slightly different look

in my 45. On maintenance day I rearranged a few of the plants again.

the main change was that I tied all the anubias barteria onto the larger mopani pieces- new among old

the three anubias afzelii I put on smaller pieces because with their narrower, upright leaves I think they look better situated lower.

saw that I had one buce 'blue belle' among the buce 'isabella'- it has slightly wider leaves. I put it on its own mopani anchor

I took the trouble to lift out the largest driftwood piece and tie the other anubias rhizomes on here more firmly. I'm not sure if these are another version of barteri (or congensis? in the middle) or if they just have longer stems because were reaching higher for the light before.

my angel seems to like the plants- acting much bolder lately-

in fact perhaps he likes them too much- I found out why my water wisteria has been looking bad. It's not just melt. When the angelfish is hungry he tears at this plant.

I watched him ripping the leaves. I started skipping feeding once a week, on days I do the water change. They seem okay with it now- although act hungry- wiggling around for my attention a lot more!  M. Beautiful now has two little spots just to the right top of his first stripe-

Incidentally, since I changed out the container my crypt balansae and aponogeton grow in, suddenly my kuli loach Albert is visible just as frequently as the others. I wonder if something about that makeshift strawberry basket container made him feel unwell? or if he really liked hiding under it. But I'm glad to see him again, dashing about just as avidly as the others at feeding time.

window tank- fish and plant updates

Got more Ich Attack friday and dosed the window tank again. Kept meds in it for two more days, fishes still look fine. Perry is super excited about food again- it's nice to see his appetite back. Lady has not shown spots for a week. Did a partial wc (5 gal) to begin removing the salt.

There is more algae now- I am not sure if because the plants weren't doing as well while meds were in the tank, or if winter sun hits the window different angle than summer, so I should have left the extra plastic layer on. Today I scraped all the glass and put the subwassertang back in- that might help some. If algae crops up again (there's soft brown stuff on walls and some plant leaves, and hard green spot algae on back glass) I'll rehang the plastic sheeting.

Bought a new plant on a whim last week. I don't often see plants in the nearby chain store, that I haven't tried already- except water lily bulbs. This was a tissue culture packet of ludwigia arcuata. The leaves are tiny. I am pretty sure now that my unknown 'temple plant' was never ludwigia arcuata, unless this one changes form dramatically when it re-adjusts. I was intrigued to read that it does fine in temperatures down to mid sixties, so wanted to try it in my window tank. I also planted some in the betta tank.

Ludwigia palustris all died- in every tank. Nearly all the water wisteria rotted to pieces in the 20H- only a few left now. The ones I had accidentally pulled up and found they had nice white roots, when I replanted them the lower stems promptly melted to mush. I took most of it out, trimmed off just the tops which were still green, and dropped those to float in the window tank, for the heck of it.
About ten floating pieces of it in the paradise fish tank now. Pleasantly surprised the other day I found one of those had sprouted new roots! So I planted it in the back of the tank, where it will get the best light. Not sure how it will look there if it actually grows out; I could relocate it later but in my experience every time I move a wisteria it goes through shock.

here's Ruby

I looked back on early photos when I first got him- five months ago!- and notice the pale blue scales across his back are increasing in number.

His tank had a few changes recently. I pulled off the oldest anubias from the driftwood- leaving an empty-feeling space in the middle of the tank-

There's left tucked among the windelov fern, smaller anubias leaves from where I once cut the rhizome to encourage more growth

It also looks empty because I trimmed off a large portion of the subwassertang- wow, it's healthy now! nice, rounded shapes not small and dense like in the unheated tank.

The ludwigia palustris is starting to sprout new leaves- can barely see it left of center here, in the back.

I'm not entirely happy with the water wisteria I planted in here- seems out-of-scale with the rest of the plants. It looks scruffy. It doesn't keep the nicely fingered ferny-looking leaves, but hasn't converted to smooth-edged leaves entirely, either. Something in between. But I'm waiting to see if it is actually done changing form. Ruby likes to rest on its horizontal leaves, making me reluctant to take it out. I kinda wish I had ludwigia repens in here again, instead.

I pulled out the crypt lutea that was in this corner, and kept just the becketti. The crypt parva are slowly filling in. I moved some stones with small, round buces on them from the side wall- where they were hard to see under the wisteria-

put them under edge of windelov ferns (don't know what happened to that one ragged leaf! maybe it hit the heater)

Here's the front row. Still wondering if my windelov in here is doing poorly overall, or just needs time to adjust still.

