Ok folks, so it's taken a few months of planning & preparation with a few hurdles along the way, but I've finally got my very first planted tank up and running!!!
Hurdle #1: De-rim Fail on a 5gallon!
I still have the tank. I'm planning on cutting it down and making a very shallow reef tank out of it.
Hurdle #2: Baby Emmitt came along!!
Okay so he wasn't a surprise, but I WAS hoping to have the tank up and running before he got here. I just didn't work fast enough!
Hurdle #3: Me, myself, & I. Really I was my own biggest hurdle. Every time I decided on the substrate I wanted, I read something else and changed my mind. Every time I decided on plants, I'd read and change my mind. At one point I almost decided to buy a 90 bowfront from a friend and just start big. (Glad my wife decided against that one for me lol.).
Well anyway, the final solutions are as follows:
Substrate:
Miracle Grow organic potting soil base (rinsed thoroughly & floaters skimmed out)
Quikrete Playsand cap
Plants:
Rotala Wallichii
Rotala Indica
Limnophila Hippuroides
Blyxa Auberti
Hermianthus Callitrichoides
Hurdle #1: De-rim Fail on a 5gallon!



I still have the tank. I'm planning on cutting it down and making a very shallow reef tank out of it.
Hurdle #2: Baby Emmitt came along!!


Okay so he wasn't a surprise, but I WAS hoping to have the tank up and running before he got here. I just didn't work fast enough!
Hurdle #3: Me, myself, & I. Really I was my own biggest hurdle. Every time I decided on the substrate I wanted, I read something else and changed my mind. Every time I decided on plants, I'd read and change my mind. At one point I almost decided to buy a 90 bowfront from a friend and just start big. (Glad my wife decided against that one for me lol.).
Well anyway, the final solutions are as follows:
Substrate:
Miracle Grow organic potting soil base (rinsed thoroughly & floaters skimmed out)
Quikrete Playsand cap
Plants:
Rotala Wallichii
Rotala Indica
Limnophila Hippuroides
Blyxa Auberti
Hermianthus Callitrichoides