aponogeton

I have been a bit disappointed in how the apono is growing. Cutting off dying leaves, thought it was just adjusting to being in a new tank. Looked so lovely green just two weeks ago-

Then got so brown with the algae outbreak

I removed more of that, but noticed that although the plant was growing new leaves at a fast rate- a new stem emerging every other day or so- the leaves remained pale and brownish as they reached higher

it just looked peaky

Finally I remembered to dose the ferts- micros and macros- now the new growth is bright green again- see the little leaf right of center-

Funny thing one of the smaller plants its leaves turn on themselves almost like aponogeton ulvaceus but I don't think its that

the rotala wall

Has been cut down. It was getting enough height to be a noticeable part of the visual balance

and then I noticed the mid-stem cuttings were growing new leaves on top- indicating their roots were recovering and growing again-

but at the same time bottom half of all the stems blackening with algae- you can see how filthy the back glass got.

I cut it down to just above the substrate (the mass of cuttings when dipped in water, rinsed off cloud of dark algae mulm into the bucket)

now seen across the back from short end

This should prompt new growth and hopefully thicker too. I did leave alone the few rotala bunches in the left corner and behind the root piece, here-

over two weeks' time

the appearance of my forty gallon has really altered. It looked nice enough

but then suddenly swamped with brown algae- diatoms?

I rubbed a lot off, trimmed off the worst of the now-dying plant leaves, and cut back the rotala wall because its lower half was all blackening- no way I can rub off those tiny fragile leaves.

Now it seems to be coming back around but looks awful empty.

tenner adjustments

Things have been going on. Good signs in Oliver's tank- the plants are growing! Anubias barteri in particular is looking lush, sprouting new leaves too- these pics just a day apart each:

(here you can see the cut stem end at bottom left- I removed a shabby looking leaf by simply cutting the end of the rhizome off- it seems the plant has plenty enough crazy roots to spare)

Still bothered that there's black algae spots. I've taken a few measures against that- cut the photoperiod by half an hour, raised the tank light a quarter of an inch (on stacked popsicle sticks, temporary means)

and lowered the biggest anubias plant itself by retying further down on the driftwood log.

The newest leaf is now in the front. I like looking down on it.

Hi Oliver!

He seems plenty happy- there were parts of a new bubble nest in the tank last week, and I hadn't seen that in a long time.

Java fern still plugging along. It was looking poorly until I remembered to dose ferts (see post on the forty gallon aquarium) and I took hunch also dosed a tiny amount of epsom salts for magnesium. Read in a few places that this can be what causes the veins to look darker than the leaf. A few days later, the color on the leaves seems to have evened out. And they're pearling!

Now the trick is to get the light level balanced just so- low enough not to prompt algae all over the anubias, but high enough to grow the java fern well.

The tank also had a surprise for me last week. For once I lifted out the plastic plant in the back to rub off some algae, and found a long narrow leaf growing back there. I thought it was some errant vallisneria? but no- it's from the aponogeton bulb I lost in here, thought it was covered over with gravel and done for. It's grown the roots down from the bulb lying sideways.

I left its orientation alone but moved to the front of the tank so I can keep tabs on it.

Overall look before I lowered the anubias

and after

Not terribly happy with the look of the tank now- it's all too even in height. I think I need more plants in there....

air pump episode

I have never really cared to review products on here but I've been so frustrated with the air pump lately it's worth telling why. I run air pumps on all my tanks to power small sponge filters- in the five-gallon container that serves as a quarantine/hospital tank and Oliver's ten-gallon aquarium they are the sole filter. In my forty there's a small sponge filter in the opposite corner from the main HOB to provide extra current (avoiding a dead corner) and supply more space to host the good bacteria.

I've had this Tetra Whisper pump on Oliver's tank for just under a year (eleven months). Lately I noticed it wasn't sounding right- the water wasn't making the same nice burble. It didn't seem to have as much flow. I replaced the airline tubing which had a crack, there was only slight improvement. I shortened the airline tubing. I made sure the sponge was rinsed out. I ordered replacement parts, put a new air filter in the pump, opened it up and replaced the diaphragm (even though the parts did not look broken or worn out). No improvement with any of these measures. In fact it got worse and the air flow would stop every now and then, I couldn't figure out why.

