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.

Two pieces of good news and one piece of bad news. First the bad news. Either my placement of it or the adjustment to a new tank has rendered the Crinum calamistratum practically dead. When I planted it, it was about 6 inches long, heavily root-pruned, with about five well-developed leaves. As of today, I had to clip four of those leaves because they decayed to squishy nothingness. A fine white thread-like growth swirled around the ill leaves. However, it shows a couple of new leaves, so I'm going to give it time and see how it fares in the first 30 days.

Now, for the good news! Some of the riccia -- already -- is showing signs of oxygen pearling, which means that they're happy! Very exciting discovery.

Riccia fluitans pearling oxygen bubbles after 5 days in the new tank.

The 2nd piece of good news is that the Glosso is starting to show new growth, with itsy-bitsy new leaves peeking about 2 millimeters out of the substrate.

The Dwarf subulata and the Japanese fan are maintaining their status, nothing new, no dire reactions, although the subulata has yellowed a bit at the tips.

Five days into the 6g Amano tank, I'm learning all kinds of things about CO2 and its influence on water chemistry. I've been working with a DIY CO2 source combining sugar water and yeast in a 2 litre Coke bottle.

Four days of chemistry readings show that the CO2 struggles to stay above 4 ppm but sometimes reaches 6 ppm. Desirable range is 5 to 15 ppm, so I'm skirting the low end.

Most important lesson is that tweaking and maintaining a yeast-based CO2 source will be the death of me. I have to adjust the yeast content, swirl a couple of times a day. I knew this would be a high-maintenance tank, but that kind of attention is really pushing it. So...

I bought a couple of pricey accessories today. The first is a CO2 solenoid regulator, the second is a 2.5 lb. CO2 tank. The tank is on its way from San Diego and should arrive early next week. The regulator, which includes a bubble counter, will attach to the CO2 tank. The silicone tube from the Vortex Reactor currently in the aquarium will connect to the regulator. Voila, much improved CO2 injection, much less maintenance. The CO2 tank will yield a few months of CO2, far tastier a solution than replacing a yeast source every week.

I also purchased several water controllers and plant supplements. I had been concerned about the zero KH readings. Plants want a certain level of carbonate hardness, so I bought two products to boost GH and KH, plus iron, potassium, and micronutrients to feed the plants.

Nathan, one of the aquarium gurus at Nippon Goldfish, where I buy supplies and fish, turned me on to Ocean Aquarium, a hole-in-the-wall over on 120 Cedar St., near Geary and Van Ness in SF.

Owner Justin Hau, surprisingly, was not only a purveyor of fine aquatic plants (including rare mosses and Riccia), he was a habitat builder, with several beautifully planted small and medium tanks.

He gave me the tour, showing me how he cultivates Riccia and moss for later sales or for his own use in promoting the beauty of Amano-style aquascaping. Walking through his joint was like inhaling as you move through an opium den. Everywhere I turned, something compact and beautiful awaited me, full of mystery and exquisite forethought.

Throughout Ocean Aquarium is a mystique of care and patience. After asking what livestock I'd use, Justin showed me his variety of shrimp. He's got Amano. He's got two large (bulky for 2 inches) lobster-like shrimp: fascinating. He's got small clear shrimp with beautiful blue lines running their backs. In other words, a coveted selection.

I'm happy to give you tank #2, photographed on day one of its setup. More soon.

I've taken the plunge. On Wednesday, I purchased Marineland's Eclipse System Six, a 6-gallon tank. My original plan was to go with a 2g, which I bought and then reserved for Honegger's hospitalization. Then, I was going to get a 3g so it would fit on my desk. After talking with my roommate and electing to setup the new tank in the living room on a built-in wall shelf, I upped the capacity to 6g. I also bought a 10g bag of Red Sea's Florabase for substrate.

Also on Wednesday, I ordered PlantGuild's CO2 Vortex Reactor. I'll still need to get some tubing and a CO2 tank. I admit to being a little nervous about my first CO2 system, but Takashi Amano's Nature Aquarium World has been a constant source of inspiration.

Today, I went a step further by buying my plants. For some reason, that's been the most difficult part of the decision-making process. Will I get the right plants? Will they look as stellar when I receive them as they do in product photos? I found a dealer of aquatic plants in Arizona, of all places. From what I can tell, they have the best selection of hard-to-find and exotic flora. Here's what I ordered:

10 specimens of Narrow-leaf Dwarf Subulata

6 specimens of Glossostigma

5 specimens of Japanese Fan

10 specimens of Riccia

1 specimen of Crinum calamistratum

Finally, from a medical supplies wholesaler in Florida, I purchased a pair of long surgical forceps and a pair of long surgical scissors, per Amano's recommendation.

Right now, I'm boiling/soaking a lovely piece of Malaysian driftwood so that it's ready next week when the plants and other supplies start arriving.

My poor little credit card is hot to the touch.