shifts in the 45

So I added hornwort recently again- just because there was some available for free at fish club. I don't know if these will last- surprisingly they aren't dropping tons of needles right away, so maybe.

I got taller uplift tubes; now the tank looks tidier, I hope the flow is better with increased circulation. I noticed right away when I finished installing the new uplifts, the single black skirt tetra quit hiding behind anubias and started moving alert around the tank. Maybe he feels the difference. I also pulled off most of the rubber bands that were still on driftwood pieces, not needed as roots have taken hold. It's a small thing, but looks nicer without those white ties.

My aponogeton capuronii in the background is finally growing out a bit more. I'm kinda frustrated that all the vallisneria died out, and that the floaters I wanted- frogbit, water lettuce- also died on me in here. Maybe I will try another kind of val species, or get more aponogeton and see how they do.

45 improved

I think things are finally taking a turn for the better, in my angelfish tank. Today during maintenance I made two new airline rings- so I could separate out the larger of the water lettuce. I discarded a bunch of tiny ones and others that looked unhealthy. They're in three groups now.

After a week of letting the hydrocotyle settle, I clipped off all the leaves that were still bent oddly, making it an untidy clump (from how it had been bundled up in transit). Now it's in more pieces, but they lie relatively flat leaves floating and stolons just under the surface. And it's more spread out.

The angels seem to find this sheltering, along with the height of the elodea (which is growing!) and new mermaid weed- although they still have a way to go before getting near the surface! Lately the fish don't startle as easily, and haven't once lost their color- they get a pit pale sometimes but never loose the stripes. When frightened, they tend to swing away and cruise behind something,

then circle back and eye me again. It is much better!

I have not yet trimmed the mermaid weed- they're sprouting roots along the stem but lower parts haven't melted so far and tops remain relatively green. I'm hopeful the conditions are okay for it in here. I lifted the shorter one higher by putting its small wood anchor on the other driftwood piece, wedged behind an anubias. I also removed the windowscreen piece that was dimming my light- assuming the pennywort (hydrocotyle) might need brighter light, and will shade everything as it spreads across the surface.

I did a lot of work in the tank today- in addition to what I've already mentioned and the usual water change, cleared out a few dead leaves, lifted a filter sponge to rinse, and last of all wiped down inside of the front glass which had some algae. First time I ever did so in this tank, and the angels dashed away at that motion, bashed their faces into corners again. They both have bruises on the face now, I am cringing. But I hope this happens less and less, especially as the new plants fill in and multiply.

Female has for weeks now shown this redness where her pectorals meet the body- I was afraid at first of septicemia, but I gather she would be dead by now if that were it. I don't know if it's injuries from running into the walls, or fighting. They both have some scraped scales from fighting recently. I saw the female actually grab the male's ventral and tug on it! She shakes threateningly at him a lot. I get the impression she wants to spawn again and he's not really interested.

But overall it is better. They look calmer, and appear friendlier, and positively wag their whole bodies begging for attention if I'm nearby in the kitchen and haven't fed them yet for the morning.

a few new tank plants

The other day I received plant package in the mail- Hydrocotyle leucocephala aka brazilian pennywort

which I put in my angelfish tank as a floater- right now still a mess-

and Mermaid weed- one I have wanted to try for a very long time- the foliage is pretty- but I'm not sure if it will continue to look so nice when adjusted to my tank, I don't run high lights or C02 like the seller did- species name is Proserpinaca palustris

the stems were a bit bent from the package, but very long so immediately I wanted their height in my angelfish tank. I anchored the longest stem to a small mesh bag of sintered glass media -

and a shorter one to a small piece of driftwood. Already the plant is taller than my tallest elodea- even though the top is still bent over

I really like the fringed, toothy edges of the leaves-

Put a smaller piece in my shrimp bowl too, and one in the window tank.

