Reditus (return)

[Wolf6]

Looking really nice @Wolf6 - just hack that grass back - it should grow denser as a result.

FWIW I lost a few Pygmies when I got my batch in my old scape. But the rest have been really resilient. They are incredibly shy though. Even though they are now in my low tech tank which is very dimly lit, and covered in Frogbit, they are still very nervous - shooting off into the undergrowth at the first sight of movement, even with the bold Endlers giving them a little more confidence.

My Salt and Pepper Cory’s in my high tech on the other hand appear completely oblivious to even my 4 year old pressing her face against the tank and jumping up and down in excitement!

Thanks Glad to hear its not something I'm doing wrong regarding the shyness They are in a quieter part of the house, in our office corner, but still dont see them much. Might get those salt n peppers for the larger tank come time then I did originally set out to get those, but chose the pygmies instead because of reasons I dont recall
I'll try and get myself to mow that lawn next maintenance

 

[not called Bob]

mine seem to go through phases, they can be in the top 20% of the tank all week and not be seen on the sand and then go behind rocks and into the plants for a week. they only seem to feed on biofilm on the plants. every one else eats the sinking pellets etc with gusto, but not seen them, but they must be when unwatched as they have plumped up

 

[Wolf6]

I just counted 7 cory's! Rumors of his/her death have been greatly exaggerated it seems. Still means I lost 3, but it makes me feel a little less bad

 

[Wolf6]

Still growing well, no algae. Upped ferts a bit more, now dosing 5 pumps of tropica specialised per week. Gave some plants a major trim last night. Getting a lot of snails though so I manually removed a bunch.

 

[Wolf6]

Fissidens miroshaki on the branch is growing well again, its just a very slow grower compared to the other fissidens species in the tank All the white dots on the glass are tiny snails it seems, or copepods with a hard shell, cant tell. They do move around. They are getting a bit numerous for my liking. I've also discovered some hydra, but I'm not too worried about those, they tend to disappear again by themselves. They're probably a result of regular feeding with frozen mini cyclops.

 

[Wolf6]

Not much new. More trimming of plants, tiny bit of gda on the rocks appearing here and there where the toothbrush isnt sufficient. The bit of MC that planted itself is growing well on the wood. Placed some fissidens trimmings in new spots in the tank. Its all very stable this far, maintenance is minimal, waterchange 50% weekly, clean windows, trim some plants, and 1x month clean the filter. Takes me 20 mins per week. The small clamlike copepods are becoming a bit annoying, white spots everywhere. Hydra disappeared again after feeding less cyclops.
Light is still about 6 hours per day per lamp, but lamp 1 comes on 30 mins before lamp 2, and lamp 2 goes off 30 mins later then 1. Ferts is 2 pumps of tropica specialised on waterchange day, 1 pump on wed, one friday, one sunday. Every fert day I also dose some easy carbo on anything that looks like algae or if there isnt anything, just into the water.

 

[Wolf6]

Steady as she goes. Nothing to report. Few diatoms on the sand, minimal green dust algae on the rocks, those are the only signs of algae in the tank currently. Fissidens miroshaki is taking off at last Finally developed some mass.

 

[Wolf6]

The HC is still growing well on top of the wood at the surface. Its starting to make its way down alongside the fissidens. I'll get a few more taiwan bee shrimp soon, I like how visible they are in this tank. The reds not so much, there are at least 5 in the tank but I barely see them. The amano's are also visible a lot, they just dont stay still long

 

[Wolf6]

Tonight is maintenance night. Cutting back some plants, cleaning pipes and glass, the usual. Nothing new to report. Mosses growing well.

 

[Wolf6]

And a few random shots.
First we can see the fontinalis finally taking root on the rock and as a result growing fast.


The beach where the cool kids hang out.

Closeup of fissidens, coral moss and HC slowly overtaking the wood together, set against a backdrop of red ludwigia.

And finally fissidens miroshaki looking good and growing fast (for a slow moss).

 

[Wolf6]

Its not the same tank so its kind of cheating, but since the tank this is happening in doesnt have a journal of its own and is going to go soon, here is a flowering Limnobium laevigatum. Didnt even occur to me it could flower. Next to it is another one with the flower already spend, but its not on the pic. Clearly doing something right...

 

[Wolf6]

Noticed some green spot algae after a hard trim last week. Giving slightly less ferts now till plant mass is back somewhat. Other then that still steady. Spotted this during maintenance. Pleased to see its happy too.

 

[Wolf6]

Steady as she goes. A few spots of black on the rocks which I dosed with some easycarbo, rocks getting a little greenish in spots the toothbrush cant reach, but nothing worrysome. Its all going pretty well. Added more Bee shrimps. Some pics before and after maintenance.

 

[Wolf6]

Been a bit lazy with cleaning rocks and wood and keeping balance between ferts and plantmass. But worst of all, co2 ran out and I didnt notice for a week or so. Result is some green algae on rocks and bba outbreak on wood. The blyxa stems were decaying so I had to replant the tops. Hairgrass is slowly taking over the beach and the shrimps are somehow getting some soil onto the sand occasionally. Still given how little time I put into it, I am happy enough. Upcoming: I will replace one of the 2 lights with an onf nano+. Hoping I can manage the light swap without issues and can get the bba back into submission.
Guilty shrimp.
Mini Moss has been divided into 3 parts, one attached to wood with the bba outbreak:



Corner shot:

Side shot:

And main front shot:

Thats all for now.

 

[Wolf6]

Did a few rounds of dosing easycarbo onto the affected wood, seeing the bba recede somewhat. Replaced the largest lamp with the onf nano at 80% intensity, keeping a close eye on plants and algae.
Happy with the fountain Moss growth

 

[Wolf6]

Bba has receeded and is almost gone. Cant get the gda off the rocks anymore with toothbrush, anyone have some pointers for this?
Plantgrowth is excellent and swapping the lights doesnt seem to have had much impact.

 

[Wookii]

Cant get the gda off the rocks anymore with toothbrush, anyone have some pointers for this?

This brush set will give you a few tougher options than a regular toothbrush if you really want to remove it:

Amazon product ASIN B07F2BCVJL

 

[Wolf6]

I am contemplating tearing it down. Its still doing well, despite a malfunctioning timer messing up my co2 again, so some bba resurfaced. But I received 20 more embers from someone moving house so now I am considering making this the main group in the larger tank. Also due to circumstances I am currently not really feeling it, so might just go back to one single tank. I also spotted some small blue/white shrimp, but couldnt catch them on camera. I hope its the taiwan bee, but it might just be cherries that mixxed with the black/white shrimp I accidentally added believing those to also be taiwan bees.

 

[Wolf6]

A few close ups I made just now. New flower in the buce:

Fissidens miroshaki, I just love this little moss. Extremely slow growing but it doesnt require maintenance, no cutting it back required, doesnt get taller.

I took some of this moss from a spring in the ardennes for my pond, and tried some in my tank as well. Love the way its growing.

They seem happy and active.

Shrimplets came out this time.

Possibly taiwan bee, but could just as well be the other type.

And the amanos still happily cleaning stuff.

 

[RPackman]

I am contemplating tearing it down.

This would be a real shame! It is coming along so nicely!

due to circumstances I am currently not really feeling it, so might just go back to one single tank.

I completely get that. It can feel a lot when it just seems like maintenance and algae clearance are all you do and you don’t get to enjoy the tank.

However, I love embers and I would think you could have embers in two tanks….