plants in the main

I'm noticing more changes since I took out those large apono crispus. (Cool weather is the best to ship plants- I mailed subwassertang trimmings to someone today -the bunch that had been in my fry box- and next week after sending out the last two aponos I'll be getting a few new plants myself.) Removal of the aponos has caused more black algae spots to crop up on buce and larger anubias. I took out the last of the buces this past friday. After removing the algae-riddled leaves, half of it (it was one smallish cluster that easily divided into four plants) went into the window tank, half into my tenner where they seem to do best. Thinking of doing the same with anubias afzelii and anubias congensis...

Also removed the last, smallest crypt retrospiralis- I want a clear view of the bolbitis fronds on the driftwood from the short end of the tank. They are getting quite a bit taller. I shone a light from the side during my last maintenance trim, so I could see where the fronds were blackened with algae- older leaves I assume- and I trimmed those all out.

The two bolbitis pieces I experimentally put in the window tank don't look so happy- at least, they are not doing anything. No growth, no obvious decay either. But the larger rhizomes and fronds I put in this main tank- they all have new fiddleheads coming up! I am so happy. You can just see one here in the center of the photo, above the subwassertang.

I love fiddlheads. Here's a tiny one coming off the java fern 'windelov', has just uncurled:

My other windelov in here is starting to 'walk' off the anchor stone.

It happens to be right next to those flat pebbles of flame moss, which are still doing poorly but might recover now they have more light. I trimmed them back, waiting to see. Meanwhile, I could just push one of those pebbles next to the windelov, let its rhizome creep over and cling of its own accord. Then cut between the two and have a new windelov piece... Behind those pebbles are the new stems of hygro corymbosa I planted. I'm waiting to see what shape the new leaf growth has. If it keeps different form than the other, I'll assume my older plants are hygro polysperma? (I'm not the only one confused about this- found several forum conversations where people are trying to figure out exactly which form of hygrophila their 'temple plant' is. Maybe it's a hybrid).

Here's another pic of it- original hygro thicket in the rear, new stem planting in front of it.

And here's one that show the bolbitis fronds:

I've noticed with removal of those aponogetons, there is better current in the tank. I think the long leaves were obstructing the flow! More plants sway gently now, and I hadn't seen that effect in a long time. Also elodea is showing much better color than it has in a long time, and hornwort on the surface is growing long, nicely spaced needles again. I don't know how the apono leaves could have kept light from hornwort, as the stems floated above them. I suppose they were simply competing for nutrients.

My fish seem to appreciate the more open space to swim around in. But they also seem to feel a bit exposed- when I walk near the tank they bunch up, all dart off in the same direction. Seem to feel the need to stick together now. I actually like seeing that- it is pretty to see the fish moving together in tighter group. I hope they don't feel too distressed with the increase of open space, and do intent to plant more apono capuronii, crypt balansae and a few other plants soon, which I hope will fill it back in (without being overwhelming like the apono crispus where).

Last pic: a quick overhead shot I took of the left corner, when the tank was lit with a bedside lamp I set up to see better while trimming.

plants in the window tank

I moved in the last, smallest crypt retrospiralis. I've read that this is one of the tougher crypts and does fine in lower temps, so I thought to put them all in my unheated tank. Of course they're melting now, but all have new roots growing out! I held down a few with stones to keep them in place while they root themselves. Planning to add a bit more substrate, too. There's Perry on the left.

I also moved into here two small buces from the main tank- they are getting too much algae now so I thought would do better in here (the other portion of that 'emerald green' buce went into my tenner). I'm thinking of putting a few of the taller anubias in here, too. I can't see them well where they are situated in the background of my main tank, and they get algae from too much light now, as well. Came across an account where a guy left his tank on vacation, and the thermostat was turned down so low to save energy that when he came back it was just a few degrees above freezing. Many of his plants died (and all his fish) but the crypts grew back, and the anubias didn't suffer at all. So.

berried shrimps!

End of last week I noticed something different about my amano shrimps. The two largest were definitely berried- carrying eggs in their swimmeretes. Looking close I could see small dots in the center of each tiny egg- rows and rows of them thick under the shrimp. Here's the best I could do at photos. On one shrimp the eggs looked very pale grey or clear-

and when she perched underneath an aponogeton leaf, the eggs looked green from the light coming through the leaf tissue!

