snails.

upon leaving for christmas vacation, i left my 'fish' tank with some aquatic grass, a few lilly pads, and a piece of malaysian drift wood that had started housing some rapidly growing funky white fungus. i had full expectations to return a month later to a tank completely overrun by various fungal species as that has been my experience in the past. instead, i came home to a tank that had barely changed, and if anything, the piece of drift wood had slightly less fungal matter. i was impressed and turned the tank light back on to get it ready for the introduction of fish in a few days.

the next morning i noticed some minuscule snails crawling on the drift wood and deduced that they were perhaps who i needed to thank for keeping the white fungus at bay. when i returned from school that evening, the wee snails were no longer so wee. it seems that the additional light in the tank in combination with the plethora of fungus has given these little guys exactly what they need to grow and thrive. so the tank which i once considered to be lifeless (with the exception of the vegetation of course) has sprouted non-sedentary life forms. i think spontaneous generation may have just found a new convert...or perhaps i should just read up on the life cycle of the snail and how eggs can hitch-hike their way in on plants.