Finally I took the Hagen Elite pump off the forty and moved it to Oliver's tank, to see if it really was the pump malfunctioning (I should have done this earlier). Yep. The sponge filter ran great on the Elite pump. Put the Tetra one back on there, no flow. It still vibrated plenty and if I removed the airline I could feel air coming out, but it just wasn't enough to make current flow through the filter for some reason. Fed up with it all, annoyed that I purchased replacement parts that did no good (which you can't find in the store so have to order online and with shipping the replacement bits cost more than the pump itself!)

I went and bought a Top Fin pump rated for a ten-gallon tank. Put it on but still the flow was really weak. I was puzzled at this, since the Elite I momentarily put on there is rated for a five-gallon tank but had stronger flow than this new one rated for a ten. I took the Top Fin back to the store and tried another brand- Great Choice. I never used any of their products before, but this one was a winner. The Great Choice pump is rated for use in a tank up to 20 gal (there wasn't a smaller one available) and now I have good flow again. Best of all, it's very quiet. The quietest pump I've ever had. It has four little rubber feet and the noise is hardly noticeable. Unlike the Hagen Elite which has just a flat base and is noisy, I have to cushion it on a folded cloth and still it buzzes. (So its on the downstairs tank and not in the bedroom)

So Tetra and Top Fin have failed me. I guess it's reasonable that after a year something might wear out, but the replacement parts cost too much and I don't understand why both of these just failed to power the air strongly enough. Hagen Elite and Great Choice work much better. As long as this one holds up, if I have to buy another pump my first pick will be the Great Choice. And it cost less!

Through it all Oliver looks unfazed. I probably knocked out part of his bacteria colony by rinsing too much when I thought the sponge was clogged, but the water tests fine and even though there's still an algae problem (more on that later) the fish himself looks healthy, eats eagerly, his eyes are all cleared up too.

succulent experiment

Stuck some pieces of succulents into pots, from my wedding arrangements. Just for the heck of it. Kind of a little experiment- I don't know how these best root so I just tried a few things. In this pic, the two pots on the left have just a cactus/succulent potting mix, the two pots on the right have some gravel mixed in (because I had it on hand and ran short on potting mix).

There are so many bits, I did these a few different ways just to see which take best. The nicest big rosettes I simply sat on top of the soil. Two as-is, one I shaved the stem end (what little of it there was) off, raw surface (I don't think this is really the best way, they're supposed to be let heal over first).

The leaves I just pulled off some other rosettes

These I pulled the outer, largest leaves off and just planted the crowns (flower stalks in there on a whimsy, I'm not expected them to grow)

Let's see what takes!
(I don't even know the name of these succulents, can someone tell me?)

forty inhabitants

more detailed pictures, because I was enjoying taking them. In full light this time- the biggest apno spreading itself out!

Crypts look nice, too. This one is in the front left corner

The biggest crypt flanks the fake root piece.

These two on the far right side- seen from the end here.

View from the other short end of the tank.

I feel certain that the vallisneria is already grown visibly in height.

Black kuhlis have been out and about from day one.

Here you can see the little ledge of gravel I made behind the wall of rotala. Glimpse of Albert climbing in the shortened rotala stems.

Seen from above, the line of rotala is a lot wider than in my old tank, since I replanted all the tops and thus quickly doubled the volume of plants.

pretty pink

nicotiana flowers

the pink ones are my favorites

side view of blooms

This one is pale pink, I don't remember this color among the flowers last year. I wonder if it's just one that didn't come up in the mix last year, or if it's from the self-seeded plants I got. No way to tell now, I didn't mark them.

third day and onward

Tested water again yesterday. Had to do water changes again- the tenner had high levels as well. Guess I really do have to step back on the ferts dosing! This means the substrate is working just as I wanted- holding nutrients for the plants. I changed out half of Oliver's water, and 25% on the forty gallon tank.

The tenner is already showing response to the film I put on cover lid to block half the light. Much less algae on the anubias, new shoots on all the plants

and the snails are congregating on the right side, where algae grows more on the plastic plants now. Hardly any snail poo sitting on the anubias leaves anymore either, that was all the mess I had been siphoning off each day.

I love the arrow shape of Oliver in profile.

The big tank looks good so far. I had to re-root a few plants that floated loose. Everything looks very dusty, I hope the frequent partial water changes helps resolve that.

Fourth day nitrate levels better- 10ppm in the tenner, 20ppm in the forty gallon. I did no water changes that day, just fed the fishes. Everyone is looking good!