The other shrimp, her eggs appeared to be orange. I don't know what causes the variation- the stage of development?

Here you can see both of them- the one with orange eggs on the left, the one with white eggs on the right, lower part of the intake sponge. Up top on the intake tube there's a smaller amano shrimp.

The shrimp were flipping their swimmerete legs to fan the eggs, a motion that seemed odd when I first saw it, that's what made me notice. I really wanted to see the moment they dropped the eggs or released the larval zoes- which won't survive if not transitioned to salt water and back again- a very painstaking process I've read about, so I'm not planning on saving/raising any baby shrimps. They would just be fish snacks- but I missed the moment. Next day the shrimps' swimming legs looked free of burden, and they were rubbing/cleaning them in another motion I hadn't seen before. Well, maybe there will be a next time. I've read that once they start producing eggs, the female shrimps are constantly carrying some.

Younger amano and an older one- they're catching up fast!

cooler nights

Last night it was finally cold enough for our heater to kick on- below 68°. First thing this morning I checked on my unheated fish tank- it was 69°. My otocinclus catfish still alive, but very lethargic- just sits in one place on the driftwood, not busy feeding. Too cold for this little fish. I moved him this morning into my empty tenner. Where I had recently adjusted the temp down to 74°- in case I needed to move the peppered cories in to get them away from Perry. Right now Perry and the cories all look fine.

I've found a few ways to manage feeding them both. Perry has very sharp eyes and is much quicker to dart after a mosquito wiggler than my betta ever was. If I sprinkle a bit of gold pearls on the surface, he is kept busy picking at the little specks of food (and likes them very much!) at the same time I can sprinkle some down into the lower area of the tank. The food bits fall down where the cories can reach them, and by the time Perry is done looking for all the food at the surface, most of the pearls at the bottom have settled between substrate grains. Perry can't find them easily there, but the cories can locate with their barbels.

My other method is to wait until well after dark. It doesn't matter if Perry appears to be sleeping- resting very still under a bit of driftwood or between the filter box and the wall. As soon as my footsteps come near or my form a shadow upright outside the tank, he is right there at the glass expectantly. I can't sneak up on him. But I can sprinkle some finely crumbled flake at surface where he can just see it- I even take pains to pick out the pale yellow colored flakes from the container. Then softly drop a few sinking wafers in for the catfishes, on the other side of the tank while Perry is busy up top. The wafers are dark brown color, so Perry can't see them well in the dark, I think. In the morning his tummy is awfully fat, so I guess he did get some of it after all. But after a week, the cories still look okay I hope they're getting their fair share.

Regular servings of flake, betta bits, algae wafer or crushed shrimp pellet I can't keep from Perry. He spots the food right away- and goes meticulously across the substrate looking for every last bite of it. It looks like strong competition for the cories. So I am keeping a good amount of leaf litter in this tank, to make sure they have plenty of biofilm also. I ordered more from Tannin Aquatics- my first lots of leaves is disintegrating- especially the catappa leaves, those fall apart quickest. There are still some guava leaf and loquat intact.

coleus, mint, salvia

Potted up my cuttings today-

Both cuttings of salvia had grown roots now. They look smaller because I pinched off the biggest leaves. I'm going to grow them in the pots for a week or two, then plant them out hopefully they will settle in and survive the winter. If I recall, the ones I transitioned like this before, did better than newly rooted cuttings I stuck straight in the ground.

The mint cuttings in jar had whitefly, and I didn't notice until some withered. I threw out the worst stems, seeing what can salvage. Soaked them in a bowl of soapy water for ten minutes and yeah, lots of tiny bugs got knocked off.

Some of the stems had tiny new leaves emerging under water in the jars, with more roots sprouting above those nascent leaves on the stem. I cut them in half above the leaves, and planted the lower halves separate:

My favorite of the coleus is this odd one with rounded leaves-

Here's some of the others lined up on windowsills.

moth on the screen door-

such a curious appearance. It has the usual cryptic mottling to look like tree bark- but what's different from other moths I see is the wings are notched on the rear edge. It held the tail end of abdomen curved up over its back, and looked like the front pair of legs stretched out in front of it- maybe to look like large pincers? It's also darker than most moths I've seen.

