Water change done with minor gravel vac. That was done just to prepare the area as I plant so as to not stir up a bunch of stuff. I'm going a little bit different on this tank from the Vittatus due to the nature of the Cocama's. I'll do a water test Thursday (wont be home tomorrow) after this to get some readings to see where I'm at and if it hits the numbers I'm looking for.
Also in the process of swaping filters. This tank had been run on a ZooMed 501. While it worked well for the time, I'm looking to create a bit more of a centralized current. The outflow from the HOB should flow over the piece of driftwood creating a nice subtle current. I'll swap media from the Vittatus tank with a new pad and use it's established media to help get started on the new filter. I'll over filter for a while by leaving the ZooMed on for about a week.
Here's a current species list:
Fauna: (6) Otocinclus cocama - 4 males and 2 females, (5) Caridina cf. propinqua, (5) Caridina gracilirostris. The C. propinqua will be permanent residents and I'll be adding about (5-7) more. Being low order breeders, this will actually keep the numbers and activity level down in the tank. The C. gracilirostris will be moving to the Vittatus tank once I relocate the Tigers to their own tank. Other future additions will be (2) Pomacea bridgesii.
Flora: Bacopa caroliniana, Bacopa monnieri, Bacopa sp. 'Colorata', Cryptocoryne balansae, Cryptocoryne wendtii (bronze), Hygrophila polysperma. For a low lying plant, I originally was going to go with a few Dwarf Sags but I'm rethinking that. I may still look into though. I have Downoi and RI in the Vittatus tank. I know as foreground plants of that nature, the options are pretty limited. If I can master Lobelia cardinalis, I may even try that. I'm also still looking to acquire Littorella uniflora.
Substrate: Flourite
Lighting: This is also tricky as it is a shared light with another tank. 32w T8. I'm actually looking to scale this down to around 18w. It will still be a shared light so I'm looking to find a 36" fixture. I could go with an indepent fixture but I was trying to cut down the amount of equipment being plugged into one source. I hate cables. I may go CFL in the future with the new rack but we'll see where this takes us.
Filtration: Current: ZooMed 501 mini-canister. Planned: Standard HOB w/ sponge prefilter.
Decor: I'm actually going with a flat piece of field stone and mopani driftwood. I will have the stone sticking straight up and try to position the DW to lean on top it. This will provide more surface area for grazing and extra hide spot. This may go away if I can build a moss wall but I'm looking to do that with Fissidens.
I think that just about sums this tank up in a nut shell. It will slowly piece itself together. All the stem plants were trimmed low so they can fill out as the environs dictate. I will also be using DIY CO2 on this tank. My choice of dry ferts to start will be a PMDD mix. Might be a bit sensitive to try and mess with EI at this point.
I'll try and get some pics posted when the smoke clears.