[JJ09]

Already I see response in the plants that went into my tenner a week ago. Some good, some not. Staurogyne repens and monte carlo gone (I'm not surprised). There are still a few little bits of plants in front of the skull, but I think they're stems of dwarf rotala that I missed when I moved stuff.

The pennywort is still here, and it even grew two new tiny leaves.

Bacopa monnieri came loose too. One piece too far gone to keep, the other two I replanted in a different corner.

Creeping jenny I am not sure if this one will make it. Bottoms of stems melting away and most go too quickly. By the time I get my hands back in the tank to replant loose stems, there's nothing substantial enough to grasp. I only have a few stems of it left.

Downoi also might be a goner- the stem broke off

Pegged it down with a lead strip, but I had to set it pretty deep in the substrate.

I am pleased with the ludwigias- a lot of the bigger pieces I bought as potted plant even still have their red top color. I wasn't expecting them to hold on to that.

The tiny repens one -here just under the oto- is growing new leaves and they are rounder than the original ones.

When I made the driftwood log in the thirty-eight all buces, plucked off the remaining java ferns (which don't seem to do well in that tank for some reason) and tied them onto the skull here. Some in the front over the teeth, some in the back.

After just a week the thread started disintegrating, so I had to refasten with rubber bands instead.

Quite a few of the little buces came loose again, too.

Went back to using rubber bands for those as well.

I don't want to keep shifting plants around, need to keep my hands out and just leave things alone now. But the ludwigias keep sending their aerial roots into the sponge filter, and I can't see bacopa caroliniana or watersprite for the jumbled mess they are with each other. So I moved one stem of ludwigia, moved most of the bacopa over against and behind it, and put the sponge filter further into the corner, between the wisteria and bacopa. Looks distinctive now and hopefully that keeps the roots out of the sponge.

Current full tank shot-

There are lots of tiny roundish snails in here now. Some look like pond snails, others I viewed under the microscope and they're definitely ramshorns. I took out the mother ramshorn. Because for some reason suddenly when I started seeing tiny baby snails everywhere I didn't want them. Trumpet snails are okay, but I don't want loads of pond snails or ramshorns too, and I didn't realize that until I saw them in there. I've scraped out two more ramshorn egg cases, gradually plucking out all the baby snails I find, and will bait with lettuce too.

 

[WaterLife]

Thanks for documenting all of this! And all the useful pics (hard to believe all this pics are coming from a 10 gallon! if only I had a half decent camera ).

Surprised no one has offered feedback. Probably just one of those "Too Long Didn't Read" (TLDR) reasons as there are a bunch of pics (I only just skimmed over it myself). Asking in a shorter separate thread should round up some responses.

Well I'm no plant nutrition expert, but could definitely tell there was severe deficiencies going on (older pics). Glad you got them figured out though.

Didn't even see, but are you injected co2? If you aren't, how is the Downoi (Pogostemon helferi) doing now?

 

[JJ09]

Thanks for documenting all of this! And all the useful pics (hard to believe all this pics are coming from a 10 gallon! if only I had a half decent camera ).

Sure! I just happen to like taking photos. I have tons more I don't even share here.

Surprised no one has offered feedback. Probably just one of those "Too Long Didn't Read" (TLDR) reasons as there are a bunch of pics (I only just skimmed over it myself). Asking in a shorter separate thread should round up some responses.

I do sometimes ask in an individual thread if I have a pressing question. Am still just mostly learning things as I go.

Well I'm no plant nutrition expert, but could definitely tell there was severe deficiencies going on (older pics). Glad you got them figured out though.

Yes, well I'm one of those people who started out with just plain gravel & fake plants, then tried to add live plants later. Didn't know what I was doing. If it wasn't for this site, they'd all be dead! I think things are going better now, this tank certainly is doing a lot better than my other one.

Didn't even see, but are you injected co2? If you aren't, how is the Downoi (Pogostemon helferi) doing now?

No I don't add c02. Somebody gave it to me, so I just tried it out. I'm not really expecting it to do well long-term, but as long as it's alive I'll leave it in there.

