General Care Discussion :: Dark & Bumpy shell

[SpotsMama]

Also, there are some chemicals that can build up that are harmful but invisible - ammonia and nitrite. If you're testing for these and the readings are always good, then that's terrific and it means your bio filter is working. If you get negative readings then you should change the water.

[RunninWideOpen]

Oh Ok, that makes sense. I did get a testing kit. Ive used it once, about 2 weeks ago. How often should I test the water?

Also, I am using a brand new shoe lace to hang a clip inside the aquarium that I clip the lettuce to. Last night, Crush was swimming around, hungrily begging, and I thought he was going to go take a bite out of the lettuce finally, but instead he bit the shoe lace. He let go right away, like he realized "hey, this isn't food" and he didn't do any damage to the shoe lace. It's not cut or frayed or anything. Should I be concerned about him going after the shoe lace and trying to eat it? Since he bit it the one time he hasn't seemed interested in it again.

[SpotsMama]

Test the water often enough to understand how well the quality is holding up between water changes/tank cleanings. Then, you probably don't need to keep testing all the time - maybe once every couple of months just to be sure nothing's going wrong.

Crush is pretty small, isn't he? Unlikely he could break a shoelace. Hopefully he'll try again and get lettuce this time! Does he have a cuttlebone to nibble on?

[RunninWideOpen]

Ok, I'll check the water this weekend and see if it's still holding in the safe zone.

AHA!! While I'm writing this post I just looked over and he took his first bite of lettuce! Yay!! Hopefully now he realizes the lettuce tastes better and he'll leave the shoe lace alone .

Crush isn't too small. He's 6" long, not counting the curvature to his shell, so he's over half grown, correct? I do believe he's male. I haven't gotten cuttlebone yet. I'm going to get it tomorrow when I get my paycheck.