[Alphazygma]

Hello Everybody,

I got referred to this awesome Forum from a very nice guy at the pet store, he gave me good advice and told me to check with you guys for you all have great knowledge and could help me get started the right way.

So, this is what I want to achieve and would much appreciate all your suggestions.

My Goals:
Since I live in a small apartment and don't have much space, I'm interested in buying a small tank (this one in particular: Mr.Aqua 7.5 Gallon http://mraqua.net/products/frameless-aquariums/ma-110-2-glass-aquarium/)

• I intend to house one betta, a bristlenose pleco, and 3 shrimps (If the filter can take it, a school of max 5 neon tetras).
• I have some driftwood and seiyru stones to do some aquascaping I have in mind (see image attached)
• Then have some other plants to provide a look (like on the attached image below) and some other plants that can provide refuge for the betta and the shrimp.

A bit of history
I had a Fluval Edge (with LED lights) and I tried some white sand for the beach look, and then some Azoo Plant Grower Bed on the back to put the plants, but later realized I failed.
Some times the current generated by the Filter started combining the substrates and ruining the looks.
I tried planting some baby tears which was quite difficult to get them to stay planted on the Azoo substrate (I glued them to some stones and re-planted them) and they all melted away.
Tried a plant and it was just dying (I don't remember the name of it but looked like the Alternanthera reineckii)
Ttried some flame moss which didn't die but started getting to dark green or brown, lost its vibrant color from when it was at the store
Finally some subwassertang (which was hard to make it stay together) and christmas moss, both of which seem to have survived the best.
This tank had no CO2 injection.

Due to my failure, I need to start again but this time with some more direct advice from all of you as my individual research led me to failure.


I was thinking to just use sand (I bought caribsea super naturals white sand) and perhaps some root tabs, get some CO2 and timers to turn it off at night, then use an airstone to at night to increase the agitation on the surface to increase O2 and release the CO2.
Will need to find some good lighting too.


Anyway, I'm placing myself in your good hands to get a good start and a beautiful planted tank with some nice fish to enjoy it.


Thank you all in advance,
~ Alpha

 

[Alphazygma]

Hi Raymond,

Thank you for your response, I think you are certainly right that probably there will be more views after people are off of work.

I very much appreciate your response, thank you for your honesty, and truth to be told, I'm not expecting to achieve a tank like the one in the picture for as you say very well, I'm pretty much a novice.

All advice I take gladly, and I believe as you say, that I will have to try and make some mistakes to learn and earn experience, but if I can leverage people's knowledge, I'll learn from their mistakes, not repeat many of them and make new ones :icon_mrgr

Thanks again.

 

[Alphazygma]

Hello RCS0926,

Thank you for your response, from what I understand, the fertilizer was the "Azoo Plant Grower Bed"

From what I read around on the forums and some other places, my baby tears died probably because of two factors
* Lack of CO2
* That I had to bury them so they would stay planted on the Azoo substrate
I think that you are right that the LED lights may not have been enough (according to specs, they are 7600K)


Goals Revised - Stage A : Setup and Plants

• How to achieve a simple setup that looks kinda like the image attached on the first post (sand plus root tabs? substrate combination with some sort of way to not get messed by the on-the-back filter?)
• What sort of plants could I use for the carpet-like look on the image attached? and some advice on to plant them correctly.
• What kind of plants I could use to provide some nice environment for a Betta and Shrimp?
• What kind of setup I need to keep the plants alive (type of lights? substrate? fertilizers?)

Goals Revised - Stage B : The fish

• Get the tank Cycled
• Provide a livable environment for the fish (turn off CO2 at night if any and get an air stone to increase O2, all based on answers from Stage A)

Thank you again.