Questions before starting my First Planted Tank

[atclarkson]

Hey guys, first post here, I have been reading for the past few days-week or so and have learned alot! I have been thinking about getting back into fish lately, and came accross this site while researching iwagumi tanks.

I'd like to do a small desktop tank (under 5 gallons, probably 2-3)
I want to do a planted tank with shrimps and maybe a fish or two.
(I love fish, and would like to get a saltwater tank with a pair of clownfish, big reef and seahorses! haha, but thats later)

I want to keep it VERY simple and maintenance free. No filter or CO2.

I have a few questions relating to my particular circumstance.

Where I would keep the tank (on my desk in the basement) stays about 19-23*C during the winter, a little warmer in summer. Most temps I'm reading about are higher than this... Can I keep a tank with these temps?

I'm a big fan of Lubber Duckie's mini tank
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=42178
and joe's bigger tank
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=11044

I like the hairgrass throughout the tank, and maybe a taller plant for the middle? (suggestions?)

What sort of substrate should I use for this type of tank? I've read about GEX and ADA but not sure if i can get GEX in Canada.

I'll prob have more questions but that's it for now!
Thanks!

Andrew

[atclarkson]

erm.... anyone?

[louis_last]

Those temps should be fine for cherry red shrimp, the size of tank you are talking about though is probably too small for fish but shrimp would be alright, try to allow 10 liters of water for every 5 shrimp. If you're trying to keep things super low tech then maybe you could just use a taller moss like flame moss or fontinalis anypretica var. gigantea on a piece of driftwood in the middle.

[torque6]

Oh, simple design, follow duckie, he had much better success with hairgrass than me in his biotope compared to me growing hairgrass in a high tech setup.

Its maintenainance free.

If you can't get gex, ADA would do, i believe ADA is distributed in Canada, as to gex; you might want to check for fiveplan aka gex.

[atclarkson]

awesome, thanks guys. Now as for the substrate, do I just put down the soil and plant in it, or do I put gravel over it? I've read both ways and am unsure.

I like the flamemoss!

Hope to get started on this soon!