The aquarium has been set up for a year now. And still going.
I’ve more or less been just letting it go at this point, plant wise. I don’t think I’ll be introducing any more plant types, just maintaining and seeing how things go. I think I’ve reached the point where it’s actually overplanted.
So quick recap of the tank:
- 20 gallon long
- two box filters
- two goldfish
- gravel substrate
- many live plants
- three pond snails
Plants in the tank:
- Anubias
- Cryptocoryne Balansae
- Cryptocoryne Spiralis
- Cryptocoryne Wendtii
- Sagittaria (narrow leaf)
- Ludwigia Repens
- Vallisneria (jungle)
Plants that didn’t make it:
- Heteranthera (fish ate it)
- Elodea (fish ate it)
- Amazon Sword (not enough/right substrate)
- Melon Sword (actually still alive in another tank, might replant)
- Lagenandra (kind of just vanished without a trace?)
No CO2, no soil, just fish poo and root tabs. So I think the plants that have made it could probably make it in any tank. Of all of them, the various Cryptocoryne species seem to have done the best. In fact the Wendtii were doing well even before I started using root tabs. I thought the Vallisneria were going to RIP since all of the plants I put in melted, and the new leaves they grew were all severely stunted. But after a few months, nearly every single one in the tank sprouted runners and new plants grew that are going just fine -all over the tank.
I did have a brief issue with hair algae, but increasing water changes and reducing light killed it after a couple of weeks. Now having green algae, which I don’t mind too much, probably too much light again.
Fish are healthy and bigger (and fatter) and the snails all seem healthy and active too. They’re still pretty small so no real plans to set up a bigger tank yet.