Typical NOOB hopefully on the right track

[perryny]

Thanks for the clarification on the substrate issue. I do plan on vaccuming regularly. Hopefully the shrimp (and their offspring) will give me a hand keeping things clean. I made it deep thinking the plant roots would want it that way.

And I'm so friggin hooked it's rediculous. I'll sit just watching the tank until my butt goes numb. I'm already planning a marine system (picked up "new marine aquarium" by Paletta in addition to tons of forum reading). Fortunately for me, there's no way I can rush this project - no way in hell I can afford it anytime soon.

 

[oscarcrazy]

You are going down the right path. DYI pojects after only two weeks, and honestly concerned about your fish.... Awesome. Keep it up, pretty soom you'll have tons of tanks. l

 

[pat3612]

I wouldnt add anymore fish why not grab a 10 gal you can pick up a used one or buy a new one cheap then you can keep your 5 gal as a grow out tank. You could add more shrimp though as they dont add much to the bioload and they seem to do better when you have more. You could also keep that as a shrimp tank . Cherry shrimp breed real easy and you could sell your extras off and make a little money. Nice starter tank though. I would check about your plant in the planted section.