# My New Planted Tank.. FINALLY



## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

So one of the locals was able to take me to take me to the hidden "fish market" which I called paradise and I was able to finally buy plants other than the amazon swords that I had in the tank for a couple of weeks. So I'm proud to show my new 5G NPT with my new HM betta (still thinking of a name). Enjoy!

Tank with just the swords (I was basically going to give up hope on being able to get more plants as none of the pet stores carried live ones):









Tank as it looks today:














































Can anyone tell me what the name is of the short plant on the lower right? It's really nice and the betta loves hiding in that corner, but I forgot to ask the guy selling what it was called.

Anyways, now I have to buy Doctor Z a similarly sized tank as his is pale in comparison (I did add more plants though, but he deserves more space).

Dr. Z's tank:


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## NapoleonUWS (Apr 23, 2012)

Looks fantastic!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

AMAZING! I feel like i am underwater in the rice paddies......


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Great job :thumbsup:


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

What makes it an NPT? A NPT simply means soil based substrate. Yours seems just planted.

Looks very nice though, I would trim some of the plants down though so you can see that small sword or move it.


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

kfryman said:


> What makes it an NPT? A NPT simply means soil based substrate. Yours seems just planted.
> 
> Looks very nice though, I would trim some of the plants down though so you can see that small sword or move it.


Sorry for my newbness with the terms. =) I thought NPTs were any aquarium with live plants that were "planted" into the substrate, hence "planted tank", or in my case a newly planted tank. I'm using the CaribSea Eco-Complete substrate, so dont know if this would equal to the soil based substrate you mention. 

So for it to be an actual NPT, I would have to use sand (like pool filtered sand others recommend) or actual soil?


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Wow that's a tank to be proud of! Great job!


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## laoshun (Apr 3, 2012)

it has to have soil underneath and u can have sand over top.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

You literally have soil in the tank, like in my sorority, and use something just to cap it, sand or gravel both work. A NPT stands for Naturally Planted Tank. Ecocomplete is Flourite, which is much different than dirt, but can still give you more benefits than just plain gravel or sand as it has nutrients in it.

People use pool filter sand to cap the soil so it doesn't just float up and it stays on the bottom.


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

Man you guys are fast. I did a google search for the meaning of NPT and of course, it stands for NATURAL Planted Tank... I thought it stood for NEW Planted Tank. LOL, now I feel stupid. Thanks for clarifying that for me so I don't go around telling people the wrong information. 

Now I gotta see if they can ship the pool filter sand to me via APO, though the smallest I can find are 50lb bags and I just have a 5g and a 1.5g tank (soon to be another 5g)... my wife is not going to be happy. Oh well, gotta do what we gotta do for our watery friends. =) 

Thanks again kfryman and laoshun for enlightening me!


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

There is no need to change all of your tanks to dirt as it does have some draw backs at first. The 5 gallon is fine with ecocomplete it looks great! The smaller tank you could try dirt with a sand cap. Talk to OFL if you are serious about it. She also has a thread for her 55 gallon NPT. But yes, PM her and ask her on how to start an NPT and all that.


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

No worries. I wont change the current 5g but will read up on NPTs in greater depth. I'll most likely take your advice about setting up the 1.5, probably put some shrimp in there after I move the Doctor out into a bigger tank. Thanks again!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I highly doubt the plant on the bottom right is aquatic...


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

aokashi said:


> I highly doubt the plant on the bottom right is aquatic...


That's my worry... we'll see how it holds up. Still going strong though and it's the favorite hiding spot for the little guy. Gotta ask the vendor what it's called when we go back to that market.


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