An Update: At Last

The last couple of weeks I sort of neglected my tanks out of frustration for not getting some things in order. It all started when the strip light's ballast on my 10 gallon decided to die unexpectedly, from then on the plants suffered miserably. And it wasn't until last week that I took some action and rectify some of the problems. I got a replacement strip light from Aqueon, but even after this I wasn't satisfied with the amount of light I was getting. Since I enjoy DIY projects I decided to convert the non-working strip light from a fluorescent pin-base to a CFL screw-in. I'm not an electrician but it was easier than I thought. Now I have two 20 watt spiral CFLs plus a 14 watt fluorescent, giving me a total of 5.4WPG! I also was dealing with a potassium deficiency, I got some KCl from the supermarket which I'm certain will patch up this problem. I also did some small rearrangements, like putting the Hygrophila difformis behind the driftwood, inspired by one of Oliver Knott's creations.

My 2 gallon hexagon was also going downhill, I started getting some hair algae and the Hygrophila difformis was becoming a nuisance. Hydrogen peroxide took care of the algae and I fed all of the Hygrophila difformis to my baby turtle. As you can probably already tell I like to take the easy route. Anyway, I leave you with the results.

10 Gallon, frontal view

10 Gallon, corner view

10 Gallon, side view

Neocaridina heteropoda, male

Hemigrammus erythrozonus

Xiphophorus hellerii, male red wag

Otocinclus vittatus

2 Gallon Hex at night

2 Gallon Hex during the day

2 Gallon Hex in the afternoon,