 

[JJ09]

I'm no longer loosing plants in here from melt or snails uprooting them, but have something else to figure out... why are some of the leaves wavy on the margins (anubias here)

and new growth looking distorted? It's happening to my ludwigia, alternanthera reineckii (if I have that one i.d. correct, not sure) and wisteria.

Lower wisteria leaves have holes too- I've caught some pond snails (not the nerite pictured) munching on them- not sure if they made the holes or just took advantage of a dying leaf.

Top part of this plant is okay

My first guess was too much micros, I cut back on the dose of that this week, to see what happens. My next guess would be an imbalance of mg and calcium- I think I need another test kit.

On a positive note I am really happy to report that the buces have new growth emerging in here- there are two visible new shoots on 'selena', I can see new roots growing and tiny new shoots on 'blue bell' and 'isabelle' as well (but can't manage decent pictures of them all).

The one plant I expected to loose this week was downoi- but it's still here and I swear it has a few more leaves than last time I took a pic.

 

[JJ09]

That may have been it- the micros. Noticed already that while last week's leaves still have their oddly twisted form, ones that emerged since friday, when I halved the micro dose, are straight.

I'm thinking now that maybe my tank water isn't deficient in mg after all- the other tank has same water source and I've never noticed the same leaf issues. Maybe this too, could be attributed to micros...

 

[JJ09]

Lots of growth now. New leaves on all the buces- 'selena' leading the way. I can see the emerging on other types too, but too small for a photo.

Watersprite is really filling up the back corner, seems to be growing wider rather than taller right now.

Hydrocotyle finally has some more leaves! So very small still.

I trimmed one of the ludwigia stems for the first time- might have to do the others next week. No more creeping jenny in here, the last little bits came loose- no roots had grown. Still some warped growth on that one ludwigia stem, and the anubias lanceolata has some pale leaves. Gave a bit less micros again this week- only 4ml.

 

[JJ09]

I think I may have actually got rid of all the ramshorn and pond snails in here. I had been picking them out regularly, now realize I haven't seen any for some time.

Gave some to my kid- she really wanted to try keeping snails in a fishbowl. I set it up for her with some substrate, elodea and hornwort trimmings, watersprite and that mondo grass I pulled from my thirty-eight. This was several weeks ago. She has it near a window. The bowl has no filter or heater, so it does drop to 60° at night, and so far she hasn't been doing water changes. I top it off with a bit of water from one of the tanks each friday. To my surprise most of the plants are still green, and although the trumpet snails seem to die off regularly (I give her ones I pick out of the aquariums every week) she has one ramshorn that's doubled in size.

 

[JJ09]

Last week I trimmed a lot of the stem plants in here- ludwigias and watersprite. I cut down entirely that one ludwigia stem that always had twisted growth on the new leaves. Trimming all those stem plants really changed the appearance of the tank. It went from this:

to this:

Side view even more dramatic. I cut and replanted some stems off the wisteria, so now I can see the little cluster of rotala behind the skull again.

See the fluffy bunch of subwassertang on the left in that pic above? I trimmed that, and fastened some of it to sticks (boiled twigs of sycamore soaked for two weeks) to see if it would work as something in the foreground.

Other end of the tank. I'm still puzzled what that small stem plant is, right in front of the driftwood. I thought it was a rotala because the leaves so much smaller than the ludwigia next to it- but the undersides are faintly purple like a ludwigia repens.

I thought I had got rid of all the pond snails in here, but found one more. Crushed it for Oliver. Here's a bonus pic of him cruising in the background, thorny sun nerite in the fore.

Other stuff of note: fissidens is taking hold! I like this pic because can see it in the center. Need to trim and spread more of it, right now have to look very close and hard to see the patches of it. Funny to see a bit of duckweed trapped under anubias leaf there on the right.

The duckweed pretty much covers all the water surface in here now. I actually scoop all of it out into a small bucket every maintenance day, so it's not sticking to my hands or tools while I work in the tank. Then at the end I dip it back out of the bucket and pour it all back in. It's funny to watch the little bits swirl down into the water and float up again like tiny parachutes. Quite a few get trapped under broad leaves on their way back up to the surface. I guess at some point I'll get tired of this plant, but not yet.

