I've recently subjected my 6g tank to an overhaul. I realized that in the past, I've gotten bored and swapped everything out for lots of new stuff. That tact creates instability in the overall conserve, sometimes lasting two weeks, which wreaks havoc on established plants shocked by changes in nutrient levels and consumption.

Instead, I now stage my plant removals/additions over the course of a few weeks, until I have a whole new landscape, with fresh plants and different densities. A couple of routines I've changed, which seem to help with new plant health/adjustment:

• Immediately drop new plants into the tank and let them sit/float for a few days BEFORE you try to plant them in substrate. This seems to promote lots of frilly root growth that makes it easier for the plants to adjust to the shock of being shoved into substrate.


• Stop obsessing about individual applications of Fe, K, micronutrients, and nitrogen, and start using a "multi-vitamin." Kent creates products for both aquarists...I find that their combination fertilizer completely eliminates the need to dose bottle by bottle each day, or every third day, or once a week with individual soluble nutrients.


• Don't be shy with CO2. To stave off an algae threat, I planted several new fast-growing stem plants and upped the CO2 to about 1 bubble every 3 seconds. CO2 makes for happy happy plants. Happy happy plants thwart algae's evil plans.