little red herring

What a beautiful tank! Thank you for the advice, I’ll keep that in mind. If I take it out is there anything I can do with it, or should I just throw it out?

New to the forum, let me know if this wasn’t the best section to post this in :’) For my first tank I’ve got a 20 gal long, so far planted with vallisneria, dwarf saggitaria, cardamine, java moss tied to driftwood, and one more type of plant that I originally thought to be moneywort but now looking at it I think it might be something else. All bought already submerged from a LFS, and now planted in SeaChem fluorite black gravel. They do seem to be melting a bit which was expected for a new environment. Some of them, especially the Val, were already not looking too great in the store. I’m hoping I will have better luck starting with ones that were already living in water though. I want to plant more heavily, as I enjoy the look of it and am wanting to use it to block line of sight depending on the fish I decide on. Thinking some kind of floater and maybe water sprite? I’ve yet to fertilize or start cycling, but have Dr. Tim’s ammonium chloride on hand and easy green fert + root tabs on the way. Tank pictured here: I wasn’t too keen on using a ton of water to rinse my notoriously dusty substrate, so I ended up putting it in unrinsed, planted, and then filling up and letting the dust settle. Like I saw with many others who used it, after 48 hours the water was crystal clear. It was an anxious wait but now I’m feeling very happy about how it’s looking. Filter seemed to help. Using a Fluval HOB for 20-50 gal as suggested by my uncle, who although unfamiliar with freshwater, has had experience in the past with reef tanks. Not sure if I should maybe add a sponge eventually. The big piece of driftwood has been wanting to float, I didn’t have a bucket large enough to water-log it so I’ve used some aquarium rocks and a net to keep it down. The one with the arch is just fine and has started developing some biofilm, which I’m hoping to take as a good sign? It’s certainly been interesting to watch with all of the pearl-like bubbles underneath it. Very cool. I plan on starting the cycle soon. Anyway, I want to use the time I am cycling to carefully deliberate stocking choices. So far I’ve really been drawn to mystery snails and bettas, so I got a glass lid. I’ve tested PH which is at about 7.6, and from what I’ve read is good for the snails but maybe on the higher end for a betta. I’ve yet to test some other parameters. To my understanding hitting that exact number is less important than keeping it consistent, though. Correct me if I’m wrong. The reason I have yet to add a heater is because during the summer months my tap runs very hot. Like 90 degrees Fahrenheit straight out. Tried leaving buckets out with an ice pack in a plastic bag with minimal change. My plan for this that has worked out so far is keeping multiple gallon jugs that would have ordinarily been thrown out and filling them with tap water and storing them in the pantry until I needed to use them. I’ve yet to measure the temps again, but last I checked it was 78F, which was only shortly after adding it to the tank. My room is probably the coldest in the house and just by touch it feels decently colder than it was. I can see the possibility for nipping at snail stalks if I don’t find a chill betta, and a need for a backup plan. I do have some extra aquarium supplies suitable for at least a 5 gallon, probably more if that doesn’t work out. If that seems like a decent plan, would it be a possibility to have some other fish in my 20 gal too? A friend of mine recommended rosy loaches, but I’m afraid they will kick up too much dust with faster digging than snails. He told me that they shouldn’t try to eat mysteries. Looking for some suitable tank mates suggestions for what I’ve had in mind or different suggestions altogether :]

Hello! Recently as a birthday present from my family I have been able to start setting up my first planted freshwater tank. I have used this forum to do quite a bit of research and it has been endlessly helpful, so I thought I’d join to help gain further insight and interact with its lovely community. I’ve always loved animals from a young age, (Little 7 year old me cried at the horrid conditions of fish being kept at Walmart) and have always tried to do my best research on how to care for them whenever a new one caught my eye, regardless of whether or not my parents would allow me to get it lol. Now that I have that opportunity, I’m excited to interact with people who have the same adoration for fish (and living things in general) as I do ❤️