I’m now well in to week three with the tank. I took this picture yesterday just before a water change and a big old clean. As you can see I have some (ok lots,) of algae, brown on the leaves of the cryptocorynes and the glass, and green on the rocks. To combat it, I’ve given everything a good sponge brush and rubbed the leaves with my fingers to remove as much of the algae as possible and done another 50% water change probably a little too late. Uptown be honest I’d been slightly dreading cleaning the biomaster external filter for the first time. Watched a few you tube vids to maximise the chance of messing it up.
Actually it proved to be really simple quick and painless, so I’d been slightly fretting for nothing. I thiroughly cleaned the pre filter and made sure to use aquarium water to rinse the sponges so as not to kill the beneficial bacteria off. I know everyone hates the little tests strips but I’ve been enjoying needing out with them And my water parameters seem to have really settled down this week. No nitrites at all and pH well within acceptable limits so I’m feeling pretty chuffed.
Plant growth however has been a little hit and miss. I’ll start with the good and work down....
GREAT! : Moss.... I know it’s hard to go wrong but I’m really pleased with how it’s setled in...already looks really bushy and content on the branches.
GOOD: Hydrophila Siamensis 53b - rocketing away in the background and looks very happy and healthy so I’m giving myself a thumbs up for that. Steve, the nice chap at Aquarium Gardens helped me choose suitable plants, and said this one will eventually grow out of the water and may have blue flowers. Very happy to see it growing so fast.
NOT SO GREAT (but not dead yet): Bucephelandra - not attached to the wood properly. Rookie mistake, I used moss cotton. Great for moss, but disintegrated long before the plants had attached. They’ve been floating off around the tank in the current from the Lily pipe and I’ve had to chase them and try and find nooks and crannies in the rocks where they’ll stay out. I didn’t use superglue as want the tank as natural as possible, so might invest in some ADA wood tight to hold them in place on the manzanita wood. It looks like really expensive bread bag ties but the colour with be discreet until the plants grab on! Do you reckon I got the placement of them wrong on the branches too? Not really sure if they would grow there in the wild. Maybe should go with more moss. Would love some feedback from anyone
FAIR TO MIDDLING: Rotala Rotundifolia - growing reasonably well. Lots of new bushy (and slightly pink) leaves at the top of the stems . But also lots of crazy roots growing out into the water, and some of the lower parts of the stem have gone black/slimy. Here’s a pic of the gorey detail.
😱
To remedy this I’ve pruned out the cruddy bits and replanted the healthy stems to bulk it out. Should I have cut it down low from the start do you think? What’s in now looks much healthier though
EPIC FAIL! Anubius Mini: in just few short weeks I reduced a beautiful plant to something resembling a forgotten
bagged salad dredged from the back of the fridge just in time for bin day. No idea what I did wrong.
🙁At this point all I can do is apologise to Mother Nature and the nice people at Tropica that wasted months growing it for me.
Well it took a good few hours but I got all the plants in the soil and I’m feeling pretty happy....so needed a cuppa by the end of it!
seriously though, have you/do you use it? I’m sure that one reel will last a lifetime, and it apparently biodegrades once the plants have grabbed on themselves. Trying to avoid unnecessary chemicals so swerved the superglue. 
