Hair Algae

After setting up the tank with plants, it was time… to wait, while the beneficial bacteria in the tank did their job in converting ammonia into nitrite and then other bacteria to convert that into nitrate that the plants can consume to grow. I was basically starting from zero, but, the filter was used. Even though it was dry, some bacteria may have survived to start reproducing once placed in the tank.

This picture was about a week and a bit since I planted it. I was checking the water parameters using the JBL ProScan app. The strips are expensive, but it made logging the values easier. The water where I live is luckily not chlorinated so I didn’t have to worry about that. However… the water here is also very soft, which isn’t good for shrimp or snails, which are my planned inhabitants.

To remedy this I crushed up some cuttlefish bone, and scattered in the tank, which is the white substance on the rocks to the left side of the image. The Alternanthera in the background was not recovering very well, though. The plants I bought were discounted due to being nipped at by the fish in the plant tank, and the Alternanthera did not recover well at all. The leaves rotted one by one, but at the very least this was a source of ammonia for the tank to get cycled better. But the Alternanthera plants were removed soon after this.