wkndracer - Thanks for the thumbs up! Means a lot coming from a "Planted Tank Guru."
caykuu - I know that frustration! Try this paperclip thing next time. It "stakes" them down if your substrate is deep enough for whatever wire-v thing you make. Staples might even work... straighten out one side so it's even with the top of the staple, basically making it look like a checkmark. ?
And speaking of substrate, here's the sand I used:
Think it was $8 from Lowes?
I made sure to rinse it really well - it was really dusty, which I think is why my tank has a bit of a haze to it right now. I filled a 5 gallon bucket half full of sand, got the hose and filled it up with water, kept the hose in the bottom so it agitated the sand and whirl pooled. I let the hose run so cloudy water spilled over the brim for 15 or so minutes. When it got so the water was clear enough for me (coulda/mighta shoulda gone longer) I poured out the water and was left with wet clumpy sand.
Here you can see how much I put on top of the dirt.
