First post of the year...and of the decade

What better time to update this thing than after the holidays. I hope everyone had their fill of delicious food and well, family. Nothing much has changed although I have made an effort to do some extra maintenance and refine my pruning and arrangement* techniques. I decided to put some slate with java moss as foreground cover although much of it has died. It's probably adjusting to the lower light conditions since it used to be attached to the branches closer to the light. I also added some more Rotala rotundifolia to the left mid-section. It doesn't seem to grow as tall or as red as in my 2 gallon hexagon. It's more likely due to lower light and less Potassium concentrations. It didn't turn as vibrant in my 2 gallon hex until I increased the KCl dosage. You might also notice some new inhabitants. Some time ago I decided to trade in some of my surplus of Endlers (Poecilia wingei) for store credit at my lfs. With it I got 6 neon tetras (Paracheirodon innesi) and some filter media. And then with an old Petco gift card I got two more otocinclus and thanks to a loophole I got a third one for free. So after the mass die-off the population has finally rebounded. I have 6 neon tetras (Paracheirodon innesi), 3 red wag swordtails and 8 of their babies (Xiphophorus hellerii), 4 otocinclus (Otocinclus sp.), 5 baby tiger endlers (Poecilia wingei), and the booming red cherry shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda) population. When I first got the neon tetras I took extra precautions to ensure that all of them survived. This is the fourth time I have tried keeping them and the first time to be successful. It has been weeks and so far they are doing great. I will end up trading my baby swordtails for more neon tetras once they reach the 1" mark. The baby endlers will go in with their mom once they are big enough that she won't be able to feast on them.

10 gallon tank, frontal view

My 6 gallon tank is probably the one that has been through more changes. One day an idea came to mind and the end result was exactly how I pictured it. I used the same two branches that were originally erect in addition to two more branches that I had stored away. I also thinned out the Vallisneria sp. and added some Hygrophila difformis. Anyway, I really like it. I was thinking about maybe relocating this design into my 10 gallon tank, but I decided against it since that would mean lots of changes.

6 gallon tank, frontal view

This tank, the 2 gallon hex is nothing special. I just let the plants grow like crazy and then prune them down and use the clippings for my other tanks. I'm not liking the Echinodorus tenellus taking over the bottom part of the tank, they are too big and the root systems are overwhelming the other plants. I will put the lot of them into my ten gallon where they will have more room to grow.

2 gallon hex, "side" view

I have never shown this tank primarily because I never thought much about it. It's 2 gallons and currently houses a lonely female tiger endler and numerous baby red ramshorn snails (Planorbis sp. "rubrum"). It only gets ambient light, the light shown was the lamp I borrowed from the 2 gallon hex. I just added those rocks yesterday, the java moss tree originally was set down across the sand as a "trunk". It doesn't have a heater because it's down on the floor where the carpet keeps it nice and cozy and no filter since there's no significant bioload. I do try and keep up with maintenance though. It's fairly low maintenance more or less.

2 gallon, frontal view

Thanks for reading. Have a great day.

*I don't consider myself much of an aquascaper so from now on I will refrain from using the term "aquascape". My tanks are planted tanks, nothing out of the ordinary.

Still working on it...

Nothing frustrates me more than having my 10 gallon tank in a suspended state and at the same time feeling a little helpless. It seems like I'm always working on improving something but then I don't like it and put it off altogether. About a week ago I increased the CO2 for this tank and the plants started growing exponentially, I got more growth in a week than the last four weeks combined. I did some trimming and added a few more plants. I was excited and couldn't wait for the little bushes in the foreground to grow a little more. Well the next day I woke up to discover that the strip light at the front didn't work anymore. I was very disappointed because I didn't have it for more than four months. I have contacted Aqueon and am still waiting for them to take action. Now I have moved the back strip light to the front where the more demanding plants are at. I'm now crossing my fingers hoping that my plants will make it. The Hygrophila difformis to the left has grown into a nice little bush, I also added a few more to make it look a little more compact. I might have to move it to the back. I also added a bit more Hygrophila polysperma to the lower right and I got a new Hygrophila sp. which I believe is willow leaf hygro but not sure about the species. Once I get everything a little more filled in and get new plants, I'll start transforming it into something resembling a Dutch aquascape or at least be inspired by one. Here are some tank shots:

10 Gallon: Suspended state before CO2 increase

10 Gallon: After CO2 increase and before trimming

10 Gallon: After trim and after front strip light goes out

6 Gallon: Suspended state

6 Gallon: After a little growth

And here are some random pictures, everybody loves pictures:

Hygrophila sp. "unknown" (willow leaf?)

Hygrophila difformis

Hygrophila polysperma

Planorbis corneus, "rubrum"

Melanoides tuberculatus,

Neocaridina heteropoda, female & Planorbis corneus, "rubrum"

Neocaridina heteropoda, male

Neocaridina heteropoda, female

Neocaridina heteropoda, female

Trachemy scripta elegans, baby turtle I got from my mom for Christmas.

Cumulative Update

My tanks are doing great I couldn't be happier. From the very start I've had little problems growing plants, but now I seem to be getting better. My ten gallon, I thought, would be unable to provide the necessary environment for most plants, it has two 14 watt AquaGlo bulbs and DIY CO2. With these in mind I couldn't help but feel a bit pessimistic. About a month ago I added some Rotala rotundifolia, it didn't grow or do anything at all so I took it out. I also added some Hygrophila difformis which I thought would not thrive. Now it seems to be growing slowly. The Ludwigia repens used to grow exponentially inches by the week before I decided to rescape it. It doesn't seem to do much now. When I refilled one of the DIY CO2 bottles I noticed some pearling on some of my plants, specifically the java fern and the dwarf lily. This is good news because I've never had any pearling in this tank before and that means I must be doing something right. Below you can see slight changes in my ten gallon, the dwarf lily grew lots of leaves, which I had to cut off and the Hygrophila difformis is making a great attempt to reach the surface. The vals also put out a lot of runners which I decided to use in my 6 gallon.

Microsorum pteropus pearling

Nymphaea sp. 'rubra' pearling

I've never shown this tank before, it's my 6 gallon endler tank. Not too sure what to make of it, I tried this island layout don't know if it goes well or not. The rock to the left seems out of place, I might take it out. I used to have some cherry shrimp in there but none of the babies were surviving so I put them in their own 2 gallon tank. Currently I only have some Vallisneria, java fern, Hygrophila polysperma, Ludwigia repens, and anubias. Hopefully the back gets full of vals so that I can cover the filter.

And finally, my 2 gallon hexagon. This is my miracle tank, I can grow just about anything in it. It has a 15 watt CFL bulb plus some sunlight when the sun is lower in the sky, more than enough light in my opinion. The other day I was thinking about how long into the photoperiod the plants would start to pearl. Amazingly they started pearling within the minute I turned on the lights! It also has some DIY CO2 which definitely helps everything grow faster. Here you can see the three stages it has been through within one month, the last picture shows how I'm running out of room to put all the clippings. This is my "cultivator" tank so I don't have to worry about where to put the plants, I can just plant them in my ten gallon.

Planorbis corneus/rubrum

Thanks for reading.