A little update...
I decided to have a little rescape. I felt the hardscape was too imposing, with too little swimming space for the fish, so removed one of the large rocks and lay the bogwood on the other rock. I'm very happy with the results so far. In terms of livestock, it looks like I'm down to one Oto. I found two dead and haven't seen any of the others for ages. I will probably get a couple more and some Panda Corys. I inherited some bladder snails in some plants and they're doing OK. There seemed to be quite a big die-off of ramshorns, but they now seem to have stabilised. I'm getting hold of some Malaysian Trumpet Snails soon, so hopefully they will improve the substrate. The red cherries are multiplying like crazy- I must have getting on for 100 now. Anyone local is welcome to take some! I added two Amanos to help combat an outbreak of BBA. I made sure I shrimp-proofed all the possible escape routes after last time. They're doing well, but I'm not happy with them eating certain plants, despite being fed properly!
I made a couple of tweaks: lighting (increased intensity), ferts (TNC Comp) every other day and removed most of the floaters. BBA turned up on some of the plants, so reduced the lighting intensity again, let the floaters increase and added the Amanos. Thankfully, it's almost gone again after a couple of weeks.
I have been using Happi's TNC Complete substitute fert recipe for the last 3 weeks and so far, so good. The plants seem to love it!
I've also used Hello Fresh insulation as filter floss and it's great. To reduce the lighting intensity, I used a plastic spiral binder comb. The 14mm is a perfect fit for the Juwel LEDs.
I have added a few more plants to the jungle- here's a full plant list:
Lilaeopsis Mauritiana - slow, but doing OK with plenty of runners
Crypt Wendtii Brown - fantastic
Crypt Walkeri - very good (leaves are more brown now)
Java Fern - not great. Hanging in there, but new baby plants seem to be growing well
Vallis - fantastic, with loads of runners after poor start
Echinodorus Bleheri - thriving now, after poor start
Echinodorus (not sure which!) - struggling a little
Limnophila Heterophylla - really struggled. None left.
Weeping Moss - fantastic
Hygrophila Pinnatifida - almost all gone (just a couple of sprigs hanging on)
Tiger Lotus - doing well. Let several leaves reach the surface, but have now trimmed it back
Amazon Frogbit - great
Dwarf Water Lettuce - good
Red Root Floater - ok- much slower than the other floaters
Salvinia - good
Duckweed - not much (thankfully!)
Ludwigia palustris "Red" - terrible. Fell apart, none left.
Hygrophila Triflora difformis - fantastic! Have taken cutting and replanted. Really thriving, but no pink leaves yet.
Hydrocotyle Leucocephala - doing very well, although unfortunately, the Amanos seem to like it
Cryptocoryne Ponterderiifolia - excellent. Producing new leaves etc.
Bolbitis Heudelotii - great
Bolbitis 'Mini' - great
Hygrophila Polysperma - OK. Not as fast growing as I was expecting, although some will need trimming soon.
Helanthium Bolivianum Quadricostatus - doing well now (some runners) after initial melt.
Alternanthera Reineckii - was slow growing, but doing very well, until I introduced 2 Amanos
Saggitaria Sublata - pretty good- some runners etc
Myriophyllum Mattenongrosse - died off fairly quickly (ideally needed CO2!)
I really want to change the lighting to a Chihiros Universal, but can't find one anywhere. Chihiros have told me to contact UK suppliers directly, but haven't heard back from any of them. If anyone knows where I can get one, a heads up would be very much appreciated!
