my fish tank looks different

I took out the big fake thing.

Now waiting for plants to grow back- they're still recuperating from the two weeks of no food/little light. I try to ignore the ugly older leaves riddled with algae for now, since the newer leaves show nice growth. Haven't I said that before, seems like my aquarium is often in this state, recovering from one mistake or adjustment after another -sigh.

You can see the upper part of the rotala has wider, cleaner leaves- some of them even look reddish in hue. Hopefully that nice growth keeps going and then I'll trim off the lower sections and replant as before...

With the large item gone, some of the plants can been seen more clearly- notably cyperus helferi.

All the tiny java ferns that had been on that fake root got re-tied onto the driftwood log, and I cut off small piece of the log to attach the windelov java ferns separately.

Unfortunately I didn't realize how hard the wood was (as it should be!) I broke the handle of my best garden clippers trying to cut a piece off that was just a half-inch in diameter!

Had to finish the job with a saw knife.

Another significant change, though not one I can picture, is I bought another Great Choice air pump for the sponge filter. And it's such a relief to no longer have a buzzing noise in the front room. I like the quiet pump so much better!