in the tenner

Not much has been happening. The plants grow steadily, if slow.

I'm still pleased with spirodela polyrhiza (giant duckweed).

It doesn't grow too fast- if I scoop out and discard two or three handfuls each week during maintenance, that keeps it nicely in check with enough open space at surface for Oliver to reach his food and breathe easily.

I switched positions of the subwassertang clump with the windelov fern on a rock. I like the subwasser better in the corner,not sure about placement of the windelov yet.

Removed a few rubber bands as most of the plants are holding on firmly now-

no more bands for the windelov on mopani wood,

or java fern on fake skull.

This little cluster of bucephalandra only has one piece that needs holding down still.

I was really surprised to see that some leaves are finally sprouting from these bits of buce stem I tied on another stone. I never took them out of the tank because they simply didn't rot yet, and they are finally growing!

And here's buce selena, still going strong. I'd love to more some of the buces (or cuttings of them) from the thirty-eight into here, but afraid of spreading thread algae or BBA....

Did a little experiment with my mid-sized anubias plant. I know to divide the plant you can cut off a segment of rhizome at least an inch or two long, and it should grow new foliage. I cut the rhizome in half just behind the main set of leaves, but left it in place. To see if I could get more leaves growing. It took two weeks, but there is finally a sprout. Tiny, spade-shaped leaf just below left of center in this picture.

Not to be outdone, my big anubias barteri is sprouting a new leaf too. (I put in root tabs last week, so it got a good boost). I'm thinking of cutting in half and removing part of this one soon, it really overtakes its corner of the tank. Have been thinking of removing it altogether, because it really changes the scale of everything else in here. But I'm reluctant to get rid of it- this is the one plant I've had the longest, since the days of Hector.... And I do still think I'd love to have an anubias coffefolia someday- that one is just as large! (couldn't go in my thirty-eight, too much light in there).

Rotala in this tank still looks best from the short end, where I think it holds its leaves broadside to the ambient window light. I've also been thinking lately of removing one layer of plastic sheeting from the light strip. Maybe with the duckweed in place I can now increase the light level a bit. But I'm afraid to throw things out of balance, since it has all been doing nicely for so long.

Oliver himself seems to be feeling his age (he must be at least two-and-a-half, maybe close to three years old by now). He spends more time just resting on the barteri leaves now, or hanging out quietly in a upper corner of the tank. But when evening comes if the tank light against dark room shows him his own reflection, he still flares and displays all up and down the glass. Spunky.