Hi,
Everything has settled down really well now and appears to be stable, test kits showing zero levels of both ammonia and Nitrite for over a week now. The tank has a really 'polished' look about it which I'm really happy with but that could be due to the Purigen in my filter the Akadama or both. The plants are seemingly happy with most showing good 'new' growth. Noticeably and kind of how you would expect some of the Crypts are slower at responding but I haven't had any more crypt melt yet (fingers still crossed) and they look pretty healthy in general and some are showing new growth particularly the Parva which I thought would be the last to respond, shows how little I know.
I've managed to keep algae at bay thus far but with algae I've kind of got to the feeling that its only lent at the best of times, keeping on top of it seems to be what matters. Still I'm on top of it at the moment so I've got to be happy with that. Still dosing flourish excel to supplement the near yellow DC but at half the dosage level that I was at start up.
I've put 5 Oto's , 8 Botia Striatas and 12 Bleeding Heart tetras in now to add a little interest and they are all fine.
I've now settled back down to the normal EI regime of 50% weekly water changes but I'm keeping a close eye on things and will be ready and willing to react accordingly if I see anything untoward.
I'm determined to keep on top of this tank right from the word go. Will update this post again in a month or so's time.
Regards, Chris.