Everyone just seems so full of themselves today, I'm so pleased to see so much activity in the community. There is movement all over the tank, colours are becoming more vibrant and I've noticed some significant growth from both plants and fish.
There's a number of things I've changed since getting back into the swing of things. Aside from the regular water changes (which because of meds etc have been 2x weekly....not sure if that's something I can continue but will try), and the new plants I've added, I've also increased aeration and decreased water flow by positioning my outlets and wavemaker to blow towards the surface increasing agitation. I have also gotten better at maintaining the filter, I give it a rinse once a month. Now previously I've never really messed with the filter until I saw a reduction in flow, but with the possibility of TB in the tank I wanted to remove as much dead and decaying material as I could in hope of giving the fish more of a chance. I've also added more ceramic media and I've got more sponge waiting to go in next time. I've also topped up the sand in the tank so I'm hoping I've increased surface area for more beneficial bacteria to grow. What I had was ample but I'd planned to increase feeding to x2 a day with one fasting day a week.
I've always understood Rainbow fish to need at least 50% plant matter in their diet...however. I've been listening to some of Gary Lange's talks with several different YouTube content creators and he actually suggests more protein in their diet....so, cautiously I've been giving them frozen brine shrimp, black mosquito larvae and daphnia on more of a regular basis alongside the Spirulina flakes and spinach. I also give them Hikari micro pellets, they go crazy for those!
Since making all these changes I've noticed a dramatic difference in activity and colour. They're growing and some of the skinny ones are filling out again. I'm not holding my breath about not facing problems with TB, there's a little Praecox female that is still very thin. I don't think she's thinner than she was, I can't say for definite but I feel she's improved some. I nearly euthanised her but felt she deserved a chance.
Videos and photos incoming shortly..
there's a fair amount floating around the water sprite I've got in there, it's growing well so far. Hopefully it will get dense enough to harbour a few eggs!
when you first bring them home they literally have a meltdown until they finally pull themselves together after realising they're not going anywhere...but they protest for a while by giving you the cold shoulder in taking what feels like forever to put out...a few leaves here and there. But spoil them enough with a few root tabs and they just explode! I just love them and really appreciate the many different varieties.
nothing but a palaver with API. So I'm going to have to order some more tubes. Looking at the water report for my area, although it's heavy in mineral there's nothing untoward that I can see....its just so very very odd!
it's a mystery I will never solve it seems, I've no idea what happened there but happy that it's resolved itself and at last the plants can utilise the fertiliser. 
) and vulgaris, which I'm particularly excited about. Taking pictures during the day is futile as I have full on glare...so I'll wait for tonight so post some pictures 
here is how it started 
I love watching things just do their thing, it's so nice when you look back at the progress. I've taken nearly all my hardscape out, I just want a jungle! I'm looking out for some dark grey rounded pebbles of different sizes to dot around but I'm not too bothered about them either way
