[NevetS]

Hi there. I'm new to this kind of setup and need some help picking lighting and advise on some other things.

I have a 3.8g tank I used for keeping my feeder crickets but for a while it has just been sitting in a corner and I came upon a video of plated tanks and decided to start one. I have a semi aquatic terrarium that has 2 minnows a plant and 2 snails I caught in the river and decided to make something nicer.

So I did as much research as I could and came up with getting

14"x8"x6" tank
fluval shrimp/plant stratum
JW Pet Company Fusion Air Pump 200 from amazon
Elite sponge filter

I can't deside weather to get the 13w fluval mini compact fluorescent lamp or the 10w zoo med ultra sun compact fluorescent or zoo med reef sun 50/50 compact fluorescent. The fluval mini is on sale from 50$ down to 24$ cause its discontinued and the zoo med is 11$-15$

I'm gonna put 5 rcs and 5 neon tettras gava moss and 2 small anubius plants the owner of the lfs sugested for a nano low tech tank and see how it goes. I'm still waiting for the filter and was wondering if I can start setting it up now with out the filter to get it established for a few week befor I introduce the animals

 

[dynamite&lazerbeams]

If the Fluval Mini is discontinued it might be hard to find replacement bulbs for it after a while. The 10w zoo med sounds like it would work for your tank.

Setting up the plants a few weeks in advance would give them time to become established before the animals enter the scene, so I would say go ahead! It also helps to make sure diseases/harmful bacteria aren't sticking to the plants depending on where they came from. Just make sure to cycle the tank with your filter after the plants have grown in and before the fish arrive.