I went on vacation last weekend and faced a bit of a conundrum. Like an idiot, I had forgotten to purchase saran wrap at the store and realized, the night before, that I had no way to prevent my plants from drying with my current setup.

See, the beautiful — and extraordinarily cool — UNS atomizer that creates a dense fog above the paludarium does A LOT of work to keep the above-water plants moist. Because they are adapted aquatic plants, they need tropical levels of moisture. And of course, because of my ambitious hardscape, there's no way of putting a lid/doors on the paludarium to keep moisture in and create that tropical atmosphere. So, the atomizer is what keeps them alive, generating a constant mist that pools around the tank and drips onto the floor if I don't put a towel beneath to catch it all (figured that one out pretty quickly lol).

It's a delicate yet functional setup; the atomizer runs 24/7, the light is on a timer, and I top off the tank twice a day to keep the water level high — the atomizer naturally causes lots of evaporation.

Leaving for three days does not work with this system. If no one is there to top off the tank, the atomizer will quickly shut off, the plants inside the tank will dry due to low water levels, and the terrestrial plants will become shriveled within the hour. I... had not really considered this until the night before my departure. Suffice it to say, I was panicking.

Then, like lightning in the midst of thunderous rain or an apple falling from a tree, inspiration struck. A eureka moment rivaling newtonian physics — I would use a towel!

Instead of trying to trap the moisture with a lid or saran wrap, and instead of trying to find some solution that worked with the current setup, I found a solution using the simplest of concepts: wet towel. I turned off the atomizer, placed a damp washcloth on top of the terrestrial plants (had to move some around to accomplish this — r.i.p. anubias roots), and positioned it such that the towel was always in contact with the water. The moisture moved up the towel, constantly keeping the above-water plants wet, and no atomizer meant surprisingly little evaporation.

The plan worked perfectly. My plants survived, no water dripped onto the ground, and everyone lived happily ever after.

We'll see how this strategy fares when I leave for Thanksgiving break...

The bane of my existence over the last month or so has been constant algae. I do a full water change every week — and I've been consistent about it ! — yet, the algae is already taking over by day 5 or 6. I haven't been in this hobby for a few years, or else I would've probably caught the cause (or a potential cause) sooner. Somehow, it took me months to figure out that my light was on for 12+ hours, wayyyyy too much for a tank this size. That, plus sunlight through my windows, probably led to a perfect environment for uncontrollable algae growth.

smh my head.

Anyway, since I figured that out a few days ago, I've lowered the light duration to about 8-9 hours. Hopefully, that helps curb things for the time being, and my plants are established enough that I'm not too worried about adverse side effects. I'll drop another tank log in a few weeks to provide an update on how the algae is going.

Side note: I think another cause of this is no proper filtration. The tank volume is only 2.1 gallons, and with hardscape, it's probably closer to 1-1.5 gallons. That doesn't necessarily need filtration per se, just a pump (which I have), but it could clearly do with a bit of cleanup. Detritus collects very quickly, and I always feel like I'm cleaning up a mess every time I do a water change. I'm not sure there's a great mechanical solution. There's a potential biological solution, though — shrimp — but I'm a little concerned with the open top and small water volume. A group of 6 amanos might feel a bit cramped in those 1.5 gallons, and I wouldn't be surprised if half of them jump out (or try to climb out) on day 1. I might try some petco ghost shrimp as a trial run (or, more likely, a smaller variety), but more research is needed. I'm also taking this tank home for winter break, so it's probably easier to add any inhabitants after I've set it back up again in January. We shall see. I want some inhabitants, but I'm wary of placing them in a poor environment. Thoughts are welcome.

No pics today, but will try to do another photo shoot before tank log #3.