THIS


those light come with the aqua set is not enough for planted tank.
unless you plan for moss or fern.
but later you will regret because the growth is so slow....

not change water la..
use the hose to siphon the dust out.

but again, you still need to do WC right although you having shrimp inside..

use air hose to siphon out water slowly. add anti-chlorine in new water before you use it.

but the glosso already creep.
as per the calculation from your blog, seem i need a 20w light
and mine is 36cm tank..
cant imagine doing scaping in 36mm
 
   
use the air hose and monitor it carefully.
and replace the siphoned water with aged water

what shrimps you keep?

cherry very hardly, should be able to survive the ordeal, if you want to siphon the soil/sand, use a proper tools, not those water hose. For the dust on the leaf, you can try use air hose to suck it out.
like this -> http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aquarium-Fish-T...a-/260752977451
can get at local fish shop , less then RM30, depend on size.

my offices tank...hehehe...still soak my DW, maybe next week will start "throw in DW and do planting...

[attachmentid=2930401]

4ft according to LFS. lol. i think thats good enough for me as it throw 108W out. need to add another piece to make it become high light setup

sorry to tell,
but i already ordered a bunch of LED light. gonna start DIY soon for my 2feet tank as trial.  lol~
10W LED, 8000k, 10000k, 12000k, 14000k
3W LED, 6500k, 8000k, 12000k, 14000k.
if this project is successful then i will make for 3feet or even bigger tank.

During my research, i found out that we only need 30-50% LED watt power to get similar light output as florescent.
This is very helpful since TNB charges is increasing every year. and climate change also increase our room temperature.
I hope i can get 25-27C for 2feet tank with LED lighting

dunno la... i got 3 trilineatus, 2 sterbai in my tank... that fat trilineatus is the biggest n fattest in my tank... other so-so only the tummy... if only i can get a decent pic of the cory... the fish wont stop moving!

why you want to put something inside the moss???

its better for you to put all soil instead of make an island for that.
1. the green algae problem
2. the mix up between the sand and soil.

just my humble opinion

@goldiger, moss is usually tied to Driftwood (DW) or rocks. its light as u aware, so it will float around if not tied properly.

maybe you can get a stainless steel mesh and make it like a big semi ball shape... then you can tie a lot of moss on it.

i think you want to make a "tree" in the middle is it?

imho, stitch it to plastic mesh, tied with rock to make it stay at bottom, u can use lava rock under the plastic mesh

I using GLO T5 2 set, each set is two tube

now im regret adding white sand as base. fish poop everywhere! 

tank only have 10 otto only. but the poop...  

[attachmentid=2963290]
IME, you need to clean up the sand regularly.

that mean you gonna put in ADA soil portion by portion. But once your tank submerged you have to drain out all the water before you can put in soil
for another portion, won't that too time consuming for a 4ft ? and tank cycle maybe disturbed with every new soil pour in, fauna is no-no at those moments too.

^+1.

why dont you just wait for another 1 month to buy the soils?
better do it in 1 shot..

I don't think he can wait. His mind is drugged. I had same feeling before, can't even sleep...