u/Altalez

I'm just trying to fix some plants and either they keep getting in the way or call me a snack, like, BUDDY-

They really said 🟠👄🟠

I still remember people warning me not to buy it, that this variety would never carpet or even send out runners. Even so, i'm really glad i choose to give it a chance! It's been spreading everywhere, and starting to look like a carpet! As a begginer, it's really making me feel proud

I'm having a bit of a hard time choosing new plants to go on those spots so i need some help picking something that would look good there...

Tank is 55x31x36cm (low tech), the left side of the driftwood is about 12cm high, i'm thinking of a plant to go in front of it that fills that space kinda like a 'wild' bush, but that won't grow taller than the driftwood. Behind that side of the driftwood is also a trident fern that is still filling up, so perhaps a plant that won't compete too much with it's narrow long shape?

For the other spots i'm thinking a short bush like plant? Something that won't grow much taller than the mini pusilla, just to give those spots some extra texture.

As my first planted tank, it blows my mind to see the transformation in person

Ik all plants are easy and low tech friendly, so it's not much to brag about, but for my first ever tank, and as someone who thought most would melt away or not even show this mutch color, i'm feeling really proud of how well they're all doing! Specially the rotala, weeping moss and mini hairgrass (hard to see due to the moss mess, but she full of tiny new grass blades and roots!)

Yesterday i did the first trim, only on the hydrocotyle and weeping moss so far (which i glued down in new spots as you can notice by the ugly white in the hardscape lol) but man did it felt satisfying to do 🤤

Only issue i've been dealing with so far is a green midge fly problem, which i have been dealing with since the dark start phase... Anyone has tips on how to get rid of them? So far i don't have any habitants yet.

They're both labeled as blue dream OE / blue demons. First seller seems to have a variation of brighter/stronger blues while the second looks near black with navy blue tones.

I know it's still early, but i just want to know if my tank is going well so far or starting to fail in some way.

Here's the info:

Tank is 55x31x36cm, abt 61L, but due to hardscape holds 40-45L. It has a double sponge filter with an outlet agitating the surface, a heater, 9L of weekaqua aquasoil, some hygger equivalent lights and no co2. Parameters are pretty consistent so far, a ph of 7.0, kh of 3, gh of 4 (which was 6 before planting, so idk what happened there) tds of 0187ppm, amonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are low.

I ran this tank in a dark start with aquasoil for over 5 months (stuff was happening irl so i didn't have the time to plant it after the cycle was done).

In the 23rd of this month, i finally bought the plants and carefully planted each one (first photo is the day after planting and the following are from today, which i cant get a good pic as the lights are currently off) i put 4 root tabs from tropica (one on 3 corners and 1 under the arch) and put the lights at 50% in a 6 hour timer.

(I know melt is normal and expected as the plants transition to their submerged form, especially in a low tech, but i just want to understand if my plants are melting normaly or if they're showing signs of failing.)

Here's what i'm noticing in the past 5 days:

• Rotala blood red, came in vitro. So far it seems to be doing surprisingly well, it became fully upright, and began growing by day 3, showing a bit of leaf melt. Should i expect it to start shedding it's vitro leaves and melt more?

• Ludwigia super red, came in a pot. It has been melting and shedding some leaves, but recently i began to notice some of the stems were also melting at the top, so worried, i cut those off afraid it would spread.

• Mini hairgrass, came in vitro. There hasn't been much change, it remains bright green for the exception of a single small portion which is melting. Today i noticed a couple of yellow and melting strands here and there, so i'm guessing it's starting to go into the melting phase? I also see some small pure white roots on looser bits

• Trident fern, came in a pot. No change, a few tips look a bit transparent but i read it's normal so i'm not too worried.

• Nymphoides taiwan, came in a pot. Roots and base look nice and green, but most of the leaves it came with have been melting. The new small growth began opening by day 3, but it also began melting soon after, i see some newer new leafs forming though. Everything that began rotting past the leaf i cut off.

• Pogostemon helferi, came tiny and thin in a pot. Ik, it was a big gamble i was willing to take due to how stunning it is. Like expected, it began to melt right away, both leaves and stem, to which i cut in an attempt to save it, from those, some smaller ones fully melted while a couple still have green stems and some visible roots. I expect it to die off, but i still have a tiny bit of hope those few manage to survive. Should i mostly bury those stems or leave them out in the water?

• Weeping moss, came as a portion. Looks the same so far, maybe more upright. I notice a few strands with transparent tips and about 1 or 2 light brown. Idk if this one has a melting phase, couldn't find much about those details.

• Hydrocotyle tripartita, came in vitro. Only melt i saw were in a couple of broken leaves. It came with a bunch of pale brown melted growth, i'm not sure if it's normal or if it was a bad cup, but it instantly began growing and is looking good so no worry here.

• Anubia pinto, buce. Sordidula blue and kedagang, all in pots. The anubias have 0 change, but the buces look more spread out, some new leafs it came with seem to be maturing and one of the leafs is slowly unfurrowing. I heard they would start shedding old leaves, but they're still holding onto them, should i be expecting it soon?

So far it seems like it's going well, but at the same time, some plants worry me with the stem melting part... since i already cycled and ran it on a dark start for over 5 months, what should be my maintenance routine for these first few weeks/months? I also have the tropica premium nutrition fertilizer which i did a small dose on day 3 when i noticed some plant growth.

I had to enhance the photos cause the camera couldn't capture the dots well, so i hope it's visible enough.