your gecko’s head, otherwise it may present a choking hazard. When feeding CGD, I’ve been spreading a small amount of it on the bottom of a food cup so that I can see the tiniest lick marks. Eurys are ridiculously small, so it’s hard to tell if theyre eating at all. If you see droppings around the tank, then theyre eating just fine. Many geckos are shy about eating during the day/in front of people, so you may not see them eat.

5: Natural Habitat (and tank decoration)! In the wild, Eurys usually will take refuge in shrubbery or low plants. Their habitats should be a little more cluttered with smaller sticks and stems to climb around on. I keep a live Pothos in my Eury tank, and he likes to climb around on the stems. Spider wood pieces will also work great for these guys.

6: Keeping Bioactive + Isopod choice! A Eury tank is a great place to start out with small scale bioactive setup. For a good bioactive, you need to make a quality substrate with a drainage layer, filter, soil and/or coco fiber substrate, and a cleanup crew involving isopods and springtails to cycle the soil and prevent mold growth. Isopods can also double as a calcium rich food source for your gecko, so make sure to replenish the isopod population when needed. With isopods, I recommend using Dwarf Whites to burrow in the soil, these guys stay hidden so theyre less likely to be eaten, and they also reproduce asexually so they’ll be in your tank forever. For a surface crawling isopod, make sure to get something that will mainly feed on substrate and plant matter and NOT protein. Protein motivated isopods (such as P. Laevis Dairy Cows), can actually go after your gecko if enough of them are able to team up on it. A full grown group of isopods can actually be a predatory risk for your gecko, so make sure to research which isopod species will work well with your gecko.

7: Risks! Eurys are incredibly small, so I would say that the average risks involved in owning geckos will be a bit more severe for these guys. Firstly, they are TINY, so any rough handling can severely injure or even kill them. Please only let them be handled by people who you trust to be careful with a very small reptile. Handle them near their tank or above a surface that they can land on just in case they jump. Luckily they are not as quick as other microgeckos, but keep an eye on them and try not to leave them on their own, since they will be VERY hard to find if they escape. They can be tolerant to handling, but try to get them used to your presence and handle them in short sessions that gradually build. You want the gecko to feel safe around you and not to be stressed out from constant touching.

Next, there can be a risk of respiratory infection. Although they need high spikes in humidity, try to leave parts of the tank dry and parts of the tank humid so the gecko can self regulate its humidity. If the tank is too constantly humid, the gecko can be exposed to respiratory infection. Also, I hope this goes without saying, but don’t vape or smoke in the room housing the gecko. Their lungs are incredibly small and will probably be more vulnerable to damage. Go outside, to another room, or out of a window.

As with leopard geckos, there can also be risks involving stuck shed. If shed gets stuck around a toe, it can actually cut off circulation to the toe and make it fall off. This is especially challenging with Eurys because it would be very difficult to safely assist with the shedding. Cork bark has been reported to really help reptiles with shedding, so it’s a good idea to make this available to your gecko.

8: Price! Eurydactylodes will be much harder to find than other New Caledonian species. I was fortunate enough to get mine from a breeder in a reptile rehoming facebook group, but this does not seem like a common occurrence (I couldn’t find a single other post in the group about this species). I haven’t seen them at my local reptile expo, and I’ve seen them once at my local specialty reptile store. On Morphmarket, they tend to be less available than other gecko species, and run between $200-$400. They’re unfortunately much less accessible to the average reptile owner because of their price and rarity. Luckily, that is where the cost related problems end! With a few items already owned, I set up a bioactive starter tank for about $130, less than half of what I spent on my crested gecko setup. You can find small tanks for dirt cheap at thrift stores, garage sales, facebook marketplace, craigslist, and on sale at pet stores. Then you just need some small sticks, moss, one or two average sized houseplants, and some substrate of your choice. The setup is cheap, small scale, and a great starting place for some fun and creative setups. I’m planning on making my first custom background on my upgraded tank for my Eury, and I’m ridiculously excited about it.

9: Cohabitation and breeding! I saved the best for last, and that is that you can actually cohabitate Eurys! That being said, It’s important to grant ~5 gallons of space to each gecko, and not to house 2 males together. Males will be aggressive and territorial to each other, which will lead to high stress and injury or possible death to one of your geckos. Females are fine to house together. If you house a male and a female, you will probably be at risk for mating, so you should prepare to incubate eggs if needed, and you should make sure that both geckos are sexually mature (1.5+ years old) before housing them together. You should also have a backup plan for what to do with babies, if you want to either care for them, or sell/give them to other keepers.

This being said, I only have a single juvenile Eury right now. I’m researching cohabitation because when he’s old enough, I’d love to house him with a female Eury and breed them. You should look into breeding guides by experienced keepers if you want to do this yourself.

I also think that it’s important to prioritize good animal keeping over breeding for profit. Make sure that the animals all get the space and attention they deserve before pairing them together just to sell babies. Make sure to research your local reptile market to look for demand of these reptiles, or if you choose to sell on an online platform, to do your research in transporting these animals safely.

