more tank pics

Details, because I did stuff in the 33L during most recent water change. Regrouped a few of the buces in this corner to be closer together- and planted in their midst some that I trimmed out of the 10g.

Added a buce 'selena' trimming to this group in center:

Moved a small one over to join two next to the dwarf sword (which I'd like to get a few more of...)

I always have to replant a few of the buce 'green wavy' in this line-

Trying to get another of the anubias 'pangolino' to grow on this rock but it keeps floating free. Pinned it down w/a pebble again. Don't want to lift the rock out to tie it on yet, because I know it will kick a lot of mulm up into the water column. 

Vallisneria still here. Not great, but slowly growing a bit taller I think

Behind them- I've trimmed and replanted one top of the temple compacta, and a few of elodea-

When I put a background panel up, can see a bit better the fine tufts of parrot's feather- and mermaid weed next to it is still a single stem

Hornwort still dominates the center. But as summer winds down into fall, it's getting less light, so I'm slowly thinning it out. Just tossing the stems as they come loose of their own accord.

My other favorite spot in this tank is the bolbitis fern clump-

This corner is starting to look a bit nicer too-

and the subwassertang clumps on this side of the tank have a different growing habit which I never saw in my tanks before- not light and fluffy but kind of layered-

Two mature crypt moehlmanii on the other side of the tank- 

and looks like now there will be a third. I almost didn't see it among the anubias- it's coming up under and just in front of the bolbitis driftwood arch- where I don't think there's room!

flashy fish

As in showing off (not as in, glancing off objects in irritation).  

When I took the remaining female guppies out of the 33L, my trio of white clouds in here almost immediately started chasing, displaying, flaring, practically doing a jig in the corner.

I am pretty sure they are getting ready to spawn again. I had always assumed they were not spawning because of Laddie- now it seems must have been the guppy presence inhibiting them. 

What's interesting is that one of the males has proved himself over the other, and I've been watching the female and this dominant male, vibrating their fins and shimmying alongside each other. Once they did so while rising evenly through the water column together. The plump female puts on almost as much show as the male. Male and female, side by side:

Of course, I don't need more white clouds- but it's nice to see them feeling so lively.

green wall

I recently trimmed a bunch of stuff in here- anubias leaves with algae, some melting crypt pieces and cut back a bit of the long strappy val foliage. Moved around some buces, resituated the java ferns (they're doing better now tho I don't know why), happy to find my one remaining bit of crypt wendtii is still alive. Pleased to see the crypt balansae in front corner is growing well! But after a few days of looking at the tank I don't like the appearance- so I didn't take a new full tank shot, but also don't feel like putting in my hands to rearrange stuff again soon as it freaks out my angel. I do however like how the hornwort stems fill up the sides, a tower of green (ambient light pic)

Um, the female guppies are in here now. I've already decided they have to go when my younger minnows are big enough to join the three adults in the 33L. I've been unable to give them away and there's really no place else to put them. Moved them early because I didn't like watching them pick at Laddie. I thought the angel would finish them off, but they're big enough she didn't really try. The tetras harass them, chasing and nipping. They hide most of the time down among the driftwood pieces. Maybe with something smaller to pester, the tetras will leave my angel alone? I kinda doubt it though.

I've been trying to learn what I can do better for Miss Beautiful besides more room or new tankmates. I bumped up the heater to 80° and sorted through all my fish food containers- about a third of them were expired and got composted. I've got three new containers I bought weeks ago but hadn't started using yet, and will go get another soon (the NLS pellets are one of Miss Beautiful's favorite). I hope a bit warmer temps and quality food can help improve her health. 

he's better-

Got a few pics of that little white cloud that was injured- looks fine from this angle 

In this shot he's the one in foreground center, w/another fish just behind. Can see the jaw is mostly closed, a bit red. Think he'll be fine though. I see him eating okay.

When I re-homed half the young minnows, a ton of subwassertang went with them- there's still enough left to keep the fishes feeling secure, though. It fluffs up and starts multiplying again pretty quick, it seems. 

I spread out the hornwort stems and dropped a few of the fake plants back in here for more cover.

Short end of the growout tank. You can see I used ceramic rings to hold down the hornwort. It works!

small mantis

I went to cut back the stems of milkweed which has died off, and found a little preying mantis. Never expected to see a small one so close to end of season!

The striped pattern is my sweater cuff, that's how little this guy is.

It jumped down, crawled through the grass, clover and mock strawberry

Looked backwards at me! You can see its pupils- I didn't know they could look around the back of their head 

one bed edges

Redid my tomato bed edges. Sixteen new concrete blocks- a lot easier job sealing and painting those than the hundred I did before! Here's the bed with the old, keystone blocks just pulled off. Love the look of rich, dark soil (not quite good enough for my tomatoes which didn't give much fruit this year, but I have higher hopes for next season!) 

New blocks laid in place: 

Overhead view. I did have to patch in one broken flagstone piece laid on edge, then painted it to match. My sides were not quite straight. Painted the few patched-in red bricks on the other beds, too.

glad report

The smallest minnow is better! Yesterday late afternoon I was able to see down his throat- so the food blockage no longer there, but he was unable to close it. I did see him flex the jaw once, when he was trying to eat, and was still debating if attempting to assist him would do more harm than good (probably). Left it overnight to see. And this morning- he looks just fine. Eats fine, dashes around so quickly in fact it was hard to get a good look at him. Mouth looks a little red and is probably sore, but I think he's going to be okay!

