tank notes

This week I dosed the same on the ten-gallon, and on the twenty omitted giving nitrate (per recommendations on fish forum- there's enough from the fish waste) -for the dry ferts. Things are looking well in the main aquarium.

Watersprite is growing like mad. Forming plantlets now with roots spreading down. A few pieces have broken off and once again I let them float- maybe they will do better that way now, and if they don't it's no big deal to loose them, there is so much of it.

Most of the aponos have new shoots, the few smallest ones left are getting darker leaves lie kind of flat on the substrate I remember the other one did this before it took off so I watch for them to bust out in growth soon too. This is the second-tallest, but most robust in terms of how wide the leaves are (overhead shot, tank lights off).

prettiest one, shot through the jungle of rotala

which is thus, now:

Continue to have just as many dying-off java fern leaves as newer ones, solid pretty green, but I only cut out a few of the worst each week- and there are some new fiddleheads now too. (Two pics, diff lighting)

Crypts look well at a glance, but the younger, smaller ones are beginning to look peaky and yellow. Bigger leaves yellowing between the veins too. Could be iron deficiency in here, too.

Other plants more or less the same- vallisneria doesn't seem bothered by anything so far

I have noticed that my kuhlis are like Pinkie- they don't care for stronger current. Last week the day after maintenance I saw (from below looking up into light source) that the surface of the water looked dusty? I think this was from putting in the root tabs- they start to disintegrate immediately when being pushed down. Some gets into the water column. I was anxious to filter it out- Pinkie might have trouble breathing with a film on the surface- so I removed the baffle to increase flow and turbulence. Right away the kuhlis started avoiding the left side of the tank, even the little rock cave- they stayed around the java log instead. Pinkie preferred to stay away from that side, too- he would venture over sometimes, but obviously had to struggle against the current. The barbs don't seem to care- they swim harder too but it doesn't deter them any.

Once the water seemed cleared up I put the baffle back on, and now the kuhlis are hanging out under plants on that side of the tank again.

It's kind of pathetic how many times in prior posts I proclaimed: the plants are doing better! when obviously to me now, looking back on pictures, they weren't. And still have a ways to go. In the ten, things are off again. I guess I don't yet have the right balance of ferts. There is only one nice java fern leaf, the others brown splotches turning into black and some pinholes. Some anubias leaves turning yellow (leaf veins remain green) and others darkening with algae again.... I had left off the paper on the short end by window because not much direct sun in winter but have put that back now. I think they need iron supplement- realize in my big tank this is delivered in the root tabs, and maybe enough leaches up somehow that the javas are kept happy- but in the small tank, I don't put root tabs, just ferts in the water. There are only a few fish, and fish food doesn't have much iron in it (I have been told) so they don't get any of that from fish poo either...