This was a fun project. At first I had trouble finding the best substrate for planted tanks but shout out to Petcademy! Thank you for having such an extensive guide. This project started back in July 2017 and this is how it looks now (January 2018).

The substrate I ended up choosing was ADA aquasoil. It's rich in organic acid and has tons of nutrients for plants. It also promotes growth of aquatic plants' roots. With this substrate you don't need to wash it. However, when you fill up your tank you want to make sure you go nice and slow.

Your tank may be cloudy and your parameters may go awol. There is a ton of dead organic matter within the soil (your plants love this stuff). With the dead matter within the tank, your nitrates and nitrites may fluctuate which is why I highly recommend you don't have fishes, the substrate along with a filter will be enough to cycle your aquarium.

For my lighting, I chose Kessil lighting. Although it doesn't look as sleek as other lights I decided to give it a try due to all the reviews I've read. I really wanted a mounted light system but I have no experience in setting it up.  was a bit too impatient in starting this project.

The fan on this LED light is barely noticeable. It's completely quiet. As for heat, there's no issue either. Even though heat blows out of the fan, this fixture stays nice and cool. Perfect! I don't want any problems happening.

The setup wasn't perfect as it took a LONG time for the parameters to stabilize. As you can see in the second photo, there's a bit of melting on my foreground plants. I'm glad I stuck through and didn't give up on this project.

For stock I decided to just have a betta as I couldn't afford to have my nitrates be any higher than it already was. I love bettas because of their ability to breathe air. I knew my tank wasn't going to be the best tank to live in but knowing bettas, they're quite hardy. After my parameters stabilized I added a few more fish.

That's pretty much it for this project. Thanks for reading if you're still reading. Also, I forgot to mention that finding the driftwood took me a while. I went to every pet store on the island but nothing that really caught my eye. Fate brought me to local listings and what do you know? Someone in the same city as me was selling driftwood! Great, why couldn't I have found you sooner after wasting all that gas searching. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this project. Peace out!