Field notes
Pulled the assassin snails — decided I didn’t want a predator loose in the tank ahead of shrimp. Amano go in first, as cleanup crew and as a live water-quality test before anything more sensitive goes in. Corydoras next once the shrimp settle, giant betta last once the tank’s fully proven out. Plants are filling in well — the Ludwigia is colouring up nicely under the current lighting, and the swords are finally pushing new growth.
Noticed a small white worm bloom crawling the glass near the substrate line. Not harmful on their own, but a symptom — anaerobic pockets forming under the aquasoil where mulm had built up, plus a stretch of slight overfeeding while I was dialing in the CO₂. Cut feeding back, ran a gravel vac pass through the low-flow corners, and the population dropped off within a week. Note to future self: overfeeding shows up in the substrate before it shows up anywhere else.
Confirmed parameters before adding anything alive — GH 8, KH 6, pH 7.2, holding steady at 26.2°C. Repositioned the spray bar along the back pane, angled just under the surface, enough flow to move the whole column without flattening the Cabomba. Running the Fluval 207 for now; a 407 is on the list once the corydoras and betta actually show up and the bioload catches up to the plants.