What I Found in Twin Lakes Bronx Botanical Garden

Twin Lakes in Bronx Botanical Garden are all covered with duckweed on August 30th, 2019.

The lake is very shallow and muddy.

Here I found a clear spot to take a sample.

And then a look around...wow!
Ramshorn snails! Right here.
 I've seen common pond snails and mystery trapdoor snails in Central park.
 But it is the first time I see wild ramshorn snails.

They are quite large.
I am not sure if they can grow much larger.
I have smaller ramshorn snails at home.

Let's see if I can grow wild ramshorn snails in my nurseries ;)

And look! It's hornwort!
I just made a video about this plant.

 And here I get a wild sample for the first time :)

Hornwort is a fast growing plant.
I have more than enough of it in my aquariums.

But I want to take wild samples anyway in hopes of catching some wild critters along with the plants.

This bottle is too small for all the plants and snails.

So, I move it all to a larger jar.
This 0.5 liter jar will do until I set up a large enough aquarium for them.

Add dechlorinated water.

Plants need light.
And snails need plants and algae for food.
Keep the nursery on a windowsill exposed to direct sunlight to boost plant and algae growth.

Cover the nursery to reduce evaporation.
We have made a self-sustaining aquarium :)

All wild samples come with bacteria and critters.
Some of them could be harmful to fish.

 It is necessary to keep all samples in separate nurseries for a couple weeks or more before moving them to main aquariums with fish.
Well, that is the way I do it anyway ;)
I move the sample into a newly built 3 liter nursery on September 2nd.

In the following month, I add different plants, baby cherry shrimp, and pond snails into this nursery.
I moved some of the plants and some ramshorn snails into other aquariums with my dwarf guppies.

Keep here a couple ramshorn snails.

I add a piece of cholla wood - a gift from my friend Brenda Morris.
 Thank you very much Brenda!

Here you can see my baby cherry shrimp on September 30th.

I've been asked to show them...so here you can see them.

There are a couple of ramshorn snails on the back of this tank. 

Here are some of my aquariums with wild ramshorn snails.

 I keep 2-3 large ramshorn snails in each of these aquariums.

 And there are some young snails too.
And pond snails, cherry shrimp and guppies.
All coexist peacefully.

The new nursery is already fully converted into aquarium garden as all my aquariums are :)
So there will be more plants growing with roots in water and fully submerged too ;)
Life is beautiful!

 Have fun and happy aquariums :)