Thank you, yeah I will be getting a background for it as soon as I have time to go to the store. I'm waiting for my LFS to restock they're plant selection before I buy some dwarf hair grass and val. I will also add floating plants as soon as they are available in my area. Also yes the tank may be going through a mini cycle, I just recently added filter media from my old tank into the tetra whisper and added both plants live and fake from my other tank. I dont think the wood is the cause of this, it is sandblasted manzanita with no additives.