Lotus update and snails

Thought I'd post a quick update on the Red Tiger Lotus. The leaves have been growing quickly. You can see from these photos and those I posted a few days ago that they have more than doubled in size. You can see more of the markings now, which is pretty exciting.

Here is a shot from directly overhead. Probably not real smart to hold a cell phone directly over water while snapping pictures, but this angle really shows off the plant's emerging colors. I'd say the lotus is probably the fast growing plant in this 20 gallon right now. A new batch of sugar and yeast in my DIY CO2 setup seems to have given it a nice boost. I've also been using an iron supplement.

The down side of the CO2 and increased lighting is that I have some blue green algae (cyanobacteria) taking off in there right now. I also have slower water movement in that tank, which also helps it grow. I've been doing a lot of water changes, but it's not really slowing it down.

I also have some nerite snails in this tank. I've heard they will eat blue green algae, but haven't seen it so far. They're great for eating a lot of other algaes and keeping the tank clean though. Not to mention they look pretty cool.

I need to study up more on nerite snails. I don't know how to tell them apart and the local stores don't really differentiate between them. They don't seem to grow as large as mystery snails and a lot of the other snails you see in the aquarium hobby, but they're still entertaining to watch, have some interesting stripe patterns on their shells and again, they're great for cleaning your glass and other objects in the tank.