ArthurLK11

I'm hoping to use this thread as a live journal as my 10g Florida native aquarium continues to take shape and grow. The goal is to have it be a heavily planted tank that mimics some of the marshy conditions I regularly fish at. I'll try to update it regularly as changes occur. Last Saturday (9/14) I set everything up. It has a small sponge filter, black sand as the substrate, a piece of driftwood, Helanthium tenellum, Bacopa caroliniana, and Mayaca fluviatilis. I also added some fertilizer for the plants and bacteria to give the nitrogen cycle a head start. The plants are struggling a bit, but I hear that's normal as the plants adjust to new water conditions. I've kept some aquariums before, but never anything with live plants. My last experience with aquariums was a 2.5g betta aquarium about 15 years ago. I'm hoping the plants take off and can really cover a lot of the aquarium, especially the filter and back wall. I'd like to add some invertebrates first and hope they can start reproducing before I add any fishes. It would be great if some of the invertebrates could become naturally sustaining, but I don't have high hopes for that. I'm thinking some Palaemonetes paludosus would be great as well as some amphipods. As far as fish stocking, I'm still not sure. My original plan was a single Enneacanthus gloriosus with a small group of Heterandria formosa. Then I thought of replacing the Heterandria formosa with some Lucania goodei due to their larger size. I'm worried the Enneacanthus gloriosus will eat the Heterandria formosa. Now I'm thinking of doing a group of Heterandria formosa and Lucania goodei with a duo of Etheostoma fusiforme. There are too many decisions here, but I still have some time. Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome. I'd particularly appreciate any suggestions about the plants as that is something completely foreign to me. I've never even kept houseplants.

I'm uncertain if I understand PAR correctly, but I think I got it. According to Aquarium Co-op, my plants are medium light plants that require 20-35 PAR. I have the Aquarium Co-op light which at 100% is way too powerful. So I've been running the light at 20% which should give ~35 PAR at the bottom of my 10 gallon tank. The tank is 12 inches tall and with a starting PAR of 177, multiplying that by .2 converts to a PAR of 35.4. Is this right? I want to make sure I'm giving my plants enough light.

These are the smallest hooks in the world. You should have no problem hooking some pygmy sunfish on them. That is assuming you can find them and get them to bite. It's easier to catch them in a net than on hook and line.

I set up a new 10G Aqueon Rimless tank yesterday. I thought it was level, but today I noticed it isn't. Not sure if I missed it yesterday or if it settled overnight and became unlevel. It is sitting on a sturdy bedroom dresser on a carpeted floor. The water level in the front left corner is higher than the other three corners. You can see everything in the pictures. Should I be worried about this?