Well, it's been a month since I planted the first plants in my tank. I have learned a great deal I think. Still a few things I havent gotten the hang of yet. Mainly dosing. I still dont fully understand what I am doing there, but I'll get it figured out.
As for the tank, there have been no major changes to my tank except for some rearranging and plants growing like crazy
. I've added a few more bottles to my Co2 manufacturing facility (almost needs a building of it's own) and a bubble counter. It's doing a good job of keeping my tank at or around 48ppm Co2. I check my bubble count every 2 days watching for any symptoms that a bottle might have ran it's course. I seem to be getting just about 2 weeks out of each of the bottles. Not bad I guess. (Begin sarcasm) Who knew you could have so much fun counting bubbles?(End sarcasm).
I have learned one thing about Co2 though. Dont agitate the top of the water at all! With just a few ripples, my Co2 drops from 48ppm to about 19ppm. Not good.
Here's a pic I just took of the tank.
(Click to enlarge)
The Co2 diffuser isnt doing so well. Dont get me wrong, it does an excellent job diffusing Co2 and it's not growing at all (a good thing). It's just that it isnt getting any better looking. How long should it take for one of these things to start looking healthy?
(No biggie, it's coming out in a month or so.)
The water sprite is growing about 1.5 inches per day. Later on I'll probably have to trim it way more often than the other plants in the tank. I've moved it all to the left side of the tank where I will
TRY to contain it to that area.
The Kleiner Bar Sword is really doing good even though I've had to trim a few leaves due to algae. It really adds a different color to the tank. I really hope it will retain that color after I lower the light level in a month or so.
My Marble Queen Radican is sending up a stalk/shoot. I havent found much info on what the stalk is for but I , correct me if I am wrong, believe it will grow out of the water and flower. Everything I have read has stated that this plant is medium to difficult to grow and needs a nutrient rich substrate. Well, it's doing pretty well if you ask me. Of course, it's still early too.
The Narrow Leaf Sag had a serious issue with algae and I had to trim it all. It has since sent out many new plants which I have relocated to the middle back of the tank freeing up the back right side for some hornwort maybe. In a few weeks, the sag should be nearly out of the water again.
As for the rest of the plants, they are doing OK. Thinking of removing the Java Moss completely. I think it's ugly and just doesnt do much for the overall look of the tank. If it had some sort of structure to it and didnt just look like a big rats nest, it would be another story. The Java Fern has yet to attach itself to that rock its on. It has several "babies" growing off it. I need to look up how to propigate it sometime. And the crypts pretty much look like they did when I put them in. Not much growth at all.
Not sure why, but I keep putting off adding a simple black background. It sure would make the tank look nicer. I, also, want to change out my substrate. The sand is way too fine for my liking. Not that I have developed a preference yet. Just that it moves around way too much. I want to get something that will stay in place yet not too large and still inexpensive. And I want to get down to where I grew up and gather a bunch of slate. Eventually, I want to remove all those "assorted" rocks. I just dont like the look as well as I once did.
I mentioned to my mom the other day that I wasnt in a hurry to get fish and that I was enjoying watching the plants grow. She said I must have gotten a bit of the gardening bug from my grandfather. He raised a 3.5 acre garden for years. He was 91 when the doctors told him he wasnt allowed to work in it anymore and passed away the next year. I cant help but wonder how much longer he might have lived if someone had gotten him an aquarium full of plants.
Well, that's all for my one month post. I have learned a great deal and am enjoying this tremendously.
As always, comments, suggestions, tips, etc., are welcomed.