There have been some notable changes since I decided to tweak things a bit. Last time I mentioned adding a teeny bit of eggshell to add some calcium to it (it’s a suggestion to help snails grow). Well, I did. Just the tiniest fragment I could manage. I also added some more water from the source pond, and poked at that green lump at the top with a stick. Since it felt rather solid, I reasoned that it might be restricting water circulation. I pushed it around enough to open a ‘channel’ to the rest of the jar.

The results are in.

One of the stems of that sprouting plant has grown up through the channel and has broken the surface of the water.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I may have to cut it back if it starts getting too tall for the container.

The large snail has clearly grown bigger (no sign of the smaller snails) and is more active, and there are MANY swimming dust specks in the uppermost part (above the green mass). Practically none down in the lower level, where the algal fuzz is getting thicker. Some of the leaves on the lower branches appear to be dying. They are getting darker and shriveled. I don’t know if they’re supposed to do that. I’ll let them do their thing, and return to the muck at the very bottom.

Also, there are tiny brown spots / flecks / splotches on the glass near the top. I have no idea what they are. Maybe mold of some sort.

The circle highlights one of the larger brown spots. The whitish square on the side is residue from a bit of tape I used to track the water level.

Hey, the thing has lasted over a year. I’m content.