not sure if u miss out anything but i will slightly guide u on the things u mention

1. if u decided 2 get new tank, get new crystal clear tank, factory made where the silicon glue finishing is not ugly
if u used old tank and to clean out limescale with product like mister muscle limescale removal, use toothbrush
avoid scrub with sponge which will cause scratch if there are fine sand / dust


2. the filter is fine but make sure it doesn't agitate the water surface too much which will cause u to waste CO2
but little water surface movement is also required for gas exchanges, ur fish nid to breathe

3. light for planted tank is quite a investment, and if u let your light on for 8 hours a day, u nid to change out after 3-4 years even it is LED
finnex, wave point, viv brand etc their LED lifespans is not gud u will see they start to wear out in the 2-3 years (light is not bright as last time)
fluval, eheim, twinstar etc their LED can last 3-4 years but driver die fast due to heat, hard to order the parts in malaysia
gud 1 like ADA & kessil will burn holes in ur wallet

i have tried mani brand, in the end i was convinced by ujelly to use cheap philips / orsam bulb, many brand are cheating consumers using the full spectrum marketing
which had not much effect compare to light intensity PAR, generally philips CFL which last 2 years or LED 3-4 years tat which produce 1300 lumens give 80 PAR at 13 inch height sufficient to grow HC
their spectrum is gud can match reputable brand like twinstar, then pair those with ikea fixture like desk lamp which can adjust height for adjusting the intensity
https://www.ikea.com/my/en/p/tertial-work-l...-grey-40450802/
https://www.ikea.com/my/en/p/hektar-pendant...-grey-80390359/

4. make sure you have plenty of soil, at least 1 inch thick
if you decide to buy caridina shrimp like crs or cbs then ADA soil is not gud, you will need shrimps soil tat debuff the water as they r very sensitive
if neocaridina like cherry shrimps or malayan shrimp or malaysian (banana) shrimp then you can go with ADA soil, there are caridina shrimp that is hardy too like amano & yamato
GH & KH is a consideration if u want shrimp, get a mesh bag of crush coral & lime stone (natural way) still need GH booster to dose in small amount time to time,
put it in your filter or under the soil to help your shrimp mold, filter is the best; but u cannot do that with caridina shrimps as they are very sensitive to water chemistry,
where you need to bus GH KH booster with test kit to ensure the correct of GH & KH parameter, including PH and nitrate test kit not those cheap type but the one tat roughly tell you the numbers

5. make sure you get a atomizer there are two kind one is inline used with canister filter and in tank which mean in aquarium tank, not the very cheap diffuser that produce big bubble

6. fertiliser is a must, for planted tank you can get it is liquid (expensive) or dry (cheaper) form
nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are the general name
just search their chemical name like KNO3 gives N+K+NO3(nitrate) / K2SO4 gives K+S(sulfur) / KH2PO4 gives K+P+PO4(phosphate) u can get other chemical form tat gives NPK too
and micro nutrients like CSM+B or microplex note this part overdose will kill fish & mostly shrimps all kinds instantly bcauz of copper & iron just dose carefully
last additional iron, DTPA or EDTA (FE) chelated iron this is to enhance red leaves plants, not to be mistaken that it will cause green leave plant to turn red as those are done by nutrient limiting factor,
it just make the red leave more vivid red, which i don't think u nid this since u don't have any red leaves plant

dry form macro & micro nutrients can be brought in facebook, lazada or shopee or even some aquarium shop they do sell those
use this calculator as a guide on how to mix or dosing http://rotalabutterfly.com/nutrient-calculator.php
u can buy baking measurement teaspoon & liquid measurement cup ikea/tesco/ or baking shop etc for mixing into liquid form and syringe in guardian or watson for dosing
mix all with liquid separately store in their own bottle is cool dark place, mix in small batch like 500 ml bottle and dose in small syringe measurement dose like 5ml

since u r doing iwagumi suggest u to use estimative index dosing, dose twice per week for each macro & micro nutrients
if u decided to get premade liquid form, the web calculate will teach u to dose how much too

