Aquarium Recovery

 I can now say my aquarium is recovered from hurricane Helene. It went two weeks with zero light, and quite a while with no water changes (when we did get water restored, it was heavily treated/untrusted).  I kept my biological filters alive by using a USB bubbler in my UGF uplift tubes, and also bubbling my HOB filter. I had a few USB power blocks that would recharge daily at a neighbors to drive the bubblers.

Many plants died, but all my fish made it. I looked at it as an opportunity to get a whole bunch of new plants to try. At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

It's been nice to have the tank to focus on, and enjoy. I've dialed back fast growing plants, and opted for slower growing ones to dial down the maintenance requirements. I've also gotten a little better at giving the plants time to adjust when I make a change in fertilizer/water harness/CO2/light. One of my anubias bloomed two days ago, which is cool. I've never had that happen before. It's the small white bloom kinda in the center in the photo. 

Here's a photo of my tank after the hurricane, you can see the bubbler battery on top of the tank, and I actually used a flashlight to have enough light to take the photo

Six months after Helene there are still signs of the hurricane everywhere, but much of the debris has been cleared. With estimates of debris being 6 million cubic yards, it's been a big job. 

Kinda nice to be posting here again, I hope I keep it up.