Taya

Meant to do another update sooner, but didn't because lazy.

Short version:
Finished sifting through the bucket for shrimp and moved them to the tank, bringing that population to a potential total of 14 adults/juveniles and 1 baby (I've seen it twice since the first sighting and it's so cute I love it), although I've only managed to count about 8-9 at a time when I try.
Did a few more water changes, and on the 10th did a full water test with tap water control tests and... 0ppm across the board! At which point... I pretty much called it a success and got on with my life? Relying really heavily on the assumption that the ammonia issue was entirely because of the jug, and not a problem with the tank setup itself.

I can now confirm that my assumption was correct. Full tests with control confirms no ammonia or nitrites, and a light but distinct shade of orange on the nitrates. The shrimp tank is fully cycled.

At some point I'll have some time during the day to clear the area to take some photos, although the whole thing is rather a mess at the moment. The planted things seem to be doing okay, but the top of the tank is just taken over with either ambulia or milfoil (I got both and can't really figure out which is which) and... some other things. Red root floaters definitely, and a cutting from something that I've forgotten what it is or where I got it, and some loose bits that have floated off from other things and just- look the point is they're growing and thus using nitrates, and I need them there until the planted stuff is established enough to do the job.

Mostly this is just for my own reference, because I've never successfully grown any of these plants and fully expect to have to replace at least some of them.

The grass along the back of the tank is Cyperus Helferi. The tub it came in listed it as a background plant, so that's where I put it, and when I finally bothered to actually find out how big it grows... It'll probably reach the top of the tank. Which isn't a bad thing, just means I need to keep an eye on it.

In the sand at the base of the middle rock is Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'HC Cuba', a short carpeting plant that is either really easy or incredibly difficult to grow depending on who you ask. There's a lot of mention of high light and CO2, and I certainly don't have the CO2 thing going on. Also, I put it at the base of the rocks and not at the very front of the tank because I figured it'd hug the rocks more and look nicer.

Grass at the front is Eleocharis Acicularis ‘Mini Hair’, which is taller than the HC Cuba but not as tall as the Cyperus Helferi, and should respond well to being mowed.

Mid-left, -centre, and -right is Lobelia Cardinalis and quite frankly I have no idea what that's going to do. Maybe a stem plant? I got a lot of non-aquarium search results and more than a few that just don't look like what I have, so I guess I wait to see what it grows into. Stem plant would be nice though.

And finally Riccia Fluitans, which I have had before, on one of those plastic moss ball frames attached to a sinker so it could float in the middle of the tank. The shrimp loved it. They spent most of a day or two plucking every strand out and left the empty plastic frame. The filter also loved it, gobbled the stuff right up. This time I've glued it onto the rocks in three clumps, separating them as carefully as possible to keep the strands sticking to each other as much as possible, and hopefully it'll be established enough by the time I move the shrimp in that they won't immediately destroy the place.



The Riccia was glued in yesterday, the water levels brought up to the top of the rocks this morning to test the grip, and so far it seems happy. I also gathered the stray bits onto the tip of the tallest rock - just slightly out of the water at this point - and I'll leave it like that for a few days maybe before I add more water, just to see if it will grip on in that time.

At some point I'll probably also add some of the Phyllanthus Fluitans - Red Root Floaters currently in the tetra tank because floating plants are cool.