Hello from So Cal

[jefferypink]

Hi, I'm Jeffery, coming back to the hobby after 10+ years. Aquarium co-op and the rest of fish youtube have been instrumental in getting things going for me. About 15 years ago when internet was slow and led lights didn't exist, I tried and failed at having a planted aquarium. Now I have a 29 gallon, very natural, most of the hardscape I got from the desert around my house; cholla and granite rock. Tank cycled prettty quickly after the addition of the plants and their associated volunteer snails. I've got dwarf sagittaria, anubias nana, moss ball, hydrocotyle tripartia japan, ludwigia repens, red root floaters, hornwort and a pothos stem, with a crypt and anubias nana petite on the way from the co-op. The first fish added and the king of the tank is the koi betta Emporer Staleek. I now have 3 nerite snails, 6 otocinclus and ten black neon tetras, all seem to be doing well. A while ago I did add 6 amano shrimp, which the emporer chased. I have not seen any remains or escapees, but the last time I saw a shrimp was 5 days ago. *Sigh* There's a pre-filter coarse sponge and lots of hiding places. Extra food hits the bottom and algae wafers and the occasional zucchini get added at night. Not sure I have much hope left for the shrimp, might just come down with a case of MTS and do a shrimp nano tank. I'm totally geeking out on the hobby, at first obsessively checking all the parameters and I'm reading Diana Walstad's book "Ecology of the planted Aquarium" and finding it fascinating.

[OceanTruth]

Welcome back to the hobby! Your tank is looking good. I’m SUPER jealous of that monster cholla wood piece you have in there.

[Celly Rasbora]

Your locally-sourced hardscape is super cool. Well done.

[Colu]

Welcome to the forum beautiful betta