New Tank experiment - Ten Gallon Setup ctd. - Subtrate

In my earlier report on my new 10G tank I laid out the overall program. Today I want to focus on the substrate and the first inverts.

Here's what I did for substrate, it is more elaborate than need be, and I would not advise this, as it was dictated in this case mostly by what I happened to have on hand, and I considered that generally it was still in line with what Matt Owens recommends in his book, The Alternative Aquarium, A Robust Habitat.

Note that I had Hydor Hydrokable on the bottom, here's what I did for substrate:

1. 0.25" of AquariumPlants.com's Aquadert, just enough to cover the heating cable, with a 2" wide bank across the front, and about 1.25" high.
2. Behind the bank of Aquadert, I provided a layer of organic potting soil with all the course, un-decomposed organics removed, enough to be level with the front.
3. About 0.75" of Seachem Onyx Sand.
4. About 0.75 of Seachem Flourite.

Since then I've begun to plant, sofar:

• Corkscrew Val
• Micro Swords
• Hornwort ( the course variety, Ceratophyllum Demersum) - fills about 1/3rd of the tank.
• Duck Weed.
• Three Crypt Wendtii
• Java Moss
• Micro Val

With the plants starting to catch on, I've also imported some inverts, for now MTS, Tubifex, Daphnia,  and Copepods, maybe some rotifers... hard to tell with the naked eye. Finally, I have added some Red Cherry Shrimp. Now I'm just curious to see how the inverts establish themselves.

In order to accommodate this development, I am going to keep my betta in my 29G tank for now, where he seems to be very happy. Purely watching these inverts catch on, and observing the plants is going to be my preoccupation for now, as far as this tank is concerned. In the long term I want to preserve my 5G tank as a refugium to breed inverts.