Happy news! The nitrates are coming down FAST. From over 200ppm last Thursday to about 40 today. All without a filter. Those plants are kicking ass! So I went out today to check out some local fish stores to stack it with more plants and was thoroughly disappointed. Most of the mom and pop stores have gone under and the chains lack the commitment to have healthy plants for sale. And no one carries snails?? At all?? Like I get they’re considered pests in non-planted tanks but they’re kind of super beneficial in planted ones. Guess I’ll be doing more online shopping. Meanwhile my one snail has become two and I have NO IDEA what they are but they seem to have extra fleshy tenticle-like things on their shells?? I did lose one shrimp to a bacterial infection likely caused by the stress of the nitrate spike but at least one has survived! My danios are also doing GREAT and we definitely have a pair. They are laying eggs EVERYWHERE. None have hatched, and I doubt any will until the nitrites are down even lower. Nonetheless I have set up a little 2.5 gallon thing to use as either a fry tank or quarantine. Filled it with pond water that’s teaming with little organisms (free fry food!) Never can have too many of those.