July 9
I’m learning to use a different camera, so bear with me as my photo quality… varies (I accidentally made the ISO too high, oops). I learn best by doing.
I finally got a lid. It doesn’t fit perfectly and there’s a large gap, but it does reduce evaporation a lot. I was getting pretty tired of always topping up the water level.
I trimmed some melting leaves on my amazon sword, and gave it a root tab.
July 19
The large val plants are blocking the light so I’m giving them a hard cut back.
I also gave it a small gravel vac. I cover it with a net to prevent sucking up the bladder snails.
July 29
I GOT SHRIMP!
I finally got shrimp! They’re the whole reason I got into planted tanks. I’ve been obsessed with them for the last 2 years.
I ordered 5 Bloody Mary Neocaridina shrimp from AquaFloraCanada and I’m so happy with them! They even sent extras! One didn’t make the trip and ended up being a travel snack for the others.
July 30
I found one dead this morning (RIP lil’ guy). The Bobette’s (Bob the Bladder’s babes) made short work of the corpse. I almost didn’t notice it. The remaining 5 seem very happy and healthy.
Besides spending a couple hours acclimatizing the shrimp and feeding, I haven’t touched the tank. I’m going to leave it be for a week to let the new lil guys settle in.
My Neurospicy Soup 