A few recent photos of my planted fish tank experiment...
After a few months of just having the plants in the little tank, I tried out a few different types of fish. Danios were the first type - but for some reason they didn't survive. I also tried ghost shrimp and an algae eater at different times which died because of harassment from the danios. I did more research and finally picked up two small gold barbs in November 2010.
Out of the three types of plants I originally placed in the tank, only one survived. The crested java fern did well in the conditions I gave it. Every so often I'm able to separate a few leaves of the fern and I now have a whole row of java ferns in the front of the tank.The original light bulb burnt out and I haven't been able to find a 15 watt bulb that fits in the hood (it is a pretty old model, I did get it when I was 12...). I settled for a 7 watt bulb instead. It's smaller and doesn't heat up the tank so much. Less light means that the little ferns growth is stunted a bit but in this small tank I don't mind. I'm very happy with how it has evolved!
The gold barbs are surviving wonderfully. They have grown a little bit since I first got them seven months ago. They are very energetic fish that play in the stream of water coming from the filter, race through the hole in the rock and hide in the leaves of the crested java fern in order to scare each other. I have them sitting on my desk in the living room so I can watch them while I'm doing homework. A nice natural distraction when I need a visual break from the computer screen.One day I hope to have a larger planted tank but this little one is great practice for now. My dream is a 30 gallon bow front corner tank which will have to wait until we live in a slightly larger house of our own. :)
