The new arrangement has had a bit of time to settle in - I pulled another few leaves off the ozelot sword there on the left to let a bit more light down onto the crypts underneath. They're not really thick enough to please me, probably due to a combination of too little light, and too little nutrients in the substrate. I added some Flourish root tabs, though, so I'm hoping that they'll grow in a bit more.
I actually harvested a java fern from the far left side and placed it above a root tab in the cichlid tank - the saulosi gave it a few exploratory nibbles but didn't immediately tear it to shreds, so there may be hope that it will be spared the nibbling that's taking a toll on the Amazon sword in that tank! I did find some aragonite coarse-grained sand, and have added a few cupfuls to the cichlid tanks. I'm not used to living in a place with such soft water yet - hardly any scale forms on the equipment compared to what happens at my parents' house. The aragonite is a pain to clean - it's too cold to take a bucket out back and wash the sand out with a hose - but adding it cupful by cupful is probably helping keep the water clear. Even after a dozen rinses, the stuff is still really dusty, but a cupful's-worth doesn't cloud the water for long. At some point I'll have to test the pH and see if it rose!
I haven't added any aragonite to the filter of the planted tank yet; I'd prefer to have dolomite but I'm not sure if any of the garden centers will have a suitable grade in stock. I did end up moving the second nerite snail from the planted tank to the fry grow-out tank.
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