20G High – Turning the corner…

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted a picture of this tank, so here’s where it’s at. I make no apologies for the powerhead or diffuser in my “progress pictures,” so do your best to look past them. The utricularia graminifolia is starting to fill in after I plucked out at least a hundred trumpet snails that kept uprooting it. I’ve trimmed the didiplis diandra at least twice since the last picture, so it is starting to form a nice bush in the middle/right. New additions are the rotala macrandra ‘green’ and pogostemon stellata in the right and left sides of the didiplis diandra, respectively.

I was having quite the time controlling algae in this tank, but after sticking to a rather strict SeaChem product-line dosing regimen, including overdosing Excel, I seem to have that under control. The 10 of so cherry shrimp I added from my over-populated cherry shrimp tank haven’t done any harm in that regard either. I estimate that I’m probably about a week away from adding the apistogramma viejita pair that will eventually occupy this tank. I want the utricularia to be pretty much established before I add them. In the meantime, they’ve been enjoying a copious diet of blackworms, spectrum pellets, and veggie flake to ready them for some baby-making, er, I mean spawning.