Our first planted tank

Several weeks ago I bought an old fish tank for 5 dollars. My wife and I decided to setup a planted tank. I maintained aquariums before and raised arowanas, cichlids, gars, and various other big fresh water fishes. I also dabbled in reef tanks too but I never tried putting real plants in any of them before. So we decided to do this and looked forward to the challenge.

I did a few research to have a good understanding on how to kick start a planted tank and today we've finally completed the setup. It was a collaborative effort from the whole family and I am so proud of Gabriel, my son who at 5 years of age showed how enthusiasm and support in this project. He did put a lot of work during the process.

Here is the final outcome, and we call it "Scio" which means "To know" in Latin.

The project does not end here. In fact, this is just the beginning. Our goal is to learn and understand how to care for water plants in an aquarium. The success of this project will open opportunities for us to explore the art of aquascaping and be able to build gorgeous plant themed aquariums in future.

For the next 3 months, we will observe the plants as they grow and provide them with necessities required  in order to thrive inside the tank.

Below are the images of myself, Rose who is my wife, and Gabriel our son at work during the setup.

Gabriel catching the fish before clearing the tank

Rose is preparing the plants

11 different plants to be placed in the tank 

Here I am arranging the plants in the tank

On my next post, I will share the details of resources we used to setup the tank as well as the types of plants and fishes in it. Enjoy!