Jungle Fan

I will have to find a way to keep light from infiltrating on this piece of equipment as it doesn't seem to fit tightly.

Second try.

Just got one of those clip on fisheye lenses for my Droid, not the greatest quality but also not nearly expensive as those for my Canon. Fun to play around with, here's the first shot.

"What happens in the fish room, stays in the fish room!"

"Piranhas. Why did it have to be Piranhas?"

ORD, but endorsement to @Mmiller2001in regards to affordability and quality for CO2 Art, they are my next choice after Green Leaf Aquariums.

It was one of my smaller prototype tanks for the current one, over the years I finally came up with what I'm doing now.

One last one regarding algae: "Resistance is futile..."

Aquarium cycling “I canna’ change the laws of chemistry, Captain.”

"May the ferts be with you!"

Obviously Yoda however never heard about algae: “You will find only what you bring in.”

"Plant, or plant not, there is no try!"

"Use the net Luke!"

"i feel the need for Pearl weed."

Buying Discus at the LFS: "Show me the money!"

Algae "That escalated quickly!"

"Leave the bioballs, take the sponge."

When someone is trying to talk you out of buying the fish they also want "These are not the guppies you're looking for!"

I like fish!

Ok, here it goes as corny as they are: I have one Bolivian Ram who constantly seems to challenge anyone outside the tank and seems to want to say "Are you lookin' at me ..." The general idea when you hang out at the LFS seems to be "...we're gonna need a bigger tank." Then there is the "independence Day" approach to fishkeeping "I'm gonna have to get me one of these!" The one I really don't like to hear is "Houston, we have a problem." Ordering plants from anyone besides Aquarium Co-Op "is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." After cycling and getting all set up the "Casablanca" toast "here's to looking at you - fish!" and of course the one line any LFS owner dreads to hear: "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my Betta, prepare to die!" and from the same movie: "never get involved in an aquascaping contest in Asia."

A mix in size, color, and texture makes for a more interesting aquascape. Generally planting in groups makes for a less "chaotic" look. Too many different kinds of red plants take away from the big statement a single, or just two red plant species can make. However it is always best to get a guidebook on plants like those by Christel Kasselmann, Peter Hiscock, or Karen Randall so you can get plants that have at least approximately the same requirements when it comes to substrate, water quality, temperature, fertilizer, and lighting.

Lots of things from nursing, and from nursing school have applications in the aquarium hobby. I still use my old Microbiology book in conjunction with the Fish Health books, the plastic syringes are great for measuring anything from ferts to fish meds, or to fill up the distilled water in the CO2 bubble counter, old hemostats can be used while trimming plants if you don't have tweezers handy, as @Trishsaid the air lines from oxygen tanks are compatible with air pumps, pill cutters can be used to split tabs, and I've been using old IV drip tubing to acclimate shrimp since before I saw them for sale for the aquarium. I remember super glueing the tube to a plastic hanger's hook so I could hang it over the aquarium glass. These are just a few.

From your description of fertilization I didn't see any root tabs mentioned. Dwarf chain swords like the Echinodorus swords are heavy root feeders, they crave that extra iron and potassium. If you aren't currently using root tabs you might want to try adding some.

@ScottEshIt helps to print out some pictures of the species you are considering, draw a diagram of your hardscape, and then fill in the plants on the diagram while looking at the pictures, that way you get a better idea of what it might look like. The longer you'll deal with planted tanks the easier it will get.

@quirkylemon103as I mentioned it was a fixture with T5 HO tubes, if I remember it correctly it had dual tubes and they were 6,700K. I think it was made by Coralife. Two tubes cost about $60 - $70 every 6 months back then, after that the lights degraded quickly to where the plants wouldn't be doing so well.