Hard to get a photo- my camera didn't want to focus on something so small and dark in the shade of the porch. Tried to look it up. It has similar appearance to many sphinx moths of VA- but I couldn't quite identify.

multiplying

I've taken cuttings of my cuban oregano. Here's the new pot of it.

A few cuttings of ice plant also

which I trimmed off to even out the appearance of the parent plant, and just stuck into soil in a new small pot.

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.

final green

the water lettuce is starting to fade quickly outside. I took this photo a few days ago, now the outer leaves are turning brown. I decided against bringing the plants into my tanks. Been told they will just melt and die- only new plantlets would transition (maybe) well. But mine never made baby plants. They were lovely while they lasted! I'll get more in spring.

heat

It seems very hot for fall. No rain going on two weeks now. I'm starting to wash dishes by hand, just to have extra water to throw on plants and not use the hose so much. It's nice that the cooler nights are deterring many pest insects, but the heat is stressing some of my plants. Most of my tithonia are thriving, it's like a glowing wall of flowers-

but this one suddenly wilted. I think it was the cold- just don't know why the others around it are fine. Maybe it got a draft?

Pink coleus in the front yard also suddenly lost a lot of lower leaves; it doesn't matter so much because they are behind the line of mums- which are starting to bloom!

I notice the lime-and-orange coleus are doing best of all- they seem more tolerant of both heat and cold. And they don't flower. I never have to pinch flower spikes off the top like I do with the pink ones and the 'kiwi fern'.

Back to the torch flower: they attract lots of pollinators. Not so many wasps as the celosia, but there are always half a dozen or so skippers, and I frequently see a monarch or swallowtail. Yesterday there was a different butterfly- I think it's a painted lady.

Half open flower. Almost every day I go out to cut off flowers that are done and turning to set seed, so the plants will stay in bloom.

That one orange celosia finished forming its bloom- and it turns to pinkish hue on top. I think it's my favorite, and I only have one!

plant changes-

in my aquariums. Main tank is still in transition- three of my aponogeton crispus gone, and the last two are sold, due to go out the door in a week and half. I was pretty despondent about that for a while- but I can already tell the other plants are responding to the absence- growing greener, thicker now they have more light. I didn't realize how much the aponos were actually crowding them. It looks pretty thinned out- two of those plants I removed were pretty massive for this tank size...

Today I moved in the largest of the bolbitis ferns I got from another member weeks ago- having finally taken down the QT. Also bought two gel packs of hygrophila corymbosa at the store- they were kind of pathetic- this was the total sum of stems from both packs.

I want more of these bright leafy stems in the center of my tank, and I figure the best way to find out if what I have actually is hygro was to get more of it and see if it transitions to look the same. The first pack I bought was labeled 'temple plant', this one was 'hygro compact' underneath said hygro corymbosa I think it's the same thing will find out soon enough and know for sure.

I am not sure if I will keep flame moss- it looks terrible. Thin and pale, wispy, black algae marks on the stones. Might just scrap that idea. Still have a bit of fissidens on the driftwood, but it is overwhelmed by the bolbitis (which is looking great!).

Elodea thicket is dying off, and springing up new shoots a much brighter green. Crypts are all putting out new leaves. I'm thinking in a week or two of buying some plants online- definitely want some more apono capuronii to fill in the space (they stay smaller, especially if I trim to train height right off the bat this time).

In my window tank elodea, crypt retrospiralis and hornwort all melting fast. But they all have new growth showing too, so I am waiting out their melt. Vallisneria doesn't flinch. Still nice green straps of leaves, and one is sending out a side runner already. Hornwort especially is a mess of disintegrating foliage, since it came out of the bucket back into the tank- but if it doesn't recover I will just replenish from the main tank.

this morning

Perry is still in isolation in the box. He has pooped out a bunch of tiny little triangles- swallowed those baby trumpet snails whole, I guess. I'm surprised it doesn't hurt his insides, and wonder if he got any nutrition from them- did he actually digest the soft snail bodies? I'm not about to rinse the remains to find out, though.

I took my new catfish back to the store this morning. Thought about it all night and still can't think of a way to keep Perry from gorging on the cories' food- and they eat a lot slower, so I think he really would hog it all. I don't want to see him choke on something like Pinkie did, nor to see the catfishes starve. Maybe they could subsist on the biofilm off the leaf litter, but I doubt it. It seems pointless to have one more cory in quarantine to add to the tank, when I'm probably going to have to take these others out and re-home them.