Also received a mesh square of fissidens moss, which I dropped into the shrimp tank, it needs to grow out some before I can try using any to tie onto rocks (unless I want to undo the ties and take it all apart). The shrimps were immediately all over the mesh, not interested in inspecting the mermaid weed at all!

plants, plants

While I was at the store the other day, I picked up a tissue-culture packet of crypt becketti. I've put the two largest bunches in the main tank, one in Perry's tank (gently divided) and the last one in the tenner. To see where it does best.

I got tired of tending to the pennywort in a pot, even though it has been growing. Took it out and rinsed off. Surprised it had very short, very few roots. I plunked it into Perry's tank to see how it will do just floating.

This morning I moved all the salvinia out of the QT and the thirty-eight gallon. It is just too dense, makes the tanks too dim. I replaced most of the hornwort in Perry's tank with salvinia, keeping a half-dozen of the longest hornwort strands against the front glass (because I like to see its brightness). Frogbit floats around more freely now (I think salvinia had been impeding the surface flow) in the main tank, and most of it appears to have adjusted, looks very healthy and maybe starting to multiply. There was way more salvinia than could fit in the 20H. Covered the surface and have just as much again extra held in totes. If I don't use it in the new setup, I will probably send it to someone on the forum.

riccia and other floaters

I took the riccia out. Quick final shot.

It's now in a container by the window, while I continue to fish tiny y-shaped green bits out during every water change. When I think I've gotten them all, I plan to sell it via the forum.

This golf-ball size clump can go for ten dollars, some people really desire this plant for high-tech aquascaping. I toyed with the idea of keeping a bit around to grow out and sell again, but even dealing with this small amount to get a few good photos, irritated how it scatters and clings to everything. I found bits on my clothes later, on the table surface near the bowl, on the bathroom floor across the house. Far worse than duckweed in my opinion.

Shame, because it's such a cool-looking plant. I just don't want to deal with it.

Riccia, also called crystalwort, is such a curious thing. It's a primitive non-vascular plant, one of the liverworts. I kind of want to keep it just because its so different. But I won't. I already swapped some back to the guy I got it from in the first place, for more of these frogbits. Which I really like by the way. Most of the red root floaters I received have melted at this point, and been torn apart by the amanos. I have two left, and one is just starting to grow a new leaf. Frogbit appears to be out-competing the hornwort for nutrients; at least, since I added frogbit my hornwort in the main tank has dwindled to near nothing. I pulled what was left of the hornwort stems and moved them into Perry's tank.

Funny thing, the larger bits of duckweed I picked out from that plant swap (it was mixed in with the other floaters) are quite a bit larger than my spirodela polyrhiza. The leaves look rounder, too. I discarded all the tiny common duckweed I found in that mix, but kept the larger ones and put them in my tenner. Here new among the old:

Pennywort alongside the tank has doubled its length again. It really likes being kept waterlogged, but I don't like how the sogged soil gets crusty mold. Perhaps I will replant in some aquarium gravel, just keep that saturated... I'd like to try some in one of my heated tanks again, if I get enough of it growing to keep some in reserve in case of failure.

out of the tank

Pennywort keeps on growing, slowly. Leaves never increase in size like I've seen examples of emerged growth in pots. I keep thinking I will attempt in the aquarium again...

shrimp, and plants on the side

This morning I caught a photo of an amano shrimp walking across a leaf, in ambient light before tank strip came on. You can see she's berried. I think all my adult amanos are female.

My bit of pennywort in a pot is much happier to be constantly damp. I had it sitting more or less all the time in a tupperware dish of a few inches of water. But took it out, because the soil is growing mold and I don't like that. Probably I should have not used potting soil. I am going to let it dry out a bit and then sit in a saucer instead.

Hornwort vase is still nicely green, if not as dense. This past water change day I trimmed the stems that had hit surface, wiped glass below the rim and topped off with tank water. That's all. It's housing three large trumpet snails right now, until I pick a few more out of the tank enough to feed fishes.

