Long time no see (again!)
Things have been ticking along at a very leisurely pace.
Ive been wanting to write a little disclaimer about the general vibe of my posts. I realised that I mainly write about the things that are a problem or are going wrong, and not so much about when things are going well. I hope this is not interpreted as negativity, I write about the problems the most because I find them most interesting. I feel like overcoming the problems is how you get better at plant and fishkeeping. So im not having a horrible time with everything fishkeeping and only struggling if it seems that way. Hope this makes sense
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A fair few things have happened since last time.
Some of the eggs pictured in my last post are now small copies of their parents. Many were unfertilized, about 12 hatched from 40 or so eggs. 5 again survived long enough to be released into the main tank once they were a certain size. And now remains 3 (we think.)
The TDS based minimal water change regime has had mixed results. I assume the plants should be firmly used to the low CO2 levels now 2 months in, but there hasnt been a drastic change in hair algae levels. Well not for the better anyway. Im also seeing more and more black beard algae. So something has likely changed in the water. The BBA is already coating several branches of the driftwood and will soon have taken over the rocks, out-competing the prettier green (spot?) algae. Id be pretty happy with BBA if it was a nicer green color, but its very reddish black and while the luscious locks flow prettily in the current, the plants are also suffering so im gonna try to get rid of it.
I think I made a mistake when I let go of my insane water change regimen, because I also let the fertilization regime go completely out the window. At first it seemed okay, but slowly plants that were doing good were starting to struggle more and more. The blyxa started shedding a lot of leaves, the p. helferi slowed its growth, same with s. repens etc. Even hygrophila difformis took a big hit after I removed the tops and expected it to grow back the way it had done before. It actually hasnt picked up speed in its growth until now, 2 months later. That is ridiculous for a plant in the category "toilet bowl grower".
I think my tank just ran out of fuel basically.
It probably doesnt help that I now have a total of 5 very aggressively growing stem plants in there.
Hygrophila difformis, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Limnophila sessiliflora, Myriophyllum mattogrossense and Hygrophila angustifolia are all pretty weedy and hungry plants. H. z. and L. s. have been the clear winners in the competition for food during this time.
I dont think my fish load is very high, but im not entirely sure, id welcome some input. I feel like the tank has plenty of fish to look at but according to the plants they do not generate a lot of nitrates
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20 corydoras venezuelanus + a few fry, 1 honey gourami and 7 otocinclus in 180 liters. They get fed a lot of food because of the cory fry. Well, I like feeding them a lot regardless but at least with the cory fry I have a convenient excuse
Oh and there are also two filter shrimp and a bunch of neos but im not sure if they count as fish really.
TDS has not increased much at all through 2 months, which further adds to my belief that the tank just needs more go-go juice. At 09.03.20 TDS was 113 and increased only to 166 by 24.04.20. After that I think I started adding more ferts and today 17.05.20 it measures 215 TDS. I think the bulk of this number is dissolved organics that are not usable to the plants.
So im gonna have to make some changes to the "just let it go" thing.
Im gonna add a moderate to reasonably high amount of fertilizer at regular intervals each week, and then each sunday change however much water needs changing to maintain the TDS. It feels like this is going to be a -lot- of ferts/nitrate but plants say nay.
The plants seem to be responding positively already to increased amounts of fertilizer. Blyxa has stopped mass shedding leaves and the H. difformis is finally growing. I picked off a lot of old yellowing leaves from the H. angustifolia that looked a lot like the pictures you see of nitrogen deficiency. This should allow it to focus on the growing tops.
Some pictures of the current state of the plants;
Please note my mediocre phone camera makes the tops of the plants look washed out and white, they are not like this in reality. They would be severely iron deficient if they actually looked like this
😱 There were beginnings of iron deficiency a few weeks ago, especially showing in the p. helferi. It resolved once I started adding more ferts overall including iron.
Rotala sp Green has been thrown out completely. It never recovered, and while it wasnt dead it wasnt really living either. I decided to end its suffering. It was more algae than plant.
Rotala rotundifolia has been stunted and at a standstill for ages. One stem has unstunted and is growing again, the rest has been thrown away. I havent decided if I want to continue keeping rotalas, even when I can get them to grow I dont really adore the look of the very upright and kinda boring stems. Its fast approaching a point where if it doesnt like the soup im providing, it can get out of the kitchen
Hottonia palustris I thought was going the way of the rotalas. But the one shoot that I have left has unstunted a bit with the added nitrates and ive placed it front and center in the flow, hoping to boost its recovery. Id like to keep it for its look if I can get it growing.
To make a too long post even longer, I eventually got the nifty new Fluval light I had been waiting for. Its pretty nice, the shimmer was a little bit much for me at first. I said I would eventually make a homemade diffuser for it, but now I dont really notice it any more unless I look for it so I might just leave it the way it is. The sunrise and sunset features are really nice and the fish seem to like it a lot more than the sudden on/off. I can also get the hue just how I want it.
I now have 5 otocinclus cocama in addition to my remaining 2 regular otos. They are a really pretty fish ive had on my wishlist for years. Cost a bit but I found that closing ones eyes when you get to the cash register is a quick and easy way to make the price much more tolerable.
Here they are eating some butternut squash. I swear these fish eat better than me. Sweet potato has been the definite favorite so far. Next up will be aubergine/eggplant or regular green squash. Thanks to this forum for food suggestions, they have been a big hit
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Ive been very very happy with the zebra otos. They are out and about all the time and I can almost always see all 5 of them. The 2 regular otos arent out as much, I was hoping they would come out and school together. I might get more regular otos later or rehome the two loners to a bigger school.
Also have aquired 2 nerites of some kind. I had 3 but one passed away recently after a small period of inactivity. Not sure why. Hopefully nothing big.
Finishing with a bonus picture of Miss Piggy. She was very disappointed my phone wasnt second dinner.