Nothing major to report. Tank seems to continuing on fairly well... I think.
Hardware updates:
My glass co2 drop checker tester thingie finally came in, along with it's bottle of 4dKH fluid. Silly me, apparently it did NOT come with the ph fluid needed to actually make the darn thing work, so I guess I have one more thing to buy before I can start checking levels. It looks cool in the tank, though, even empty. LOL
I still have bubbles at the surface but it's not quite as bad as it was... more a border all around the edges of the tank, and around the one piece of wood that sticks out of the water. I lowered the co2 a smidge, as I said, and have started raising the lily pipe at night up so it gurgles on the surface, for increased agitation, and then I drop it in the morning when feeding. I still need a more permanent solution. Suggestions appreciated.
My
hunt for a super short height canister filter continues. I'd like to replace that Finnex with a higher flow unit, as that might help with the bubble problem, among other minor issues. Tough to find one short enough, with the low clearance of the shelf below the tank.
I haven't built the inline co2 reactor or inline heater yet. Crazy busy at work, and still need to find a local source for clear rigid PVC pipe, and fittings.
Plant updates:
A bit of good news, my Christmas moss that's tied down on the wood in a few places finally seems to be greening up. Nice pretty green color starting to show through! It had started to do this just before I started with the co2, but it's definitely picking up speed and getting more noticeable not. Not sure whether to attribute that to co2 or simply getting more settled. I've also started dosing SeaChem's Potassium supplement for about two weeks now (albeit a little sporadic with the dosing), so that could be a factor also. I'm still running under the assumption that I don't need to add iron, given the Activ-Flora substrate (which is supposedly iron rich and means you don't need to add laterite). On the downside, I'm seeing some stringy stuff and kind of praying it's not the beginning of a small algae battle. Opinions? (photos below)
Also, I'm noticing more growth in my plants in general. My Java Fern is creating little babies along it's leaves like crazy... it finally got me a little annoyed tonight and plucked off a bunch of java fern babies. Should I toss them, or ROAK them? They're seriously juvenile, but I suspect they'll continue growing in another tank. I stuck them in my old tank for now, which still has water in it but the lights, heat, and filter are off so it's not going to stay good for long in there.
On a similar note, my wisteria (back center, just to the left) has really noticeably grown, and actually reached the surface. Time to trim! Not sure how and where, exactly, I'm supposed to cut, though. Any advice? Ditto for the Java Fern, again... I need to trim a few leaves, especially the two that are sticking about an inch above water, and not doing so well in the dry air. Do I just clip them above the rhizome and they'll grow back along the same stem, or do they grow back elsewhere along the rhizome? It's tied to a piece of mopani wood back there, so all is above the substrate.
The Rotala also seems to be taking off. It's nearly reached the surface as well. Color is still kinda varied, with pretty intense green growth coming in at the bottom (still very small, but there), but the top is way less green, except some of the tips where it has grown. I'll be need to prune this soon. Do I just literally cut the stems shorter? I swear there needs to be a primer thread somewhere of how-tos for each species, with basic info like this so I don't have to search the plant forum hoping to stumble across the right instructional thread!
My Amazon swords, ironically, are merely holding steady. Not taking off like I thought they would. Perhaps they just need more time to establish their roots. Or I should stick another root tab near them. The leaves are starting to get a lot of diatoms, however, I hope the otos discover them soon because they're on the verge of being less nice looking. Still nice overall, but I don't like the trend. Still, we'll see.
Another downer, my baby tears, however (non-dwarf) don't seem to be doing so hot. On the upside, there is some small, new bright green growth at the bottom, similar to the Rotala. New stems coming up! The original plant, however, seems to be continuing it's die-off. I pluck a 2" limp stem, or two, out of the water daily, it seems, and lots of little floaty leaves are ending up stuck to the intake pipe inlets. Perhaps that's just the way of these, and as the old plant dies off, the new growth will take over and be nice and healthy. That's what I'm hoping for!
The dwarf sag from the ROAK seems to be holding it's own. It's still establishing, however, so I'm not worried that it's not flourishing madly at the point.
Interesting note: The Kyoto grass is looking about the same as when I got it, which is good. It'll die eventually, I'm sure. But meanwhile, if you recall I bought it originally so I'd have another grass-like plant since the Valisneria was practically completely dead mush, again, with lots of dead bits needing to be plucked from the tank. Last night, however, I noticed that it's bright green and apparently the remnants have made a strong comeback in a short amount of time! Nice and green and healthy looking. Hopefully it makes a full recovery and starts to spread by the time that I need to yank the Kyoto grass, so it can just resume it's originally-intended place and function in that corner. Not visible in these dead-on shots since the Rotala is hiding it, but I'll see if I can get a shot at some point as the recovery continues. I don't know if it just needed time to establish and no matter how dead it was looking it bounces back, or perhaps the fact that it is one of the closest plants to the co2 diffuser helped it back, but I'm glad. I don't need to find a replacement grass to replace the replacement grass, now.
Oh, hey, another piece of really happy news, my driftwood is finally staying put when I lift the rock, so that's finally gone from the tank! Much nicer without that there, although I'm sure some of my critters will miss the extra hiding space. My otos liked hanging out on the rock, too (among other places).
Update shots (just quick iPhone shots, sorry, mo' better shots still to come):
Full tank. Notice how the wisteria and rotala have hit the surface! And notice, no more rock holding down the wood!
Christmas moss, looking a lot greener. Another month, maybe less, and hopefully it'll start looking like real Christmas moss and get nice and bushy! Meanwhile, however, please let that algae-looking stuff be no big deal...
Stringy algae on my newly-greening Christmas Moss: A big concern?