If it comes to that I will move the cories temporarily into my empty betta tank- although it is too small- while I find them somewhere to go... Very bummed about that. Second time trying to keep cories, and it isn't working.

Because I happen to like the aggressive species more. I'm not about to give up my paradise fish. No matter how cute the cories are.
~
Late afternoon I let Perry out of the box- the cories having had a good feed this morning on shrimp pellet. Paradise fish immediately went back to hunting. He eyes the trumpet snails carefully, tipping his body sideways to scrutinize each one, and only bites at the smallest of the small. So I guess he can be my snail control- few babies will get past this guy. When the adults get old to die off, I will just replenish by thinning out from the other tanks...

I did kind of stir his poo with a skewer when siphoned out the fry box before removing it. It mostly broke up- no more triangle shapes- with bits of broken shell in there. So I guess he did crunch them pretty well after all.

He also ate two cory catfish eggs off the glass. I didn't even realize they had spawned until I saw Perry eyeing these nice while globes stuck on the glass down near the substrate. He snapped one off before I realized what they were. He tried for the second, tore it in half. Then cruised on looking for something else. And cory eggs (I've read) are tough!

water lettuce

This plant supposedly doesn't do so well in indoor tanks. I've read reports that it doesn't like water dropping on the foliage. I watched once when I topped off the little pond from a tank wc- the water that fell on the leaves just rolled right down and dissipated thru the center of the plant. So I guess rain doesn't linger on the leaves to damage them, but maybe high condensation does?

I also noticed lately that the center of mine has three new crowns forming (unless they are flowers). I wonder if it is possible to divide the plant, or to strip off all the larger outer leaves, trim the roots and end up with a smaller plant to put in my tank? we are still having near-90 degree days, but night temps are dropping into the fifties, so I have to do something soon I guess if I'm going to overwinter it.

one more cory, and a fish 'paradise'

Yesterday I moved my cories and otocinclus out of the bucket, back into the window tank, which is all replanted. They surely were stressed in those temporary quarters- the oto so pale it looked yellow.

To try and keep them calm while re-acclimating I put a bit of leaf and subwassertang in their bag (I've read that cories will release a toxin from their gills when distressed, which can kill them all). It seemed to work. At least, most of them were hiding under the leaf. And nobody died.

Once in the tank, they were all very animated and seemed happy to be home. Cories are frisking all over the place. Oto colored right up and is feeding on spirulina wafers alongside the cories again.

I bought one more peppered cory from the pet store today, he is on his lonesome for a short while- I wanted to take the opportunity while the QT is still set up and cycled. Watching him closely I saw something I never noticed before- that cories have short whiskers under their lower lip, in addition to the longer barbels on the sides of the mouth.

When he moved into QT, Perry my paradise fish moved out. The new cory is hiding under things in the QT, I draped the tank with towels to make it darker. Perry on the other hand, is not at all stressed by the move.

He has been swimming all over the tank excitedly, fins flared- jerking his ventral fins open on sudden stops so I can see the regenerating one has double in length again! He doesn't seem to mind the cories, but is acting aggressive to his reflection on the back wall haha. So I guess that answers my question could I keep a pair of them. As I'd expected, he colored up more in this tank:

And is looking fat now. I fed him this morning, but he still has plenty of appetite: nipping at trumpet snails making them fall down from high perches, biting limpets off the tank walls, and scrounging around on the bottom to eat all the bits of wafer food he can find.

I may have to strategize how to ensure the cories get enough food around this greedy tankmate. I'm very glad to finally have him in his intended home, though.

regrowth

I have new dill plants! Just big enough to start eating again.

My spearmint has bounced back.

Yes there will be broccoli.

creeping over the wall

My least favorite herb, oregano, is of course the most lush in the garden patch right now.

It has grown over the edge of the garden and where it hangs down there is a clump of clover and mock strawberry

so if you don't look it seems as if the oregano continues, morphing its leaf form...

kind of how I merge the look of hygro compacta with rotala indica in my aquarium....

small updates

Every time I smack a mosquito or catch a fruit fly in the kitchen, Perry gets it. This morning he got a good serving of live mosquito wigglers, too. And later after dumping kitchen scraps in the outside compost, I brought him a small, fat soldier fly larve, rinsed it off well. Think he's had enough for today! Now when I walk by his tank he gets so excited he is practically doing loops back and forth at the front glass.