I took out the downoi plant. It came loose again and I saw there was only one tiny root hair, and no new leaf growth. I replanted it in the other tank, where the downoi are growing new leaves so must be better conditions for them in there.

This tank is so much more stable than my thirty-eight. Last week I put in a few root tabs, which bumped up my nitrates to 40. So this week I cut back on the ferts dose. Nothing seems too affected by this. The anubias lanceolata has paler outer edges of the leaves again, and the buce selena looks like it might be getting that symptom too. I'm not sure if it's because I skimped on the ferts dose, or maybe I need to give mg again, or it could be because I cut back too far on the micros- only gave 3ml this time, the week before it was 4ml- so maybe I've found the dose limit there. My bigger tank, on the other hand, suffers algae whenever I change something.

 

[JJ09]

Drip

I woke up this morning and looked over at my tank- there was a large drop of water creeping down the outside front corner. I jumped up to check- no moisture on the support surface, or under the tank so I don't think it was seeping very long. I dried the outer edge and looked in from below- hadn't noticed yesterday I filled the tank a bit too much and it was touching the edge of the rim on that corner. Siphoned out a bit of water until it was clear of the rim plastic, and dried off that corner. I could just slide a bit of toilet tissue up under the outer edge of the rim- I did this until it no longer soaked out water. It was a small thing, but a momentary yikes feeling.

 

[irishspy]

Tank leaks: the nightmare scenario of every fish-keeper...

I enjoyed reading this thread! You've done a fine job with the tank and are a good servant to Oliver. I hope he gives you a raise. :wink:

 

[JJ09]

My tenner looks so different with the snip of just one stem.

Cut the tallest ludwigia stem to match height of the others, and now suddenly that bunch has a nice shape. I can't keep wisteria from spreading out of its corner and blocking light/view of the rotala indica, so I moved it behind the driftwood log. The potted wendtii switched places with it, but that's not a permanent thing. I don't think I want to actually plant that crypt in here, it would get too large for this tank. Thinking what to put in that corner instead... I've taken out all the subwasser that was on wood pieces, it didn't look good. Moved the clump on a stone to central spot, and repositioned the individual rotala rotundifolia stems into that right front corner.

For the first time, duckweed is something of a pain. It got thick enough that was piling up on itself, and I think some of it was starting to die from that- I found tons of fine, thin white hairlike bits floating all around the tank. Looks like this is detached duckweed roots? (I guessed before that it was decaying tissue from where I trimmed an anubias petiole, but now I think I was wrong about that). As my usual routine, I scoop out most of the duckweed with the first two gallons of a water change, to get it out of the way. This time instead of replacing most of it, I just put a few handfuls back in. Nice and scattered once more.

I want to put a different floater in here- I've read that giant duckweed is more easily managed, and I'd like the appearance of it on the surface to be a bit more pronounced- visually- but not as much dangling as say, water lettuce seems to do. But I'm confused as to the difference between giant duckweed and salvinia minima- which has little toothed hairs on the leaves- some people seem to use their names interchangeably or call what I think is salvinia a duckweed? Need to be sure I get the plant I'm really thinking of...

 

[JJ09]

My tenner continues to do much better than the main tank. This morning I even saw a range of bubbles scattered across the surface in one corner. The only thing I can think of is that Oliver might finally be building a bubble nest!

There's a lot of duckweed now. It makes a strong green cast to everything.

I pull out half of it every week now- and it grows back just as quickly. In spite of this, I'm still glad I have this plant. Maybe it's the reason this tank stays algae-free for me!

Discards piled up in the cup:

The smaller java ferns now cling on their own to the fake skull, I've removed all the rubber bands except one.

I like the subwassertang on a rock, but I keep moving it around because I can't figure out a spot where it looks nice.

I can't understand why the buces do so nicely in here, compared to those in my thirty-eight. They're like little plant jewels. Maybe it's a matter of light intensity...