And there I have it! These were the most significant differences between the keeping of Eurydactylodes and other NewCal geckos that I saw. I am still at the beginning of my journey with my own Eury, so I’ll probably edit and add to this guide when I learn new things. Thank you for reading, and I’d love to hear about other people’s experiences with this species!

[stickycreeblers]

@minkandstink

More than anything else, fish stores are looking for these qualities:

Taking initiative. It's better to do something and do it wrong, than it is to not do anything. In the fish keeping hobby, a lot more can go wrong if you do nothing because you're afraid of accidents.

Information sponging. If you find aquariums and fish and all that stuff extremely interesting (more than that, if you're autistic or otherwise neurodivergent about aquariums or marine/aquatic life), you're probably able to absorb and retain MUCH more information related to the hobby than other people. You'll be able to relay that information to others much more easily as well. Even if you don't know very much, but you're incredibly willing to learn, they LOVE that. Probably don't mention autism on the resume though. That's not me being internally ableist, that's me trying to say there are legal loopholes you shouldn't risk until your position is safe.

Physical strength, sometimes. Occasionally, part of the job may include carrying water here and there. Buckets, jugs, whatever. Usually it's not more than 5 gallons at a time, but you might have to move a lot of water overall. 5 gallons of water is roughly 40lbs. If you're incapable of carrying at least 15lbs by yourself, be sure to clarify that. They don't usually mind if you can't, as long as they have someone who can, or a cart to load things on.

Pattern recognition. Being able to recognize different species of fish, species of coral, species of plants, genders of fish etc. You should be able to subvert the expectation that the average person won't know the minimum care requirements. Trust me, I meet a lot of people working here, and it's SHOCKING when someone knows the comfortable minimums for care.

Fearlessness, creative thinking & problem solving. Being able to think quickly and come up with unique (but good!) solutions to problems in the hobby, with maintenance, or the technical/mechanical side of things is important. You might have to emergency-DIY a lid for a tank with a fish that insists on jumping to their death, or you might have to quickly patch a leak on something. You might have to stick your hands into dirty, gross filter shit and not be scared of it. Be prepared to smell things you don't like, and be even more prepared to see beautiful and cute fish die, especially at the hands of irresponsible owners, BUT ALSO at the store in the display tanks! It happens often, and sometimes there's nothing you can do.

Being really, REALLY prepared to deal with incredibly ornery people that don't like being told what to do. It's classic retail. People will argue with you, people will bring their young children who scream and beg for a fish, so the parents can't say no without causing a scene (and they know it). People won't understand why things are different now compared to 20 years ago when they "just had a fish in a bowl and it was fine", and people will walk out on you to go to Petco or Petsmart instead, leaving a bad review online because they didn't want to wait for their nitrifying bacteria to establish before adding the fish they're so desperately impatient for. It's bad, and it gets worse, and people can be inexperienced to SUCH a ridiculous degree that you'd think they're just flat out stupid. Patience is incredibly important. If you have previous experience in ANY amount of customer service & working a register, they'll appreciate that a lot.

Finally, Your own experience in the hobby, fish or not. Fish stores like applicants that have their own aquariums at home, even if they're small and seemingly insignificant. You might think that a tiny little snail/shrimp aquarium isn't impressive, but it's the opposite! I'm always, always impressed to hear someone talk about their nano/pico tank being established and thriving, because those tanks are actually the hardest to maintain long-term. They're much more work and dedication. Fish stores also appreciate any experience with non-aquatic exotics. If you have reptiles, birds, or anything other than a dog or cat, and you can confidently say you've had them thriving for a long time, they'll hear that someone understands the needs of a more complicated type of pet, and is capable of learning or knowing more.

It should also be important to scope out the place before applying! Shop around, interact with your potential coworkers, get a feel for their vibes and see if you'd get along with them well enough in a work environment. If they like you before you even apply, you've got better chances! Even if you have to fake it, for the most part.

I will say, I cheated the system. They hired me because they only had one woman on staff and I, conveniently, am a woman with extensive foodservice experience and neon green hair. They didn't even interview me. They called me 2 weeks later asking when I can start just because I'm a woman with colorful hair. So.

Also... unethical life hack, it's okay to lie a little on your resume. Embellish your life experiences and emphasize how much you're willing to learn about the things you don't know.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

Some regions may allow large retailers like Petsmart and Petco (though not limited to these two) to have non-compete clauses in their employment agreement. What this means is, if you signed a contract with them, you may not be legally allowed to work for any businesses that compete with them, at least during your employment.

It's no longer legal for employers to enforce this on their employees POST-employment in the United States as of April 2024, but in other countries this might not be the case; meaning that outside the USA, if you choose to sign a non-compete clause to be employed at Petsmart (or some other large pet retailer), it may be several years post-employment before you're legally allowed to work for any businesses that financially compete with your previous employer.

But in the USA for example, if you have a job with Petco, you may not be allowed to simultaneously have a job at a local fish store due to a non-compete clause in your employment contract. Essentially, don't plan on being part-time with Petco and part-time with a local business. It probably isn't going to work out.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

I'm here all day <3 I love this part of my job lol