day	dose
mon	NPK
tues	CSM+B
wed	rest
thr	NPK
fri	CSM+B
sat	rest
sun	water change 25% or 50%

if u r fairly new suggest u to do dry start method of planting monte carlo, you can guugle youtube video to get the general idea
the trick is to let the water VERY slightly below soil put a plastic food wrap over with few holes or small gap for breathing and 12 hours or more of lights
for few months or until desirable result, then submerge everything, reduce lighting hours, put many many co2 for first 2 -3 weeks then reduce the co2 and stock fish 

in the end u will end up something like this, my tank photo

Intend to make it a shrimp tank. Are they even more sensitive? Both NH4 and nitrite need to be 0? mostly no, depend on what kind of shrimp u get
Any other parameters to take care? GH, KH, PH, temp
Also those plants... would it spread to the soils? riccia if not tie down most of the time will float

My first attempt. Not really happy how it turn out. I have other plants that I ordered through local shop.

My lamp is pretty weak only 4w. Is it really important getting higher wattage lamp?

Please critique & point any mistake I made. For now I want to see whether the plant grow or die. If everything goes well, then I'll add shrimps & small fish.

Hi guys, I've been doing lowtech for quite some time already and recently i'm interested in doing carpet..bought monte carlo(MC) from Aquascape Malaya
and planted it on my sand substrate cos i was told that MC will survive even without CO2 and on sand..

I told them that the only fert i'm using is Flourish Seachem and it was enough but i've read somewhere that i'll still need CO2 and Excel will work as a substitute..few days later and after reading and researching a lot, i dont think sand alone will work as substrate for my MC so i've ordered ADA Aquasoil online..

Currently have a new 7.7gallon tank with me which i've not used yet (about 1.5ft(w) and 27cm (h) tank) and planning to transfer the MC to this new tank when my aquasoil arrives..

so here are my questions:

1. Is only Flourish & Excel alone will keep my MC alive and grow? (i know the carpeting process will be slower without proper CO2)

2. I've been using a lot HOB filter but lately been seeing people recommending the Dophin CF300 (canister filter) so is this good enough or will the current/pressure from this filter be too strong for my fishes? (planning to put Betta & i read that Betta prefers calmer water) Also heard people saying strong current will be bad for CO2 distribution throughout the tank.

3. I guess i cannot do the Dry Start Method (DSM) for my MC since I dont have a CO2 tank when i flood my aquarium later? (or will Excel suffice?)

4. If i ever plan to get a CO2..which is best to get budget wise and in the long run? (im in a tight budget & havent done proper research on this) Ive seen people mentioning refillable CO2 tanks, capsules CO, DIY (sounds tough to execute) & even buying fire extinguisher and fill it with CO2 ..and how much would it cost?

Thanks a lot sifus 

hey, your tank looks a lot like mine! my tank pic below. mine has been running for about 9 months now and my eleocharis sp mini is still not fully carpeting the foreground. the back however, looks stunning. fully carpeted, thick and healthy bright green. The only difference i can think of is the depth of the substrate. my foreground substrate depth is about 2 inches while the back is about 4 inches. not sure if this is the cause, its just my theory.

Rasboras are pretty cool, maybe you could add tetras. I see people use pea puffers in nano tanks and they're pretty cute, full of personality

I like that wood.

I'm looking for a few to display my swords. Kinda lean the swords against the wood, looks more artistic then using those traditional sword stand.

Any idea where i might find them, prefer to have a good selection.. oh i'm in the klang valley, prefer subang/pj area if possible

Amazing looking nano scape~ maybe to diy some type of stand to clip the light nearer to the middle so more lights on the foreground?

Pea puffer normally needs about 3 gallon/fish + good filtration as they r messy eaters. R u gonna put in a filter? any nitrite/nitrate spoke will kill them very fast. Mine died after 1 year cuz of that.. due to my negligence... If u r hardworking then maybe can risk it. Wonderful and cute fish.

I've done pea puffer with cherry shrimp before, can't get much baby shrimp but the adults was ok, and was heavily planted with some hiding spots. Maybe amano will be ok if your puffers are well fed. But the fish temperament is unpredictable so ymmv...