(This fish was next to him when I was taking pics yesterday caught a great flare by happenchance)

one better, one not

This morning Laddie's somewhat better.

Not great, but he ate garlic-soaked micropellets just fine, is alert again and actually looks at me. 

I don't know if going through a full thirty-day treatment of kanaplex again would help any. Did I not really get rid of all the gill flukes I suspected? Does he have a lingering virus? or just feel unwell after eating too many snails? I don't know. Think I have to accept the fact that he's just chronically ill, will have good days and bad days. I can't keep stressing and worrying over treating him. Who knows what he's harboring after having lived in the LFS tank for so long . . . 

Yesterday I re-homed half my remaining young while clouds. Kept eight, which joining the adults in the window tank, will make a school of eleven. Soon. A bit more growing to do. I crushed some shrimp pellet to feed them last night. And my smallest white cloud took the biggest bite. This one is a third smaller than the others, but has great color so I'd hate to loose him. Now it looks like his mouth is jammed stuck open. 

I thought given a bit of time, the food bit might soften and he'd be able to spit it out or swallow it. 

But it's been all night and half the day now, still stuck:

a 55

Ah, I got a new tank. Well, it's secondhand.

How this happened: months ago, someone at fish club offered me a free tank stand that fits 33L or 55, and I took it. Been sitting in my basement. Since then, I'd been on the lookout for an empty 55 gallon- I didn't want someone's complete setup because my plan is to just move all the equipment, plants etc from my 45 into a 55 . . . and then one finally came up! Even with a black backdrop already on it. Pleased. 

Did a 24-hour leak test outside. 

It held up fine. I emptied it today (watered the garden and all my shrubs). Now it's sitting inside again on the stand, waiting for the next step. Switching tanks out again is a big job I know from past experience. But I'm wanting to do it. For her sake-

I continue to feel bad for my angel. Most of her fins are healing but the anal fin is really truncated right now.

I went up to the tank with a tape measure to make sure the new one will fit in the space- and when I lifted my arms just above, Miss Beautiful freaked out, crashed into the corner. Hadn't seen that in a long time. I am starting to think she really was traumatized when young. And the tetras I got to help her feel calmer- I'm starting to think I've deluded myself. They're probably biting her fins, causing the damage. I should get rid of them and find her some other kind of companions. 

I wanted to have a 55 to give her more space- an extra foot to utilize horizontally, although not as much height- and also so that it's easier to work in. I'm tired of having to stand on a stool and use tools to reach into the back or very bottom of the tank. 

It will just be an entire day of work to tear this one all down and set the new one up. I'm both dreading it and excited about it at the same time.

one down

At some point in the last week or so I lost a guppy? 

I hadn't counted them in a while. Watching them today while feeding I idly counted- and came up short. Counted again- yeah, now there's only eight. Don't know what happened- it's possible it got siphoned out while I was cleaning- but I always check the bucket afterwards for that. I suppose it died of something else and the snails cleaned up . . . 

Ah well, I'm not very attached to these fish- their color is pretty but they're so small I don't discern individuals and never gave them names. 

Here's a full tank shot from angle:

I don't know what to think

My paradise fish seems poorly this morning. His color is fine, his fins aren't clamped, but he's hanging out near the surface again. Eats but not eagerly. I haven't seem him flashing but suddenly heard that dull clicking sound again, looked at the tank, saw him gasping for air. Later on he's hanging at the surface, fins flared but head slightly tipped down, and a guppy is picking at his side. Nipping him over and over. Laddie doesn't move for a while, then swims off a bit, the guppy comes back and picks at his spread tail. Could Laddie have some kind of external parasite the guppy is picking off? I don't see anything. Or is he so very ill the smaller fish knows he's a goner. 

It makes me feel very glum. I sorted out my young white clouds today. Five that look very flashy, bold red/black colors on the tail, broad white band on the dorsal fin seem obviously male to me, I kept in the 20H. Seven that are slightly paler, yellowish body hue and only have a small white mark on the dorsal also a bit more plump in the body from top view, I assume are female- those went into one of my extra fish bins (with small sponge filter, a few fake plants, handful of subwassertang and hornwort from their growout tank). Going to re-home those if I can. Six more I'm not sure about went back into the 20H for now. I want to keep mostly the males. 

I was thinking of switching fishes- putting Laddie in the 20H by himself and moving all the young white clouds to the 33L to finish growing up. They're still small enough he might eat them. But now I can't decide. There's tons of subwassertang in the 20H - it multiplied and multiplied! I'd love to sell or RAOK that after done keeping white clouds in there; wouldn't feel good about doing so if I had a sick fish in that tank would have to compost most of it instead . . .

green out front

My new grass is up. Silly to be pleased with such a simple thing as getting grass seed to grow, but I am.

The cranesbill plants I moved seem to be doing fine now. I heaped dry leaves under them to mulch against cold (and smother weeds). Some of the old foliage has perked up since the transplant, and new leaves are growing too.

This one, you can see the older leaves are lifted green faces on the end of stems sprawled out flat from the center- I do believe that's how leggy they got from lack of sun before. 

Newer leaves grown since from the crown are on shorter stems.

Not sure yet how the little mountain laurel is doing, it looks the same.

one violet

flower fell off a plant, as a whole. Usually they just fade on the stem and I pull them off later. Might have accidentally knocked it off when I pulled the curtain open/shut behind the row of plants . . . 

red lips

on the lipstick plant are in full glory! 

This pic at an odd angle- that's the tradescantia zebrina (wandering jew) in the background, on top of my low bookshelf.