Thanks for the tips. I don't even have an air pump running. Though someone went so far as to suggest to run one to ADD co2 from the air, as they think there may actually be less co2 in the water than in regular air. Depending on when I test, it seems I have between 5-10ppm co2. Not terrible, but not great. I have decided to go with a DIY Co2 system, with citric acid and bicarbonate. Cheap, won't add a lot, but supplement it up to at least 15-20ppm during the day.
Overall status of the tans is as goes.
I had a serious problem keeping any nitrates at all in the tank, and had virtually no phosphates. So I tried overfeeding the tank, with pelleted NLS foods (I use mostly frozen). I actually created a "mini cycle". Nitrites spiked. A few days later Ammonia spiked. Very odd. I'm thinking Over the short life of this tank the amount of beneficial aerobic bacteria in the bio filter was actually pretty low, and the plants were just sucking up every form of nitrogen in the tank, since they can absorb ammonia, ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate. I just overdid it.
This was about the time I finally acquired a phosphate test. And realized, that I didn't ever have enough to even register. SO I bought a bottle of phosphorus. Brought it up to ~0.5-0.8ppm. This was just as the mini cycle completed.
Around this time, I also added a new light, the Satellite Pus Pro LED. That thing is awesome. The PAR is extremely high, I think over the next few weeks I will actually need to figure the exact amount to set it at, probably around 70-80%. With all this, the plants really picked up. The wisteria looks so much better. The Vals are growing, and reproducing, well. Ferns have the little fuzzy "new plant growths", whatever they are actually called. The swords are a whole separate subject, but they are coming along, I'm just writing it off to my complete ignorance of this whoe aquatic plant conversion process.
The reason I am so focused on the nitrogen complex and the phosphorus complex, is because the primary fert I use (in smaller than recommended proportions) is Sera Florena. It has a solid amount of potassium (the other of the 3 primary macro nutrients), plus trace amounts of Ca, Mg, & Fe. I had originally thought N & P were things I would never need to worry about, as they are things I have always battled from fish waste. But between the amount of plants I out in and the fact the system was so new, I have nowhere near enough. And the reason I am adding even more iron (again, far under the "recommendations" on the bottle) is simply because of the red plants I have. I have a lotus growing well and beautiful, that likes to absorb Fe from the water column, plus the red vals, temple, and the red ludwigia and crypts that I am thinking of adding. It's more like the idea of using the fish food with the added beta carotene and other color enhancing ingredients to increase the colors in fish. The test I have never shows any iron in the water column, chelated or non, ever. So something is sucking it ALL up (I am guessing the lotus.)
Also, after the mini cycle, I lost the L129. That's a completely separate subject. It was near full size, i never saw it eat (though it hid most of the time during the day). It had only been in the store a few days, who knows how long it had been in country. The little spike in NO2, then NH3, might've been more than it could handle. It's the only fatality in this tank thus far, including all the fish I dropped in from day 1 precycle. I also added two more rams, a definite male electric blue, and a probable female gold. Acclimated them very slowly. there was a bit of drama immediately after releasing them with the resident male, but all seems to have settled so far 2 days in.
