Thank you so very much for the kind comments everyone :biggrin:
In the beginning I had set it up as a shrimp tank, but only two RCS survived the cycling period. There was a diatom bloom for a month. Plus an infestation of nematodes (hitchhikers from lfs moss balls). The diatom plague finally subsided. Bobby Beretta the Betta made short work of the nematodes, and has refused to eat anything but live food since. (Spoiled lfs fish). After a week of no food, he is reluctantly eating smooshed soaked pellets.
The substrate is flourite black sand (messy stuff) topped by fluval substrate (nice, not messy). The stem plants root easily within a week. There are eight marimo balls cut in half to sort of suggest a forest mat of moss

Two pieces of mopani (perhaps too large for that size of tank?)
There is a hint of green hair algae, so I have cut back on the microferts (loaded with iron), reduced the light, and continued with frequent small water changes. Hopefully when things balance out in a few weeks, I can ease off to just a weekly water change, or so, as suggested

roud: