driftwood piece

Today I did lengthy work on both fertilized tanks. I didn't plan to do a lot of work on the main tank, but kind of got carried away. Started out moved around a few plants- subwassertang (also not very happy in here right now), windelov ferns on stones. Trimmed off some crypt leaves, am starting to cut out the older of the taller bolbitis fronds. The younger ones are growing in nicely upright, but the tall original fronds lean over and pull the whole mass sideways.... I want to gradually remove those and see how the younger stuff grows in. Replanted some bacopa stems, cut a few in half. Left hygro thicket alone this time.

Then I saw one of the bolbitis fronds on the small side- rooted on driftwood piece- was starting to reach off the hardscape. I clipped it and tried to re-fasten in a different spot with rubber band. Very tricky. Got frustrated and ended up lifting the whole thing out.

It was much cleaner than I'd expected underneath- no buildup of mulm (I wonder if I have busy shrimps to thank for that?) And I was kind of surprised- and very pleased- to see how healthy and filled- in these plants are. Even the java fern that is kind of forgotten in a corner, looks pretty good and has a few tiny baby plantlets growing on root threads! see lower right corner

and here:

I'm pretty tickled with this. It's been a long time waiting for this plant to grow in. A year.

I refastened that clipped rhizome piece with rubber band, and found another longer one growing into air on the back side, trimmed that one too. Simply wedged it back in among the others in the middle.

This tiny bit of windelov fern showing up in the thick of it all. I remember when it was a tiny little thing!

I'm having second thoughts about just doing the root tabs. Some of the plants don't look quite right, although nitrates are still on the high end (40-50ppm at end of week). So today I went back to the old routine: fifty percent wc, dosed dry fert macros (lean) and liquid micros. And things are pearling.