Lots of good growth, but red plants eventually grew large and failed at my pruning efforts.
First is recent and below is four months prior.
I'm going to try and obtain and plant some reds.






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This is from January 24th 2018...

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This is from January 11th 2018 including plants received from AFA.

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Ready to begin...
This was actually taken November 13, 2017

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Time flies!
After much neglect I've spiffed up and ordered some new plants.
Some of the hardy plants below are survivors, most will be new.

alternanthera reineckii

anubias barteri

Anubias barteri var. angustifolia

Anubias barteri var. nana

Anubias Barteri

cryptocoryne spiralis

cyperus helferi

eriocaulon cinereum sp. 'goias'

glossostigma elatinoides

hydrocotyle tripartita mini

hydrocotyle verticillata

hygrophila pinnatifida

ludwigia-arcuata

Microsorum pteropus (java fern)

pogostemon erectus

pogostemon helferi

riccia fluitans

rotala sp vietnam h'ra

rotala-rotundifolia-ceylon

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As of October 25th
























As of November 18th

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Background plants added

Vallisneria americana (gigantea)

and some Rotala Magenta (Rotala macrandra v. 'narrow leaf')

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Middle ground plants added

Ludwigia repens 'Rubin’ (broad and narrow varieties)

I'm really digging the narrow leaf variety.

Rotala rotundifolia

Bacopa caroliniana 

I've also added, but assume I'll remove soon:

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica'
Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri)
Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis'
Cryptocoryne x willisii
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Hydrocotyle ? (Pennywort)
Echinodorus x barthii (red melon)
Echinodorus 'Ozelot Green'
Hygrophila difformis (Wisteria)

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Foreground plants added

Status of surviving plants
Amazon Swords- no algae
Anubias Barteri-central, green spot algae
Anubias Frazeri- right, green spot algae
Anubias Nana- left, green spot algae
Some moss on driftwood- mixed health
Cabomba- temporary, almost red
Anacharis- removed
Fauna:
3 Rummy Nose Tetras- healthy
3 Otos- healthy
2 Corydoras- healthy and large
5 galaxy rasbora- healthy

New plants:
I've added a number of plants.

Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hairgrass)

Echinodorus tenellus (Dwarf Sword)

Lilaeopsis mauritiana (Micro Narrow Leaf Sword)

 Pogostemon helferi (Little Star

I'll stick with whichever seems to thrive with the conditions I can provide.

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Restart and recovery.

I suppose it happens to the best of us. I've been trying to remember exactly what happened. Almost two years ago it seems I became demoralized. Well, I'm back!

Flora:
Amazon Swords- survived
Anubias Barteri-central
Anubias Frazeri- right
Anubias Nana- left
Some moss on driftwood.
Outdoors:
Cabomba- good
Anacharis- good
Fauna:
3 Rummy Nose Tetras- healthy
1 Otos- healthy, I think I need another
2 Corydoras- healthy and large
3 new galaxy rasbora- healthy


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This was day 78. Working on dosing with Pfertz, eying my dry ferts. Reading more: Thank you for contacting us! Judging by the picture you've included, your tank would definitely fall into the "heavily planted" criteria. Since you are experiencing signs of potassium deficiency, I would recommend that you increase your n, k, and m dosing to 3 pumps daily. I would leave your p dosing the same, since you have measured consistent residual levels with your current schedule. Also, I wouldn't recommend an increased water-change schedule, since you already have an intensive schedule. Regarding water changes, what is your post-change dosing regimen? Increasing this slightly may also help with your deficiency issues. Read more!

The Planted Aquarium Podcast

Here's something new for you!
Introducing The Planted Aquarium Podcast
http://www.theplantedaquariumpodcast.com/
You can provide feedback via this thread or private message and also via
ThePlantedAquariumPodcast@gmail.com
The web page and podcast are absolutely in their infancy. The first podcast is available at the web page listed above to stream or download. The podcast should also be available for subscription via iTunes in the next day or so.
Please understand our only motivation is to serve the broad planted aquaria hobby community. Orlando from Green Leaf Aquariums (http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/) was kind enough to be our first guest and we are quite grateful. If you have suggestions or comments please let us know. You can suggest who we should interview next. Maybe we could interview you! It'd be great to have a wide range of folks on the show, from typical hobbyist to seasoned expert.
Cheers! David and Jennifer Reading More: 5 star reviews on iTunes will be noted by name on the pod cast. Read more!

Aquarium Blog: Day 59 Planted, Flow improvement!

I added a Hydor Koralia Nano 240 GPH 4.5 flow device today. I'm sure glad I did not get a larger version. Reading more: It's about the size of an egg. Read more!

Aquarium Blog: Day 54 Planted (Pfertz!)

I performed my first significant trim yesterday. I cut back the Rotala Indica in the front about halfway down. I also removed a couple of Wisteria stems. It's so tough to trim. Silly I know. I'll learn. I've been using Pfertz fertilizers lately. For now the convenience is just really hard to beat. I'm still running a UV sterilizer. You can see the cable on the front right. I removed the hang on tank micron tank for the pictures. Both are in response to a couple of Ich nodules I spotted. I added a Rotala wallichii yesterday. What else? Dealing with some unwanted snails. Spot treating algae with hydrogen peroxide. Add some more root tabs. Reading more: Both German Blue Rams died. One of unknown causes and the second after relocation. I believe both deaths were stress related. They fought constantly with each other and the two Electric Blue Rams. I would have thought a heavily planted 55 gallon tank would have been large enough for the four of them. Read more!