18 April 2016

little tank

My tenner continues to do much better than the main tank. This morning I even saw a range of bubbles scattered across the surface in one corner. The only thing I can think of is that Oliver might finally be building a bubble nest!
I am not very good at getting nice photos of it, though.
Notes on this tank: most of the java ferns now cling on their own, I've removed all the rubber bands except one.
In the front corner I've replanted the rotala rotundifolia (but it looks like bacopa? so maybe marked wrong in the store). A lot of these came loose the first day or two after I planted them. I didn't have time to stick my hands in the tank and replant, so left them floating. They did not die- they grew long root hairs going straight down. So I let them float longer on purpose, to have roots that would help anchor it back in the substrate when replanted again.
On the other end of that skull I've got the subwassertang on a rock, and found another rather large piece of it floating free in the bigger tank. Put it in here fastened down to another small stone, white one. It's sitting behind the other so kind of makes a light backdrop behind part of it. I like the effect.
The buces are doing nicely in here- 'selena' has quite a few new leaves getting bigger!
The 'midnight blue' ones seem to grow slower- I have to look at and compare pics to see any difference at all.
I like the look of wisteria in its new spot behind the anubias log, but it needs time to recover and bush out.
For the first time I trimmed the fissidens moss.
The bits were so small it was pointless to even try for a picture where I fastened them on the log in another spot.
Ludwigia I am not sure about in here, anymore. The lower leaves die at a pretty fast rate, it seems every other day I'm finding orangish leaves floating loose. So it ends up with naked, dark stems the lower half. Which would be okay if I kept it trimmed back to promote side shoots, or had something in front covering its skirts. But it also still has kind of warped leaves, and the bacopa behind it looks so much more attractive. Maybe I will scrap it and just keep bacopa and rotalas in here.

Also starting to think I might take out the big anubias, and plant buces all across the top of the driftwood. It would fit more with the scale in here. I'm only loathe to do so because I like large foliage, and this individual plant I've had the longest (over two years).

No comments: