This will be the final update for the tank... its been 68 weeks since startup back in August 2013. I plan to re-scape it very soon.
I didn't have time to do any plant pruning or maintenance since the previous update (truthfully, i was just being lazy again), so the plants had absolute freedom to grow and take over the tank.
Here is its latest look...
Cyperus Helferi grew crazy as expected, quickly covering the water surface and arching over to the other side of the tank... i measured the longest leaves and they were more than 110+ cm in length!
Blyxa Japonica also went nuts and ballooned into huge bushes, the cluster on the right has grown tall enough to almost the reach the water surface by a few cm.
Eleocharis sp. 'Mini' continued growing even more densely but still retained its compact and short growth height, interestingly even the areas under shade grew well too. I've still not had to trim it ever since tank startup (which was more than a year ago). Its indeed one of the lowest maintenance carpet plants i've ever kept so far.
It was enjoyable keeping and maintaining this tank for the past year... but i'm expecting less free time due to my increased workload in the near future, so the tank will be re-scaped to a much lower maintenance setup. It'll still be running the same equipment setup (ie. Co2 injection), but instead with slower growing plants and a simpler layout. :)