I recently returned from a week of travel for work. Before I left, I did my water changes, dosed a little bit extra, and made sure that the fish would get fed. Most of the tanks were already in pretty good shape

, but I had recently replanted my 40g farm tank, and it was still in the process of recovering from that shock.

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Much to my delight, the farm tank (above) really rebounded and grew in beautifully while I was gone. In addition, I think the lack of dosing caused the plants to temporarily color up due to needing more nitrate. This is one of those times where I find myself sitting and starring at my farm tank constantly

, even though it’s not really aquascaped. Healthy plants are mesmerizing!

I did my usual weekly water changes this weekend, and want to update on the 50G aquarium. This tank has had a number of changes over the past few months. In terms of equipment , I replaced a 2x96W power compact DIY kit from AHSupply with 4-TrueLumen LED bars from Current USA. While I’m still coming to terms with the coloration and perceived brightness, there’s no question that the plants are getting more usable light than they did with the old lamps, as growth has taken off, particularly in the foreground.

The Ranalisma rostrata has completely filled in the foreground areas, and I have been regularly thinning it out for other hobbyists (and to keep the plant from getting way overgrown.) The Hygrophila pinnatifida has almost entirely stayed in it’s creeping form, attaching itself to the driftwood in this tank. I have a fresh batch of bristlenosed pleco babies , hence the uneven foreground where they’ve dug out until the wood to form their caves. I do still have a maintainable amount of BBA on some of the wood pieces, but the plecos keep it from spreading beyond that, and the plants are free of algae, minus a few older leaves of the Hygrophila. Basically, I just need to focus on trimming this tank a little bit better, particularly the Blyxa japonica in the background, and the stems in the back. Comments welcome!

I did some water changes this evening, and snapped a photo of my 33g as it stands today. The Elatine triandra is responding well to a trim that I did last week, and the rest of the plants are growing in well. I had to trim off a few leaves with black brush algae (BBA), since I got a little bit lax in my dosing over the past week or two, but it didn’t get out of control.

I’d love to hear any suggestions to refine the scape even more.

Here’s another video from my fish room, featuring my F1 Peruvian Angelfish and Apistogramma sp. ‘Breitbinden’.

I was enjoying my fish tanks this evening, and decided to shoot a short video of my 40G farm tank. The plants are crammed in there, but are healthy and pearling at the end of the day.

I have Oryzias woworae and Pelvicachromis taeniatus ‘Moliwe’ in the tank right now. I suspect that once the cichlids get bigger, I may need to find a more secure home for the O. woworae. Everyone’s getting along now, however.