I once again have a tiny jar of moss bits. I took all the leftover moss from the plants I received last week to fish club and gave away. Came home and there were still plenty of little fragments in the QT bin. Decided to toss them in a jar to grow out.

plants over water

Once again I set some of my houseplants over dishes of water, to get enough humidity while I was gone on a trip and they wouldn't get watered for over ten days. Not all of them needed this... The coleus needed it most; all the smaller ones were seriously wilted when I returned, but they bounced back quickly.

The others did just fine.

The parlor palms are too big to set over a water dish; I put a bowl of water between the two and that seemed to work just as well.

I think the spider plants in particular appreciated the extra local humidity- I haven't done a plant spa day in a long time nor have I been misting them yet this winter... but now they have perked up a lot.

One that is going to continue sitting in a dish of water is my emersed-growing pennywort (hydrocotyle). It looks much happier in constant damp this way.

what do you know

that tiny bit of pennywort I planted in a tiny pot is actually growing. Leaf size still small, but surprisingly it's doing much better emersed than ever in my tank.

around the window tank

Sweet potato vine has grown so much I now have to periodically trim foliage off, because it is blocking the light that gets into the tank.

There was a second, smaller windelov fern growing on that little rock behind the larger one. The rubber band broke before it took hold, and now the leaf is floating somewhere in the tank. I was going to tie it back on, but then I saw the larger windelov cluster on the other stone is reaching for it. A rhizome growing off the rock has started to take hold on the second, smaller stone. This is kinda cool so I left it like that.

I have one tiny bit of pennywort (hydrocotyle tripartita) still alive- but it is not doing well in my tank. I saw someone on the forum just grew it in a pot kept very damp, and it looked amazing with lovely round scalloped leaves. Worth a try, so I stuck mine in a little pot. It is so small. That pot is only two or three inches across.

thirtyeight update

I have felt a bit glum about my main tank, lately.

Mostly for the fishes. After the dose of levamisole, all my kuhlis are doing well. This is Tiger, looking as if he's gazing out of the window. The other striped one Sassy, is getting some girth and sometimes I hardly recognize that fish anymore, it looks so much better now.

Sometimes they still scare me. I know they like to hang out and drape over plants to relax- in alarmingly still poses- and I've gotten used to that. But this one was hanging completely still with its tail curved up. The only other time I've seen a fish with the body curved in a stiff u like that was a dead one. I watched him a long time and then gently nudged him. Relieved to see him scurry away!

The serpae tetras are fewer in numbers. After Blank died, I lost the one with popeye as well, and another that had got fungus on the mouth. Few days later another tetra in the main showed signs of fungus on the head. I put it in quarantine and that one is still alive. I've treated it with kanaplex, and it survived that but is hiding and won't eat. It looks as if the fungus spots on the head are gone, but the mouth may be deformed- if the fungus ate the mouth away, I may have to euthanize.... I've kept a close eye on the five left in the main tank and they look healthy, although the largest, oldest one seems lethargic- it always comes out last of all to eat... Don't want to get any new ones until I'm sure that none of the others are going to come down with something...

You can see in that last pic of them how my flame moss in front is shorter- I trimmed it and started two new stones.

It does seem to be growing in thicker now.

This bit of hydrocotyle tripartita I moved over from the betta tank has been slowly growing too, but I can't figure out where to put it so I am just letting it float. I thought it would look cool twining around the filter outtake hose, but can't get it to stay in place there.

The anubias afzelii I moved into background is recovering- no more black spots and it has a new leaf growing.

Bolbitis fern is finally becoming somewhat visible- helped by the fact that I removed another few of those unknown crypts in the front (sold). Their longer leaves are becoming dark blue-green now. And the long crypt becketti leaves, with their olive green hue, have grown through the crypt wendtii now and surpassed it in height. Making an interesting cluster there, which I don't yet have a good photo of.

One of my aponogeton crispus sent out a flower stalk again! But I accidentally chopped it in half, shutting the tank lid.