andyh said:
How's it going? :?:
You have been quiet?
Yes, I have been, haven't I?
I'm still plugging away at this. I've taken out a fair bit of the hairgrass, and added some Anubias nana 'Bonsai'. The original clumps of hairgrass I planted were badly algaed, and didn't show any signs of recovery. When I pulled them out, of course a necklace of new plantlets came up with them, which I could have separated and replanted. But to be honest, the hairgrass did seem a bit lost in such a relatively large tank. The Anubias has been pegged down to the substrate with garden wire, plus a few clumps inserted into crevices in the rocks, using garden wire as sprung chocks. It seems to be fine, although a few damaged leaves are dying back. The rotala is starting to romp away again after the first prune a week or two back. The vallis is growing strongly, despite my soft water and Easycarbo use. The pogostemon helferi is healthy too, with transplanted rosettes taking and growing away readily.
My HC, which was rallying strongly, has taken a turn for the worse again. I'm keeping CO2 as high as I dare, I've raised the luminaire a bit more, and I'm keeping the fertiliser dosing high. Not sure why the HC went off the boil, but could it be over-enthusiastic fish-feeding? I've the double challenge of keeping fish for the first time, as well as the plants, so I've been trying to sort out a workable feeding routine for the fish, as well as getting my head round plant husbandry.
In experimenting with different fish-feeds, I've used an automated in-tank brine shrimp hatchery, which seems to work fine, although it's ugly and noisy. I'll use it occasionally, when I know there's no-one likely to see the tank for a day or two (apart from me and the missus, that is!)
And I've added some Purigen to the filter, to see if it clarifies the water further - only just gone in, so the jury's out on this one for now.
That's it for now, everything is adding to my knowledge and understanding - I'm sure I'll reap the rewards in time, whether on this tank or a future one.
Thanks for asking, BTW!