From Shirlie Sharpe,
Your Guide to Freshwater Aquariums.
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Sheila's plants arrived and she's continued her journal with photos and details of how she planted the tank. She had a few problems, which I'll comment on in my notes at the close of this article.

Preparing the Tank
My driftwood survived the night soaking. It did leach out a bit, but not as bad as I had expected it might. Now I am going to roll my balls of the substrate gold so that they are ready when we start planting the plants).

The first big issue was to move my tank from the end table to a real stand. I got the syphon and took out the water, being sure to keep it in a clean bucket so I could use it to refill the tank since it was already cycled water.

Moving The Fish
Next I took my fish and put them in a large bowl filled with water from the tank. I had 2 neon tetra's and 4 orange glow tetra's. I say "had" because I didn't realize they could jump out of the bowl. My grandson came over crying saying the fish were on the floor. I went with him and sure enough there were two of the orange glow's on the floor. Sad to say they were dead, but this is a lesson learned. If you do this please be sure to place something over your bowl to protect your fish from such a sad demise.

Attaching Plants to Driftwood
Next I took the Hornwort out of it's bag and attached it to the driftwood using cotton sewing thread. Don explained that this will hold the fern in place. Over time it will attach itself to the driftwood and the string will eventually decompose. I then placed it in the right front corner of the tank.

Placement of the Other Plants
I placed the Ozelot Sword just left of the center as Don said it should be used as the centerpiece in the tank to add red color. I placed a ball of the substrate gold in the gravel by both the Hornwort and the Ozelot. This is to fertilize and feed the plants.

I planted a Cryptocoryne Petchi to the back of the tank behind the driftwood. Next came the Cryptocoryne Lucens which I placed in the mid-back right, behind the driftwood. Then I placed the Narrow Leaf Java Fern in the mid area between the Petchi and the Lucens.

Next I moved to the left side of the tank and put in the Narrow Leaf Saggitaria and the Dwarf Saggitaria. From here I moved back to the mid center and planted a Cryptocoryne Wendtii. And last but not least I planted an Anubias Nana in the front right center.

Refilling Tank With Water
After I planted all the plants I started filling the tank back up with water and this is when the trouble started. My driftwood had not soaked long enough to be waterlogged, and wanted to float back to the top. So I went to my rock garden, found a small rock and set it on one end of the driftwood to hold it down. Another lesson learned, be sure to soak your driftwood until it is completely waterlogged or make sure it is anchored down.

Once the driftwood was anchored I added another ball of substrate gold to be sure the Hornwort had enough fertilizer. Then I added the rest of the water back into the tank and put the fish back in. Next I added a half of a cap of Natural Aquarium Vital.

I let the tank settle a bit and took a final picture. This picture really shows off what Don was saying about using the Ozelot Sword as a center piece. It is beautiful! I'll continue sending pictures and let you know how things are going. I'm sure I'll have more questions as well as challenges, and I'm just as sure Don will be as helpful in giving me advice. So the journey just begins. Happy planting! ~ Sheila.

Guide Notes
Sheila has successfully started her planted tank, but she did run into a couple of common problems along the way. The most critical one was leaving the fish in an uncovered container while she worked on her tank. Fish can and will jump, especially when they've just been moved and are in unfamiliar surroundings.

She also had trouble with the driftwood, which wasn't surprising. Driftwood usually requires several days of soaking before it will sink. Fortunately she came up with a good alternative - using a rock to hold it down.

I'd like to dispel a common misconception. Saving water from a cycled tank doesn't preserve the nitrifying bacteria, as they don't colonize the water. The bacteria resides on the filter media, substrate, and other hard surfaces. Because she emptied the tank and shut off the filter, Sheila will have to monitor the tank for ammonia and nitrite.

Ideally she should have put the fish in a bucket with a towel covering the top, hung the filter over the edge and turned it on. That would have preserved the bacteria.

... stay tuned, our series continues as Sheila maintains her newly planted aquarium.

My thanks to Sheila for sharing her journal and to for sending plants and providing Sheila with expert advice.