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ADA Child’s Play To The Tropica Way

Do like the Aqua Rebel lily pipes @Courtneybst , pretty discreet. However, was looking for a lily outlet that sits much lower to leave room for emersed growth. No luck so far.

I have a similar approach to my youngest sons homework. I always get a bit upset if I don’t get straight “A”s.

😂😆😂
 
Broken ❌ Broken ❌and Broken ❌

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All in the space of a month 🤷🏻‍♂️

Opportunity for upgrades:

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Looking awesome. I have a similar approach to my youngest sons homework. I always get a bit upset if I don’t get straight “A”s.
I remember my lad having to do an essay about Space Exploration, I got really really carried away helping him only to be told later " well thanks a lot dad! Teacher says l completly missed the objective" 😯
 
One week:

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Boy has done good. Daily water changes, popped the skimmer on when he noticed the surface film and removed any stray plant matter to limit decay throughout the week.

Planting:

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Held off on the arcuata and lobelia, plenty of planting without it. Glosso is buried deep and will suffer some burn, but suspect it will be fine.

He described the planting of the Glosso carpet as ‘psychotic’. Did do very small plantlets 😂

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Two 1-2-Grow pots of Glosso took him an hour to plant. Will hopefully see the merit of breaking it up and planting small portions when the carpet is thick and sits tight to the deck.

Tank running on Tropica soil and Tropica Specialised Nutrition (4ml per day) this time.
 
2 months in and we have a fish:

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Son says he’s called The Red King… so there you go.

Wasn’t 100% when we got him, had fin rot 😬 But true to his word he turned the situation around. Range of food and frequent water changes. Relieved as a dad that his first experience of fish keeping wasn’t the alternative.

It’s been a good learning curve since setup in February. Some things have gone his way, others not so much.

The moss islands worked out and some HC is sharing the space:

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Trimming the Glosso carpet and replanting the wallichii in tight quarters have not been a high point. Both were growing very rapidly and the requirement for awkward, frequent trimming was a handful. Think he felt the need to stick with the plan to honour the original setup.

Suggested he adapts himself, as well as the tank, to what is manageable, so he keeps on top of it whilst enjoying the process of caring for an aquarium.

Changed the background from wallichii to Helanthium tenellum:

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Minimal to no maintenance required.

Carpet… suggested he do a mix of Glosso, Monte Carlo from the terrarium and use up the last of Helanthium tenellum in the pots:

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With HC also creeping in it’ll be a Carpet Battle Royale! 😂

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Alterations were done yesterday, but will grow in soon enough.

The Bolbitis difformis has been kicking his butt. The initial emersed leaves have been slowly rotting and attracting algae. Explained to him my own attempts with cutting emersed leaves off and just planting the rhizome resulted in failure and to just hang in there. Removing leaves is removing resources for the plant to adapt. Patience will be rewarded in time.

Two months of decaying mess on and we finally have fronds appearing:

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Will require a clean up once it gets going proper. Few choice cuts of old leaves. Difformis has always been tricksy in this house so think he’s got lucky personally, even if he doesn’t currently imagine so. After this faff he will always have access to Bolbitis difformis that is adapted to submersed life, no bad thing to have in the bag.

Fissidens fontanus… mentioned in other journals this moss is indestructible. Wood has been stored dry, exposed to insane heat in the summer, freezing temperatures in the winter for a couple of years. Still turns up uninvited:

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Mossy wood and rocks it’ll be soon enough 😂

Overall tank is proving a good lesson in when to go with the flow and when to resist.
 
Looking great Geoff. Your son is doing a great job and I hope he's enjoying the journey.
That moss is unbelievable. It's got to be the most indestructible plant I've ever come across.
 
Relieved as a dad that his first experience of fish keeping wasn’t the alternative.
Have an 8yr old and still telling her the dwarf gourami is hiding. On a serious note so glad your sons experience is a positive one.

Fissidens fontanus… mentioned in other journals this moss is indestructible.
Apparently can survive for hundreds of years, in ice, and still re generate. Well maybe not fissidens fontanus, but moss non the less.
 
I hope he's enjoying the journey.

Hoping so Tim. Ultimately that is a choice for him. Can only create vistas together, it’s up to him what he sees…

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He took this picture earlier, it’s a good’un, but the one prior was funnier when the Betta did a photobomb:

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😂 😝 😂

Have an 8yr old and still telling her the dwarf gourami is hiding. On a serious note so glad your sons experience is a positive one.

Heart goes out to you @John q , not an easy one. Even the Betta has a short life span, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Still remember the days of taking pets to the vet. The vet was basically an executioner in the 80’s, nothing sick ever came out alive 😬

It's got to be the most indestructible plant I've ever come across.

Apparently can survive for hundreds of years, in ice, and still re generate. Well maybe not fissidens fontanus, but moss non the less.

Moss shall inherit the Earth… 🌍

Could be cool 😎
 
Been a while. Photo update:

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Fissidens… Because nature don’t care whether it was on the plant list:

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Bit of emersed action:

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Boy is doing good. Still work to be done on his trimming game, but not complaining.
 
Sadly this scape is coming down. The Betta passed from old age and as anticipated, it profoundly affected the lad.

He knowingly chose an adult Betta, accepting it would be a short time together. Proud of him for giving his fish the best home he could provide and embracing the rhythm and routine of maintaining his tank.

Thank you for the supportive comments on this journal folks. He has been reading along and they meant a lot to him, many thanks 🙏🏽
 
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