8 entries · Page 1 of 1
Hairgrass finally caught up and then some, it's basically a full carpet now instead of the patchy mess it was a couple months ago. Monte carlo is still going strong too, whole front half of the tank is just green now. Pretty close to how I pictured this thing when I dry started it.
Nothing really going on this week, just sat and watched the cardinals chase each other around the driftwood for like 20 minutes straight. Corys were doing their usual sand-sifting thing. Sometimes it's nice when there's nothing to do.
The monte carlo has honestly exploded the last few weeks, carpet's filling in way faster than the hairgrass which is kinda still sparse in patches. Moss on the driftwood is thickening up nice too but the monte carlo is the real star right now, didn't expect it to take off like that.
Did a water change today, pulled about 25% and trimmed the hairgrass down since it was getting floppy on the edges. Tested after: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate sitting at 15ppm, pH 6.8. Pretty happy with those numbers for where we're at.
Added the cardinal tetras today, first livestock in the tank. Did the drip method into a bucket over like 40 minutes before netting them in, water temp matched at 78F so no real stress on them that I could see. They went straight into the moss and hid for a bit which is normal I think.
Two weeks into cycling and honestly the scape looks kinda rough right now, hardscape's still pretty bare with just a few sad little hairgrass sprigs and some monte carlo bits that haven't done much. Ammonia's reading around 2ppm so at least something's happening biologically, just gotta let the plants catch up visually.
Got the water in and filter running today, no livestock since it needs to cycle first. Dosed prime at the full dose for 75 gallons, figured better safe than sorry with the driftwood tannins probably messing with readings anyway. Just gonna let it run now.
Hardscape's in, no water yet. Let's go.
