aponogeton

I'm making a separate post just about this plant because I love it so much. I really want it to be the main feature of my future tank.

This is my plan: to grow out the Aponogeton while I look for an affordable thirty or even fifty gallon tank. Because the fish I've always wanted are the ones I had in my teens: wild-type Scalare, or Angelfish. But they don't do well in anything smaller than a 30gal (even though I kept mine in a 10gal for about ten years! I didn't know better back then). So I wait. I want them to look lovely against the large ruffled amazon sword, and to have the proper space. Plus I haven't seen the kind I like in the two shops I frequent. They always have veiltails or mottled angels, ones that are all white or even with spots. I like the classic wild-type best. Am patient to find some, even if I have to order them online directly from a breeder.

In the meantime, I have also realized I'm not too fond of the Cherry Barb. They're certainly hardy, and it's amusing when they nibble on the freckle on my arm, if I put my hand in the tank. But I don't really like the look of orange and red fishes in there, against the brown gravel. I love the blues of Pinkie. After more reading and looking at pictures, plus thinking about my basic water pH- very hard, especially since I moved the driftwood out- maybe I should put the piece with Java Fern back in... - I would like to have blue Platyfish. There are blue wag platies and blue mickmouse platies, but they aren't very common and I haven't found any yet. (I've already got someone who will adopt my cherry barbs when I find the platies).

But this isn't about scalare I don't have or platies I might want! It's about my Aponogeton. The two more mature plants, that came to me without many browned leaves, are starting to look really lovely.

Of the smaller ones, most of the browned leaves have melted away by now. New foliage is growing- in this second-biggest one, it's finally got one leaf large enough to have the ruffled edge.

There are five others, but very small- they lost most of their leaves when shipped and have been a lot slower to recover- probably because they didn't have the greenery to feed themselves. The smallest one keeps getting uprooted by the Siamese A Eaters nibbling on it. I had to put some of the largest pebbles around it to hold it down.