5 gallon riparian tank: post-first week comparisons!

[Thermal]

new stuff:
- hornwort overgrowth
- trimmed, replanted Hygrophila Polysperma
- Pothos growing well
- Swiss cheese and Monstera growing slowly but have produced new shoots
- Fern not doing so well
- Jackfruit, Soursop leaves, and the driftwood too I guess - finally released enough tannins to be visible.
- Had a mini bacterial bloom overnight after day 9, all the way to day 11. All microfauna had a population-boom, even the hydras.

Future changes:
- will upgrade the light from 10watts→20watts
- will put the fern back in a pot, and will be replaced with an epiphyte plant
- Considering getting Least, or Clown Killies instead of a betta(original fish choice) because I don't want the adult bladder snails to get eaten. Thoughts on this?

 

[GaryE]

Why would you want the bladder snails? They will do terrible damage to that set up as their population explodes. I could see wanting ramshorns, but bladder snails are serious pests.
Least killies, for those reading, aren't killies, but a tiny livebearer. They are nice fish, and a good option for a larger version of that tank. Epiplatys annulatus, the clown killie would be my choice if the tank were large enough for fish. It isn't. In a few months, once you've seen what's involved with keeping that beautiful project, you could upgrade the tank size and then consider having fish in it as well.