Progress & Plant Growth

[Kalita]

Nobody around me understands how excited I am about the progress and plant growth in my tank so I thought I would share with you wonderful, fine folks. I'm a plant newbie as this is my first tank with live plants. I've added more plants since March 18, so yes there is more green for that reason, but also because of growth! The wisteria in particular has really taken off. 

March 18 vs March 29

 

[Jungle Fan]

ORD once again but I like it!🙂👍

[Andy's Fish Den]

looking good! 

[KBOzzie59]

5:17 AM and I'm out of reactions?  

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by KBOzzie59

[Kalita]

Progress pic! 😁

[Isaac M]

Looks good @Kalita! I see some rotala growth and some tall hygrophila! What is your stocking for this tank? Do you add fertilizer? 

[Kalita]

Thanks! The rotala is doing well. It grew taller, but I keep trimming and replanting to get a thicker patch before allowing to grow upwards. The hygrophilia has taken a good hold too. 

I use Easy green fertilizer, Flourish root tabs, and Fluval stratum/eco-complete substrate.

Stocking is light right now - 6 peppered cories, 6 electric blue enders, 5 yellow cobra guppies, betta, 2 nerite snails and some ramshorns that hitchhiked on plants. There's actually 3 RCS until their nano tank is ready 😊

 

I'm still deciding what else to add for fish... a school of cherry barbs? Cardinals? Rasboras? Or a pair of Rams? Kribs? Gouramis? So many options! I already want more tanks. I'd like to do African cichlids again. I love yellow labs but obviously not for this tank.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Kalita

[Isaac M]

Haha don’t we all want more tanks? 😂 what size aquarium is this? 20 gallon? There are always so many options, I would say just choose something that you think would make you happy and fits with your community. Given that you like cichlids, maybe rams would be a good fit? A nice school of rasboras would look great as well though.
 

Anyways, I cannot wait to see your tank grown in. It is going to look great! I look forward to your next progress picture! 

[Kalita]

@Isaac M Much appreciated! 

And yes, MTS is real! This one is a 33 gal (36" L x 12" W x 18" H). I actually have a second that is in storage that was previously set up for African cichlids when I lived in a different province. I also have 10/15 gal in storage, and a 5 gal in the process of being setup as a Shrimp tank. It was a hard sell to even get the 5 gal so I don't think I'll be able to get the other tanks out of storage yet, unless as temporary fry raising tanks.

As for stocking - I've never had Rams before and the idea scares me a bit honestly, just because I keep reading how sensitive they are. The tank is definitely established and has stable parameters, but my tap water has a higher than ideal pH for many of the South American cichlids, although right now it's been stable around 7.6. I'm sure they'd probably be able to adjust, especially where it is stable. There is a local breeder whose water is likely quite similar... Here's a pic of one of his Rams.

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Kalita

[Kalita]

I think I'll add in some more Val first to help frame and allow the rotala to really grow up and in. 

The Scarlet Temple on the foreground sides isn't really red right now. It was for a while, so I'm going to try giving it some more root tabs to see if I can't help it along. 

[Isaac M]

@Kalita sounds like you hit the jackpot, the local breeder is a perfect opportunity to give yourself the best chance at success at keeping rams. The gbr in that picture looks incredible! When it comes to pH, I think consistency is more important than a certain pH range.
 

I like the idea of adding val. It would add good height and lots of green to the aquarium! The rotala would contrast really nicely with it.