Yesterday I hopped on Craigslist and saw an ad for a free, huge Amazon Sword. An hour away. Two if I hit Seattle during rush hour. I did the math and figured $12 in gas for a healthy sword without me having to wait for it to grow out was a pretty good deal, if it was still available. So I sent an email, got a call back from a really nice guy who wanted to know my tank stats since he'd raised the plant from a baby and didn't want it dying, but had too many taking over his tank. So I made the drive and had a great time. Good conversation, good tea, admired his discus and puffers (I'd never seen dwarf puffers in person before...so cute!), and came out with a gorgeous sword and two other types of plant that I don't know what they are, but they look good in my tank (pics below for ID help please). Also got a copy of Reader's Digest The Perfect Aquarium (his brother bought it for him, but he's a little past needing it), and about half a 5 gallon bucket of Soilmaster Select in charcoal...perfect for mixing in with my eco-complete/sand mix to help darken things up a bit more. He also recommended I check out this site for info 
. All in all, a very good time and I'm extremely pleased with what I ended up with..It's like having a whole new tank. Now all I have left to do is figure out an affordable CO2 system 
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Top pic, sword is on the right (obviously) and the unknown grass is on the left. There's little runners connecting some of the clumps of grass.
Second and third pic, top and bottom views of the other unknown, a floaty plant that Kuma (the betta) has already claimed as his territoy.
Fourth and fifth pics are before and after shots...sorry about the reflection in fifth, I get a lot of morning glare even with the blinds closed. Tank's cloudy from the Soilmaster...even after 2 hours of vigerous rinsing, that stuff would not come completely clean. Read elsewhere it won't bother the fish, so I put my carbon back in to help clear it. I was too anxious to show off to wait any longer for the pic.
Last one is one of my chubby little otos, he's digging on the new plants as well.
. All in all, a very good time and I'm extremely pleased with what I ended up with..It's like having a whole new tank. Now all I have left to do is figure out an affordable CO2 system .Top pic, sword is on the right (obviously) and the unknown grass is on the left. There's little runners connecting some of the clumps of grass.
Second and third pic, top and bottom views of the other unknown, a floaty plant that Kuma (the betta) has already claimed as his territoy.
Fourth and fifth pics are before and after shots...sorry about the reflection in fifth, I get a lot of morning glare even with the blinds closed. Tank's cloudy from the Soilmaster...even after 2 hours of vigerous rinsing, that stuff would not come completely clean. Read elsewhere it won't bother the fish, so I put my carbon back in to help clear it. I was too anxious to show off to wait any longer for the pic.
Last one is one of my chubby little otos, he's digging on the new plants as well.