The newer leaves on buce 'selena' are getting bigger and bigger!

I like the look of wisteria in its new spot behind the anubias log, but it needs time to recover and bush out.

Funny thing happened with my smaller windelov fern bunch (not a good picture of it). I started taking the old rubber bands off- one half of the rhizomes were obviously clinging on their own. But when I lifted the other rubber band, the other part of the plant came up with it. Somehow the rhizome had run over and along the rubber band, was clinging to that instead of the rock! I'll have to wait for it to grow out enough to grab the rock surface on either side of the rubber band, so I can cut the ends off. Or fasten it down with a new one...

Ludwigia I am not sure about in here, anymore. The lower leaves die at a pretty fast rate, it seems every other day I'm finding orangish leaves floating loose. So it ends up with naked, dark stems the lower half. Which would be okay if I kept it trimmed back to promote side shoots, or had something in front to hide the stems. But it also still has kind of warped leaves, and the bacopa behind it looks so much more attractive. Maybe I will scrap it and just keep bacopa and rotalas in here.

Also starting to think I might take out the big anubias, and plant buces all across the top of the driftwood. It would fit more with the scale in here. I'm only loathe to do so because I like large foliage, and this individual plant I've had the longest (over two years). And because Oliver seems to really enjoy the plant lately- he drifts slowly under its leaves as if hoping to ambush someone, and rests on top of them sometimes, too.

Most of all I'm glad here to see the fissidens taking off. It's a reputedly a slow grower, but I've been able to see the difference week by week, and that's satisfying. Here's some on the top edge of an elbow of driftwood-

For the first time I've trimmed it and refastened a bit on another part of the wood.

 

[JJ09]

I don't have any pics this time around, but there are some changes. A little while back I took out all the duckweed and replaced with giant duckweed- Spirodela Polyrhiza. To remove the smaller duckweed I scooped out as much as I could one day with a cup. Waited a few hours for the remnants to congregate again, then scooped all of that out. Wiped down the glass under the top rim to get any that were stuck there- lots. Repeated it the next day- scooping out bits I found still floating, wiped off under the rim. Third day I didn't see any. I might still get some growing back if I missed a tiny bit, but as long as the majority in the tank is spirodela polyrhiza I don't mind.

I always wondered why the stems of the rotala indica in here bent over at the tops, leaning sideways. Figured it out when I had the tank on blackout for three days- then they stood up straight to the lightstrip. So the ambient window light from the side is probably making them bend. I blocked the end of the tank with a sheet of dark paper and now they are straightening again. But now Oliver can make out his reflection and he hangs out on that end of the tank dashing up and down the side displaying. When he gets too excitable he lashed out at the oto. The other morning, when there was no lights on and no reflection visible, I still saw him chase the oto deliberately several times. Not just following, but lunging at him and chasing him around corners of the tank.

I am not sure how to resolve the reflection issue while keeping the light blocked from the side, so I moved the otocinclus out of this tank and into my thirty-eight. More algae for him there anyways.

Now Oliver is alone with the snails. He probably likes it better that way.

 

[JJ09]

Not much has been happening. The plants grow steadily, if slow. Bacopa and ludwigias across the back recently got a trim with tops replanted to increase the stems, so they aren't any taller.

I'm still pleased with spirodela polyrhiza (giant duckweed).

It doesn't grow too fast- if I scoop out and discard two or three handfuls each week during maintenance, that keeps it nicely in check with enough open space at surface for Oliver to reach his food and breathe easily.

I switched positions of the subwassertang clump with the windelov fern on a rock. I like the subwasser better in this corner, not sure about placement of the windelov yet.

Removed a few rubber bands as most of the plants are holding on firmly now- no more bands for the windelov on mopani wood,

or java fern on fake skull.

This little cluster of bucephalandra only has one piece that needs holding down still.

I was really surprised to see that some leaves are finally sprouting from these bits of buce stem I tied on another stone. I never took them out of the tank because they simply didn't rot yet, and they are finally growing!

