hi folx!...very new to hobby

Thanx for replies...!

thanx so much for the welcome!
the tank has been set up about 5 months now and i have added 3 oto's, 3 dwarf pepper corys, and 3 dwarf sunset platys...everybody appears to be doing great. Aquavelva is great! i got him some fresh bloodworms and some beefheart to add to his hikari gold betta pellets and he is a happy fat betta piglet and he looks soooo much better...you can see him smile.:icon_smil

i have a 'jungle' of water wisteria, some anacharis, a little(kind of sad) hornwort, a java fern and the tiny microscopic beginnings of some java moss, a sword and an umbrella plant. running airstone 24/7 and DIY co2,2 liter-sugar,water,yeast silicone tubing putting out fine bubbles through ceramic airstone at about 3-5 seconds between bubble streams. man! that co2 is kickin' it!

i do 30-50% WC once a week, 5ml seacham flourish at WC. i have soft water, but high alkaline content ph stays between 6.7 and 7. found out that pimafix and melafix are a lifesaver. have natural sealed pebbles, medium and small mixed and about an oz. of laterite per gallon added.add 1 TBSP sea salt when mixing water for WC as well as dechlorinator. have 2 fluval/1's one running fluval sponge media with a carbon pad and the other running nylon mesh bag with blue diamondcharcoal and that white ammo removing stuff.

i have trimmed that tank at least 4 times already and have given away much very healthy wisteria to a coupla friends here at work that wanted to see if they could get it to live in their tanks. i am going to try to attch a pic of my tank...let's see what happens! the layout of the tank is really bad but i am hooked now and i want to get a 20 gal and set it up a lot better with all that i've learned...a real aquascape as opposed to just seeing if i could do it and keep things alive...you guys are awesome for even saying hello!

Aww, bless your heart! Aquavelva is a real beauty - and VERY lucky to catch the attention of a kind soul like you!

Your plant farm looks great! Quick question though, you have an airstone from an airpump AND DIY CO2 going? I'm assuming all those bubbles aren't CO2, yes? (otherwise, wow!) You could probably save a lot more of the gas if you shut your airstone off. Most of the CO2 going in is coming right back out! If you're concerned about getting too much CO2 in the water, the most likely time for this to happen is when the lights are off. If you're really concerned about having too much CO2, just put your air-pump on a timer and have it come on when your lights are off. I bet you'll see even more explosive growth from your plants then!

Your filters are a great choice for a planted tank, no splashing and no outgassing there! I have an internal fluval on my 15 gallon tank at the office, and I really like it.

If you're ever in the market for more plants, let me know! Dayton isn't too far from Indy so shipping would be quick. Also, there's a fantastic fish club (GCAS) in Cincinnati that does public auctions, and those are SOOO FuN. Certainly worth the drive!