The orange bee looks to be a bamboo/flower shrimp. Very cool. They're filter feeders. I used to have 4 in a 10 gallon tank and they would stand atop the driftwood (very similar to the one you have actually) and face towards the output of the HOB filter. Get about 3 inches..I had one that was nearly 4 though...

I'm going to look on Albertaaquatica for some plants. Thats where I got my inspiration. I started a similar thread there called 5G planted nano. Check it out if you like.

I picked up some plants today Anubias, Hemianthus and Pogostemon. Here is a updated picture.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...nted3small.jpg

So I've had a bad first week with this tank. Bringing back some memories of past FW tanks. They may not be the best memories but I'm determined to get this to work this time.

I've had temperature problems and it seems my apartment isn't warm enough. My shrimp were starting to act funny so I checked the temp and it was at 64F! :redface: I put a heater into the tank and set it for 74F.

I also noticed scum and plant floating on the surface. When I went to net it out there was alot more than it seemed. I did a 50% water change to be safe and dosed 0.4mL excel and iron.
Some of the plants are turning clear and others are just fine, I don't know why.

I hope the shrimp pull through but if they don't I'll just run it planted for a month or two then try again.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...dnanosmall.jpg
Once I have the tank stabalized @ 74F I'm going to hide the heater behind the plants.

The little clumps of green stuff (too lazy to read back in the thread) look like they're filling in nicely, too bad you're having temp. problems. Hope your little shrimp pulls through!

If you go to "the krib" site, and do a search on PMDD, Poor mans dosing drops, you'll find some articles on making your own fertilizer for planted tanks. You can pick up the ingredients between a drug store and hydroponics shop. It seems like a lot of work but you can control the amounts of each ingredient so if you need less iron you can mix it with half the iron etc.

There should also be an article about making fertilizer balls. Red clay powder from an art supplies store works wonders but if you are going to try this WEAR RUBBER GLOVES while rolling the balls, your hands will be red for a week.

And finally, one thing I tried when I had planted tanks is to use sterilized garden soil on the bottom, cover it with unbleached paper (like the paper grocery bags used to be made from). Cover the paper with your gravel, then when you put your plants in simply poke a hole in the paper and your plants have access to an amazing substrate. If you try this make sure your soil is unfertilized, sterilized, clean, natural soil. Never hurts to bake it in the oven for a couple hours at 350 just to make sure it's sterile.

Douglas

Thanks for the link BCOrchidGuy I'll check it out.

I recently started a 2 Gallon planted tank. Here is some picture.
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...2022009555.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...8022009526.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...8022009515.jpg

Good looking Tank...looks alot bigger than 2 gallons, but I LOVE baby tears...

Looking good Rbacchiega. Did you wrap that material around the wood to hold that plant on? I tried stapling the plant with horrible results. I really like the baby tears too. I think those are what I planted in in my gravel.
What kind of fish is that?

Here is a updated picture of my tank.
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...antedfeb28.jpg

I put some kind of plant on the wood hoping it will root to it. My tank has stabalized and no more casualites since the one shrimp.
I dosed .1ml of iron and flourish a couple of times and I'm happy to see that my plants aren't degrading. I think I may be doing something right this time!