Hi all
🙂, after a while, I'm back with the entire scape, 1 month or so in, which seems to be growing in OK. Settled on: cuttings from another tank: Heteranthera Zosterfolia, with some weird kinda echinodorus/crypt like plant (I honestly don't know), which seems to do.. horrible!(more on that in a bit). Also purchased Nymphoides H Taiwan and Lillaeopsis Brasiliensis both from Dennerle plants. Lights aren't on for much, just put them on in the evening and when I'm just glaring at it for any things I should've told my past self to change - and don't get me started on the list.. No CO2 either, I might install a basic DIY CO2 for a bit, just to kickstart the Lilaeopsis growth, just as
@richardcunliffe mentioned, not really carpeting but sending out occasional runners
😕, which seems to grow unbearably slowly. Every plant (fairly lightly planted) seems to be doing just fine, getting that bushy growth from H Zosterfolia, every plant EXCEPT that crypt like thing.. Seemed to have neglected any pruning duties whatsoever and effectively looks like paper triangles bundled in thread (not the best comparison but fair).. so fragile and deteriorating with diatoms and what not on surfaces. It seems to have melted.. And just to clarify there were 3 of it. The one at the back does fine, seems to be rooting well and releases runners; whereas the others 2 planted into the substrate in between the hardscape is doing horribly with algae covering all leaves and stuff. Now, back to the reason why I hadn't posted updates for a while. First off, the usual family business, work hurts the head and it was way too embarrassing to show the tank in the starting stages! Decided to try fish in cycling, with a hardy endler, jumped straight to adding a couple more, way too quickly and this led to a vorticella 'outbreak'. Next off, there was brown kind of algae, easy to remove yet persistent. Now there's a subtle hair algae growth in the tank, but quite localised and I just cut away affected leaves. Still suffering, lightly, to this day! Detritus worms, which at the moment are getting massacred by the neons and freshwater limpets hitchhiked a ride on the plants should I keep them in? I'm not really too happy with the look, but fish seem to be doing good! Added 5 endler guppies (which actually gave ANOTHER batch of a dozen or so fry (where fry left to their own devices and seem to grow much more quicker than my boring grow out tank)) along with 8 neon tetras, with no casualties thus far! Spotted Similis corys in my LFS and they look adorable, was thinking of a small group of these, or maybe stick with my original plan of Pygmy Corys, and probably a pair of rams too... Thank you all for your help!!
Pics below, taken on a pretty trash camera, and not the best cameraman but still ok..
1) taken on vibrancy shot = 'hurts my eyes'
2) auto = better (horrible at taking pictures, never focused well..)
3) and 4) neons come to say hi
5)neons also come to say high, plants are doing ok
6) feeding frenzy - these little piranhas
7) main structure
