[FreshwaterJeff]

August 2, 2006

Yesterday, I added 3 zebra loaches and 1 keyhole cichlid to the tank, and also noticed that it wasn't just my rainbows that were trying to attack their reflection in the glass - pretty much all of my fish do it, which is somewhat frustrating. I put peices of white paper up on the sides of the tank and it seems to have helped a little.

Avalon, I need a little guidance with ferts (I'm going to re-read the stickies in the Planted Tank forum) - and I agree that I need more plants. So far, I've just been dosing with the Kent Freshwater fertilizer and Flourish Excel for CO2 - although it's becoming clear that I need to do a DIY set-up until I can afford my compressed CO2 system. Also, I'll get pictures tonight (of the new fish additions, too), but my Rotala looks like it's closing its top leaves like a flower would close its petals...any idea what's going on there?

It looks like the crypts are starting to bounce back. I'm going to do some leaf vacuuming, water testing, and other general maintenance tonight (there's an area of the tank where the water seems a bit stagnant - I'm going to try and get better circulation by moving my powerhead - or at least re-aiming it).

Answering a comment a little ways up the thread - my tank doesn't really look cloudy from the sides; it comes out that way in pictures because the larger sideways depth of the water column (as compared to viewing from the front) filters the light out as it moves back into the tank, so it comes out looking cloudy. But when you're standing there, it looks clear.