What an amazing, gratifying, and stressful week. I knew having a planted nano tank based on Takashi Amano's aqua "lawns" would require a lot of time and energy, but I had little idea how much, or how much I'd care about cultivating this delicate habitat.

In the last week, I've:

Used forceps to remove a little under ten baby snails.

Had no success raising the iron levels, despite aggressive dosing.

Removed and destroyed a plant that simply couldn't survive the chemical volatility.

Watched with trepidation as the Subulata try to hang on.

Tried to raise the KH, but seen only a rise in GH.

Noted the very first signs of an algae outbreak...

...introduced a floating clump of hornwort to poison the algae.

Installed more powerful lights.

Elected a CO2 tank system over a DIY yeast system.

The Riccia, which I understand to be a difficult plant to cultivate, is actually proving to be the most voracious and adaptable of the plants. The Glosso is also holding up well, although I think it's growing up and out of the substrate instead of the more desirable way of growing: horizontally.

The Japanese fan appears hardy, but isn't doing anything right now. No news is good news, eh?

Ah, but the Subulata. After a tortuous first few days in which it yellowed and thinned at tips, it has at least stopped failing the way the Crinum calamistratum failed. I'm watching this bunch closely since it was meant to be the main background plant. If it can't survive the cycling process, I'll have to uproot them all and replace them with something else. A frequenter of the message boards on FishProfiles recommends hairgrass. We'll see.