tenner adjustments

Things have been going on. Good signs in Oliver's tank- the plants are growing! Anubias barteri in particular is looking lush, sprouting new leaves too- these pics just a day apart each:

(here you can see the cut stem end at bottom left- I removed a shabby looking leaf by simply cutting the end of the rhizome off- it seems the plant has plenty enough crazy roots to spare)

Still bothered that there's black algae spots. I've taken a few measures against that- cut the photoperiod by half an hour, raised the tank light a quarter of an inch (on stacked popsicle sticks, temporary means)

and lowered the biggest anubias plant itself by retying further down on the driftwood log.

The newest leaf is now in the front. I like looking down on it.

Hi Oliver!

He seems plenty happy- there were parts of a new bubble nest in the tank last week, and I hadn't seen that in a long time.

Java fern still plugging along. It was looking poorly until I remembered to dose ferts (see post on the forty gallon aquarium) and I took hunch also dosed a tiny amount of epsom salts for magnesium. Read in a few places that this can be what causes the veins to look darker than the leaf. A few days later, the color on the leaves seems to have evened out. And they're pearling!

Now the trick is to get the light level balanced just so- low enough not to prompt algae all over the anubias, but high enough to grow the java fern well.

The tank also had a surprise for me last week. For once I lifted out the plastic plant in the back to rub off some algae, and found a long narrow leaf growing back there. I thought it was some errant vallisneria? but no- it's from the aponogeton bulb I lost in here, thought it was covered over with gravel and done for. It's grown the roots down from the bulb lying sideways.

I left its orientation alone but moved to the front of the tank so I can keep tabs on it.

Overall look before I lowered the anubias

and after

Not terribly happy with the look of the tank now- it's all too even in height. I think I need more plants in there....