7 entries · Page 1 of 1
swapped in the kessil a360x today, box and packaging still sitting on the floor next to the stand because i haven't dealt with it yet. wasn't planning on spending that much on a light for a 20 gallon but the old one just wasn't cutting it anymore for how dense this thing has gotten. hoping the spread and intensity push the monte carlo to finish filling in those last couple gaps.
had a friend over today who hadn't seen the tank since the hardscape was dry and bare, and they actually stopped mid conversation to ask about it. said it looked like it had been running for years, which felt good to hear since it's only been a few months. monte carlo has finally closed most of the gaps and the crypts have bulked out a lot. still see the bare patches when i look close but apparently they don't.
did a WC today and somehow made more of a mess than the tank itself. sloshed water over the rim twice carrying the bucket, then knocked over a stack of nets on the way past. dosed ferts after and spent longer mopping the floor than actually doing the water change. plants seem happy enough about it at least.
added the harlequin rasboras today, just a small group. bag's floating up top right now getting used to the temp before i let them out. tank looks so bare still with the carpet only half filled in and the moss thin, but even a handful of fish makes the whole thing feel different. they went straight into hiding near the wood the second i cracked the bag open, which i guess is fair.
no fish yet, just ghost feeding a pinch of flake every couple days so the bacteria have something to chew on. dosed bottled bacteria again this week to try and speed the cycle along. water's gone crystal clear which is a little unnerving honestly, keep waiting for an ammonia spike to show up out of nowhere. plants aren't doing much, not melting though so i'll count that as a win for now.
water's in, filter's running, heater set to 76 for now since nothing's living in there yet. cloudy like always right after fill, substrate cloud everywhere. plants are in but tiny, monte carlo is just little clumps scattered around, crypts look sad and floppy already which i'm told is normal. just letting it run and watching the temp hold steady before i worry about anything else.
got the wood in today, no water yet. picked up the pieces from a local guy who sells cut and cured driftwood out of his garage, been sitting in a tub for a few weeks so no tannin surprises hopefully. took forever angling the branches so they'd leave a path through the middle instead of just walling off the tank. dry fit looks decent, might tweak one piece tomorrow before i commit to substrate around it.