My cories are still in the bucket. I tested their water and small nitrite spike. Did another partial wc. It is still better conditions than in the home tank- which has a much higher spike as it (hopefully) finishes off the cycle. I am so ready to put them back in there.

And I guess it is a good thing I didn't get a new fish for the tenner, yet. If Perry turns out to be aggressive to the catfishes, I can use it as an emergency home for them... I'm kind of baffled how to manage this tank, now. It's the only one without fish, and it's the best-looking at the moment. Today tested at over 40ppm nitrates, but there hasn't been any fish food going in, so... ? why haven't the plants used up all the ferts I dosed last week... snails are still looking well, but they aren't cleaning algae off the glass, probably because they seem to like eating the leaf litter better. Almond leaves are decaying fast into a webbing of nothing. I will have to replenish soon.The other types of leaves last longer, for sure.

So today in this tank I did just 30%wc, and no ferts. I'm wondering if I should leave it alone, do bi-weekly 50%wc and fert dosing? or keep up with the weekly wc, but scale back on the ferts. Not at all sure- things really seem to have changed in here. But: the plants look great! I have more rotala rotundifolia stems than I'd realized, among the rotala indica. I keep staring at the buces, they are so lovely. Can't wait to take more cuttings of them. Only thing appearing sickly is the spirodela polyrhiza floaters. I'm tired of seeing the black, moldy-looking algae marks all over them, even though most of the clusters seem to have at least one nice green leaf. I scooped it all out today and replaced with healthier floaters out of Perry's QT. Which still look nice vivid green, although they've dropped all the root hairs. Will they grow back? or just generate new plantlets. Have to see.

more than wigglers

I got into my little planter pond today to see if there were any mosquito wigglers. Lifted out the water lettuce and duckweed into one bin of water, the hornwort into a soup container. The hornwort is doing really well- it seems to appreciate the shade from those water lettuce, and isn't lacking for nutrients, sure. I wonder if the 'lettuce plants introduced some other life forms? I didn't find any wigglers.

I removed the ceramic pot cave and larger stones to look closer. Found what I thought was a worm- but it hitches itself along. Some kind of leech. Not very big- smaller than the red composting worms I've fed to Perry. I offered him the leech. It balled itself up. He bit and spit it out over and over- did it taste bad? or make itself difficult to swallow somehow. It fell to the tank floor. I got my long-handled aquarium tweezers to remove it, but when I turned back to the tank, can't see it anywhere. Did Perry manage to eat it after all? He looks fat and super excited to see me, wiggles all over when I approach the tank. I've only fed him peas and a few fruit flies this morning, so I would guess the excitement is if he did eat the leech and is hoping for more. But if it's still in there- ahhhh no.

Also found in the container pond what I'm pretty sure was a dragonfly larva. It was pale- I could see the legs, and the little eyes gleaming at me from the gloom at the bottom of container. I tried to catch it. Not to give to the fish- I wanted to take a photo. I like dragonflies. I'm glad it's in there if it is eating the mosquitos! But after two swipes with the shrimp net, I couldn't find it again. It moves fast. And hid- or climbed out? There was nothing in the pot now but a very thin layer of gravel- less than two grains of substrate thick- a bit of subwassertang, and mulm. Algae like green hair growing growing on the interior curved sides. Did it bury itself. I raked the substrate to spread it out, and siphoned out piles of mulm with a straw- this larva won't fit up the straw- I tried. But I couldn't find it again. I even left for ten minutes to sort the wigglers I got from my regular puddle (cories get the smallest, Perry the biggest and tumblers, serpae tetras all the ones in between sizes) and then came back, to see if it had ventured out from hiding. Nope. Can it change its skin color, and blend in? Oh well.

Also found two things that look like snail eggs, but it's flat and kind of a fat oval shape with pointed ends. Gleams a bit irridescent. I can see round shapes inside- organelles? eggs? They seem to move- in a straight line, smooth like propelled by cillia. I don't know what they are so haven't offered them to the fish.

I want to do things with the fish today- but the window tank isn't quite ready. Snails have begun crawling back down to substrate level- I counted thirty eight large ones on the glass last night- there is still a hint of ammonia and nitrites are spiking right now... Cories got a water change on their bucket this morning.