pix of my tank

**black17** · 10th Jan 2006, 21:00

This is how my tank looks like into the second week.

Just added 12 neon tetras and a few days back, 2 kuhlii loaches. 4 of my shrimps have since died. Funny thing was, one day saw one of my yamatos walking along my living room floor. Thought it was a grasshopper until i took a better look. Scooped it up and dumped it back into the tank! Admittedly the tank's scaping isn't much to shout about. Just aiming to grow the plants well. Incidently, the Java moss and fern is pearling already.

Feedbacks and comments please.

**|squee|** · 10th Jan 2006, 23:32

Nice one black17! Nice peice of wood, perhaps more of the stemmed plants at where they are now.

White sand is nice, but when you're using that same sand for the whole tank... not sure if it's good for rooted plants. But should be okay, since most of your plants are not rooted.

**black17** · 11th Jan 2006, 09:18

Thanks squee. I started this tank with minimal knowledge on substrate and types of plants. You can say I sorta plunged in and hoped for the best. This is going to be my test tank to see how successful I can go with limited budget. Now that I've gotten more info, I may have to plan for upgrades like CO2 injection, lighting and filter. Do you think it's a good idea to start a thread in the beginner's forum logging my experiences as a newbie and the mistakes that I have and probably will go through along the way? Perhaps it will help prevent other beginners from "plunging in" like I did and probably help them identify what equipment is crucial when starting out. Of course, someone with more experience needs to vet through the info to make sure they are correct and not misleading.

Just a thought - regards

**Fei Miao** · 11th Jan 2006, 10:59

Nice wood placements, i think you're off to a good start, keep us updated

**Justikanz** · 11th Jan 2006, 11:00

Black17, I think it is a good idea to start a thread on your experiences... Go for it...

**black17** · 11th Jan 2006, 11:07

Guys, thanks for the encouraging feedback. I'll start to plan the contents of my new thread, while waiting for more opinions

**black17** · 11th Jan 2006, 12:20

By the way, can anyone tell me the name of the background plant on the left hand corner of my picture? Just bought it from LFS to help cycle the tank faster.
But I forgot to ask about the plant details.

Thanks

**budak** · 13th Jan 2006, 22:31

I would shift the rock on the front right a little more to the left. Otherwise it's a very nice start. The plant on the left back you have looks like a Cabomba sp. which is certainly good for absorbing nutrients. But I find they tend to grow leggy and thin after a while. Maybe you can try planting some Hygrophila stricta or Hygrophila polysperma as easy to grow stem plants to cover the left and centre back..... or you could try Rotala indica for a redder choice?