The anubias on the driftwood was looking unwell, but these on the right side of the tank are fine. Perhaps because the new filter pushes all the floaters to the front and right of the tank- so the driftwood spot is no longer shaded.

I'm eagerly waiting for the buce 'Selena's to get tall enough I can take cuttings again

Tooth of a horned nerite. That's a buce root reaching out under the snail into a glass corner

tenner filter change

I bought a larger filter for my betta tank. This gray one is the Hydro I- the old sponge filter is just behind it- you can see the difference in size! and they're both rated for a ten gallon tank. I think the smaller sponge I had just wasn't doing the job

the shrimps were all over it immediately

but I felt it was a bit large for the tank. I thought it was the smallest size of Hydro sponges, then found out there's a mini size too. Looking at replacement sponges online- they all fit onto the same housing piece- I found the mini sponge also works for a prefilter. Which I have- I used it before on the intake in my 38gal. So I pulled out that old prefilter sponge- it's been cleaned- and yes, it fit.

Looks much tidier and is still double or triple the size of the prior sponge- at first I had it sitting on top of the new sponge- can see it a bit in this angle pic-

and then I just set it underneath- will leave it in for a few weeks, let the bacteria transfer. Or just leave it in the background premanently, can always pull it out later to have a seeded sponge ready for a small QT bin if I need it

full tank shot with the Hydro I sponge

and a bit later, with the mini-

Shrimps have suddenly become more active- I'd noticed they were lethargic in the past month, but thought they were just getting old. Maybe they were feeling lack of flow and oxygen.

To my surprise the subwassertang in here is suddenly flourishing- it grew

But java ferns don't look so great. I suppose whatever is better in my tank now for the rotalas- I've been cutting and replanting the nicest stems, gradually cutting and removing the ones doing poorly- and great for my buces- they positively glow- isn't as good conditions for my java ferns. I removed them all from the skull, then took cuttings of my tallest buce 'isabella' and 'blue belle'

and tied them in place

back in the tank

now the buce corner is all one level again- when some of them grow taller again I'll take cuttings for the 45 (that's where the java ferns moved to)

Not surprisingly, my windelov ferns are looking pale, also some of the anubias. But I like so much seeing the buces and rotalas healthier again, I won't mind if I have to move out other plants that are outcompeted in these conditions- or whatever the cause is. I guess it's the different ferts I use now. More nitrogen, maybe not enough iron?

my horned nerite snails are showing wear on their shells, but they're still the first horned nerites I've had, that grew and kept nice spikes

Incidentally, I hardly see limpets in here at all now. I suppose since I moved out the cories, there's not as much food supply. I rarely see a trumpet snail either, although I know there's still a few around.

wisteria for Ruby

I took out most of the rotala rotundifolia in this corner of the tenner, and planted more stems of wisteria. The one on right (center of pic) is the older stem, can see the new plant was already transitioning to emersed growth in the pet store tank- its leaves top left are also smooth-edged. Well, they have tiny teeth on the margins if you look close, but not deeply notched.

Here it is from the short end.

I saw another beautiful betta at the store when I was there getting plants. I look every time, and one had colors and form in a gorgeous combination. A metallic silver-blue-gray with lavender finnage- one of those giant bettas the chain store calls a 'king'- its nose and tail nearly touched each side of the cup. I felt bad to leave him there, I thought of bringing him home, setting up my 10g QT in the basement for him- and I'd call him Lav.

But no, I have Ruby. And I'm starting to like him, now that he doesn't go crazy after his reflection all the time. He doesn't bother the snails- these are the nicest-looking horned nerites I've ever kept.

He's such a good betta

doesn't bother any shrimps, either. I should appreciate what I've got. That lavender king might well have enjoyed tearing shrimps apart. The 'king' was so pretty (my seven-year-old would have loved his pastel colors) I'm sure someone else will take him home soon. And I am trying to keep fewer tanks, not more!

Side note: one more of my malaya shrimps is looking pinkish today. I'm keeping an eye on it, tweezers sitting by the tank- in case it needs a lift out to the compost pile soon...

tenner plant pics

short end w/buces and crypt becketti

opposite end, awkward angle because of the bookshelf next to it

I'm starting to be pleased with the look of the rotalas, although still few

and pleasantly surprised the wisteria didn't die back last time I moved it, thriving finally

low angle picture of the java fern windelov

buce thicket is growing- thinking of trimming the tallest ones and taking cuttings for the 45

full tank shot- I've moved the light strip back, the rotalas are more brightly lit now