thank you guys again for the comments added!! 🙂 i really do feel a lot better with my plant trial and errors lol, knowing that sometimes it's just out of my hands. i wanted to show a little update! again, my tank is algae covered, but i have a water change upcoming on saturday! i added 2 pogostemon stellatus octopus, and i'm still waiting on the hornwort to come in! hopefully this all balances out my tank a bit more. lastly, and not relevant to plants at all, i added a nice black backdrop! 😁
i also wanted to add, does anyone have advice for increasing my nitrates? since i only have 1 betta obviously i have a low bioload, i was searching online and people suggest adding MORE fertilizer but i'm kinda nervous to add more than i already am while i'm in an algae war. i'm also nervous about 'overfeeding' as other suggestions online showed, because my betta is a fiend i don't want to make him sick because i know he'll eat it all... i was considering maybe getting a snail or 2?? not sure if that would even help at all?? any advice appreciated!
edit adding more info: my betta is a very assertive and territorial guy so i don't think adding community fish or shrimp is a good idea either.. i tried adding a ghost shrimp with him to temperament test him, but sadly, knuckles made a snack out of him 😭
thanks!!