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Planted Windowsill Vase

In summer, I have measured the temp in my bowls to fluctuate from night time 22 to 32 C when the sun hits. If not because the room is AC, I am afraid there could be a crash if the temp climbs above 35C. PH fluctuation is also substantially, from 7.4 to 8.5 at the peak of direct sunlight and photosynthesis. My cherry shrimp survive but don’t multiply which can be caused by too small water volume (< 3 liter), lack of WC, food or other factors I don’t know.
 
Ok so I'm pretty certain that temperature will fluctuate in my vase, but from what I've recorded it seems to vary 1c either side, stay constant and then vary again. In my opinion that doesn't seem to much of a wild swing to upset snails and shrimp but I want the plants to establish long before anything goes in anyway so I've got time to change my mind on that.

Right onto more fun stuff! I've had a propagator of some tropica plants that were going to get thrown away unless I bought them cheaply. So I salvaged what I could and they've been growing since some time in November. There was a lot of die back but they have some root systems established now so fingers crossed I can take trimmings from them soon!

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I think I have Ranunculus Inundatus on the left, Myriophyllum Guyana in the middle (which suffered the worst with die back) and then Pogostemon Erectus and Helanthium Tenellum 'Green' in the far right one.

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Would any of these be suitable for my windowsill vase? I plan on letting some plants grow up and out of the water to help with their CO2 demands, and may dose with liquid carbon to just help them on their way to start. I think I'll have java fern, anubias, moss and an emersed sword of some kind in there, would they all tolerate liquid carbon ok? I know some people have mixed views on it, but an algaecide might prove needed as it'll have a long period of light.
 
Struggling with the hardscape a bit, it's very hard to see into the distorted curved glass while working! I've hacked bits off the spider wood to make it fit how I want, but the rocks are a problem area! I want to hide the 'underneath' of the wood but the rocks lack any excitement! Any tips guys? I've used a big rock but I'm wondering if it would be better to use smaller more interesting pieces, and hide gaps with some anubias nana?

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Came back to it and put my substrate in, which made it a lot easier but this TMC stuff is hard to wiggle rocks into!

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Think I'll leave it for tonight but would love some feedback on how to make it better :)
 
Hi Miss-Pepper, I wonder how it looks with a smaller (or no) wood? The wood looks a little too big imo perhaps it’s just me.
 
Hi James, that's a fair point it is a large piece for the size of the vase. The only thing is I'll be using it to grow some emersed stuff up the top once I figure this all out so even if it throws the scale off I'm kind of married to the wood now haha.
 
Ok well I'd like to get on and start looking at plants, so I guess I'll leave the hardscape as is? I'm hoping for a 'enchanted overgrown forest' kinda vibe but we'll see what I actually manage to grow and achieve!
I just did a very quick Photoshop mock up of what plants I'd like to use roughly, lots of taiwan moss (I was hoping to find the more compact mini version but tropica only seems to do one?). Eleocharis pusilla as my carpeting plant, I did put some Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' at the font but I fully expect that to die haha. Helanthium tenellum between rocks and slightly further back than the hairgrass, anubias or bucephalandra in to cover gaps in and around the base of the wood, some java fern narrow leaf at the back and pogostemon erectus as my stem plant which I'm hoping to grow tall enough to become emersed at the back and side to lower light levels for some of the other plants. Too many plant species in a small vase? I'll be starting with a dry start just to get a good plant mass and well established roots on rocks and wood.
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