Date: 2/8/06

• pH: 6.8 (morning)
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 5-10
• PO4: 0.2 (before dose)
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 50 mL Flourish Iron, 20 mL KH2PO4 (0.60 ppm)

Notes:
Ever since the Rotala plants grew to the surface, the dwarf gourami decided it would be a good idea to build a bubble nest in the Rotala. It proceeded to do its best to rip up any plant it could to pad its nest. I watched him in amusement until I saw it repeatedly rip up several strands of the hairgrass. Hey! That hairgrass was finally just beginning to grow in after a month. I was pissed off, so I cleaned out his bubble nest (yes I like to play God), hoping that would discourage him. Unfazed, he proceeded to rebuild his nest, pulling on any plant to see if he could rip it out. Oh well. I’ll trim down the rotala this weekend, hopefully that will stop him.

There seems to be some bright green algae (hair algae?) growing on the gravel in patches amongst the hairgrass. To my annoyance, it’s even pearling. I don’t know if it’s because of the SeaChem plant tabs I inserted in the gravel under the hairgrass a couple weeks ago, or if the Flourish dose is too high, or if it’s because of the extra nitrate/phosphate dose I’ve been giving it. I’ll probably lower the Flourish dosage back down to 5 mL a day first.

The Rotalas have definitely turned much greener due to the nitrates (and thus less red). I’ve read how people like to try to keep their nitrates low in order to help bring out the red in their plants, but I think that just shows that the plant is deficient in nitrates.