And here's buce selena, still going strong. I'd love to move some of the buces (or cuttings of them) from the thirty-eight into here, but afraid of spreading thread algae or BBA....

Did a little experiment with my mid-sized anubias plant. I know to divide the plant you can cut off a segment of rhizome at least an inch or two long, and it should grow new foliage. I cut the rhizome in half just behind the main set of leaves, but left it in place. To see if I could get more leaves growing. It took two weeks, but there is finally a sprout. Tiny, spade-shaped leaf just below left of center in this picture.

Not to be outdone, my big anubias barteri is sprouting a new leaf too. (I put in root tabs last week, so it got a good boost). I'm thinking of cutting in half and removing part of this one soon, it really overtakes its corner of the tank. Have been thinking of removing it altogether, because it really changes the scale of everything else in here. But I'm reluctant to get rid of it- this is the one plant I've had the longest, since the days of betta bowls.... And I'd still love to have an anubias coffefolia someday but I think that one is just as large!

Rotala in this tank still looks best from the short end, where I think it holds its leaves broadside to the ambient window light. I've also been thinking lately of removing one layer of plastic sheeting from the light strip. Maybe with the duckweed in place I can now increase the light level a bit. Could be better for the stem plants. But I'm afraid to throw things out of balance, since it has all been doing nicely for so long.

Oliver himself seems to be feeling his age (he must be at least two-and-a-half, maybe close to three years old by now). He spends more time just resting on the barteri leaves now, or hanging out quietly in a upper corner of the tank. But when evening comes if the tank light against dark room shows him his own reflection, he still flares and displays all up and down the glass. Spunky!

 

[JJ09]

Part of Oliver's face lost color. There's no fuzziness so I don't think it's a fungus, and it doesn't quite look like a scrape or injury- I wonder if he is just getting old? A few days now after water change, the pale mark looks smaller, so I hope it's healing, whatever it was.

Here's the buce 'emerald' cutting I moved in here from the thirty-eight, to the left of buce 'selena'.

Subwassertang looks significantly bigger- I realize I took pictures of mostly the same plants this week as last- I suppose because I like them best right now!

I tried taking some low-angle shots of the windelov fern in here. It kind of flattens itself out, holding the widest part of the fronds horizontal. So it's hard to get a good view of it.

 

[Ssid]

This is a honest, down-to-earth, and a totally awesome journal, I felt like I was there through all your trials and tribulations..very well documented, sir..
Thanks for sharing.

 

[JJ09]

Hey, thanks! The only way I can learn from my mistakes is by making a note of them.... I'm actually embarrassed by many of the early photos from when I started my tanks- but it's nice to look back on it and see how far things have come.

 

[JJ09]

There are tiny roundish clear things showing up on the glass. They don't have the right shape for baby MTS and look like very tiny translucent blobs with a dark center- which is a hard bit when I scrape them off w/my finger.

I thought maybe just-hatched pond/bladder snails? A few weeks ago I did find another pond snail in here (thought I'd got them all, guess not). I squished it, but maybe it managed to lay eggs first, or I missed another one. I wanted to clean the front glass this week, so picked all these tiny things off with fingernails (tedious job) and put some under the microscope. But I must have crushed them when removing, it's a mess of tissue and a bit of blood and I have no idea what they are. There is a hard, shell part or carapace- I can see bits of it, so must be a snail I think.

So my next thought was- snail egg cases? that hadn't hatched yet? Maybe the dark hard bit in centre was a shell forming on an unhatched snail. But the egg cases I've seen from ramshorns and pond snails in the past had multiple eggs forming in one blob. This looks like just one thing. So I guess it's another organism altogether. It's too small for me to get a picture of. I couldn't find my husband's loop to get a better look at it when in the tank. It's wider and more transparent than a nerite egg.

Any ideas??

 

[ScubaSteve]

Might be a freshwater limpet of some kind...kind of like a cross between a clam and a snail

 

[JJ09]

Thanks- I think that's it! Pictures of tiny ones online match pretty close what I'm seeing. I guess they're not harmful- I think they showed up when I got higher nitrates than normal from adding root tabs...