Also notice on the right the clump of Monte Carlo holding onto the wood for dear life. It wasn't much longer for this world at this point. So, while I’m sure it is doing great stuff for the plants (and they are mostly growing pretty well), I wish I had instead gone for a sand-capped low organics soil substrate with water column dosing (and perhaps occasional root tabs). But these are all concepts I learned about afterwards. Oh well. Did I realise I realise how hard it would be to maintain a planted tank when there is a shelf above it obscuring about half of the top of the tank? No Onto the internal filter. This has a spray bar, initially I had the spray bar above the water level (the instructions aren’t very clear, but in one part it seems as if this is mandatory for the filter) if I aim it across the tank I get splashes onto the shelf above (not a good idea, unless I fancy a mould farm), if I aim it straight down I’m not sure I’ll get much circulation, I end up aiming it at the side, not least because it is quieter that way. The Chief Technical Officer - never had any fish, was always jealous of their cousin’s fish tank as a kid (a “Japanese Fighting Fish” as it was known then, and some neon tetras). Prone to over-researching/over-thinking every decision, either beforehand (invariably leading to Analysis Paralysis), or afterwards (invariably leading to Buyer’s Remorse). Often somehow manages to achieve both with the same decision.

So, with that trigger warning out of the way, the story is ready to begin. Are you sitting comfortably? I mean it, there are a lot of words coming up, and the occasional badly taken iphone photo. Ok, so probably a good time to go into that “ substrate regret” mentioned in the first post. Other than the cost, my two concerns are :

Noticed afterwards that a lot of the products I was advised to get were "Aqua" which appears to be MA's own brand. Funny that. Here, time for a guilty confession. Despite nearly everyone advising against it these days, I opted for fish-in-cycling. As previously mentioned, the tank (and fish) were to be a birthday present, and, while personally I could have happily adopted the policy of “ start with a garden, and then introduce the animals”, The Creative Director felt an empty fish tank would have made for a lousy present. In retrospect, I probably could have argued it from a delayed gratification / good things come to those who wait / appreciate nature / learning responsibility angle, but hey, it was a 6th birthday … so quite possibly it would have led to tears. Not as many tears as being presented with a tank of dead or dying fish of course, so I proceeded with caution, but still, in retrospect I wish we had gone for the patience, patience, patience approach. Bottom line is - it was better than getting a goldfish in a bowl, but that’s a pretty low bar. I should warn the faint of heart that I’ll talk about water testing a lot here. I know that a lot of users of this forum consider them inaccurate and pointless. Well, partly I was testing a lot at the start because at that point nothing I read had suggested otherwise. But also, for me as a complete beginner I still feel they are “good enough” to spot various trends and issues I might not otherwise have discovered (until it was too late anyway). I accept that they are flawed, and that using your eyes, nose and common sense is often more helpful, but until you get your eyes and nose tuned in with experience, these are not that much use either (and sadly, in my case, common sense may never come). Oh no, the plants right by the outflow are getting BBA on the bits in the strongest jet, so I must baffle it again”

So, how did that birthday reveal go? We wrapped up the pot of fish food as a “clue”. Inevitably, this led to confusion, which promptly led (immediately after cries of “no, no, don’t open it the lid!”) to smelly fish food flakes being spilled all over our bed (fish-keeping disaster #1 in a series of, no doubt, many). Did we realise that the stem plants should probably be separated from their little weighted bunches and planted individually? No.

Quick service, fantastic plants

Did we get there in the end? Yes. Come midnight I was finally able to get to bed with a tank with some water, some plants, and some fish in it, reasonably secure that they would all still be alive in the morning. Oh no, with too much surface disturbance all the CO2 needed for the plants will diffuse out of the water, so I must minimise it"

The Scaper LED lighting is tailor-made for the Scaper Aquariums it sits nicely above the aquarium so it doesn't distribute the view and can provide even coverage of lighting. With a high light output, it's optimal for plant growth. The highly energy efficient LEDlight can be controlled by a finger touch dimmable switch. SuperFish Scaper aquariums are made of Crystal Clear glass, which ensures a crystal clear underwater image. The 3 models have been specially developed for Aquascaping, so the dimensions are perfect for creating beautifully planted underwater landscapes. The smallest version of the aquarium is recommended for keeping shrimp, in the two larger models you can also keep fish. The Client was very pleased, but almost immediately followed up with “why are they so small, are they going to get any bigger?” “ermmmm …” Finally, the beginnings of “the fun stuff”. A couple of Cyperus helferi (because I like the look of it), a bunch of Limnophila heterophylla (because the salesperson said it was easy to grow and propagate) and a single solitary bit of Pistia statiotes (dwarf water lettuce) “You'll only need one” said the salesperson “yeah, right” I think to myself. After a few days I have confidence (from looking at pretty much every other set up) that I can safely submerge the spray bar. Then I spend the coming weeks anxiously making adjustments to the angle as I worry about new things.The Scaper LED lighting is tailor-made for the Scaper Aquariums it sits nicely above the aquarium so it doesn’t distribute the view and can provide even coverage of lighting. With a high light output, it’s optimal for plant growth. The highly energy efficient LED light can be controlled by a finger touch dimmable switch.

Notice in the substrate on the right mystery plant number 3 (a red lotus? a red lilly? a red lotus lilly?) from first trip to LFS all I know is that it will get a lot bigger (wife saw a fully grown one in the shop and fell in love with it), though it is taking its sweet time over it. No sign of a bulb though, so does that rule out a lotus? Speaking of filters, this is an exemplar of the “Descent into madness” part of the process for me. I have spent a huge amount of time and energy over the past month worrying (ie. overthinking) about many things with regards to the tank, and a big chunk of that is endlessly worrying about position, angle and flow with the filters.The hope was to establish a wide diversity of microflora and microfauna in the tank, and to establish a bit of an ecosystem, even if not exactly “closed” because I am having to provide some inputs (ie food) and deal with some outputs (ie water changes). I was doing this not because I thought it meant I could get away with no cleaning or water changes, but because an ecosystem, or just a slice of nature, is much more interesting and beautiful to me than a sterile glass box with some plants and fish in it. I also hoped, and believed based on lots of reading (albeit perhaps self-selected reading), that the more diverse the life in the tank, the more resilient it would be. Is it really Seiryu though? I’d never heard of it, and when I later looked it up it seemed unlikely it would actually be authentic Seiryu stone. But seeing as I’d not been in search of it, it doesn’t bother me if it is just something similar (and it wasn't particularly expensive). I like how it looks which is the main thing ... or is it? So, the day before “the big reveal” my wife and I ventured to our LFS, I was prepared to bluff my way past the scandalous fish in cycling bit, but it turns out that was actually their advised method anyway. “Just be sure to keep an eye on Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels, and keep changing water as needed” … so, another test kit then, this time for all three nasties (as well as pH, KH and GH). Did we realise how bloody hard it would be to plant stem plants in an incredibly loose and light clay ball substrate? No.