So excited, started planting my Ebi!

[Sundancex]

Will try to post some new pics tonight. The water is still cloudy after messing with the substrate.

Wow, I didn't know they got THAT big. The ones at my LPS were only 3-4 inches in height. Any recommendations for a broad leafed plant that will get say, 12-14 inches hight? Preferably easy to grow as well. I thought about doing a moss wall too.

Actually, if I can figure out how to get the stupid silicone off the back of my tank I won't even have to worry about hiding the back panel.

[kfryman]

A moss wall would look awesome in the EBI! They certainly look ugly at first setup but give them a month or so and you start to get more growth, after a while the back of the tank will be moss and will hide the outflow very well.

Have any pictures?

[Sundancex]

Sorry, haven't gotten around to getting any. I did put Castiel in the tank a few days ago and he seems to be doing well. The current is strong for him right near the filter, but he doesn't seem to mind and there is plenty of space to avoid the filter, so for now it stays. My lily seems to be doing pretty well, it is growing and there are new leaves coming up. I think the cabomba is doing well too, it might be my favorite plant. Not sure about the wendtii, parts look healthy, not browning or clear, but the leaves have parts that have gone soft and now there are large sections cut out. I have no clue what to think about the retrospiralis, I ended up cutting it back a fair amount because the leaves were pretty bad, and now it is just kind of "there". Microsword didn't survive, which I figured it wouldn't because it really does better in tanks with co2 that are more "high tech" plus it got messed around with a fair amount before planting. But no big deal. The bit of water sprite I have appears to be coming back and it looking better, so hopefully it will continue to grow.

I'm not sure how Castiel likes his new digs. He is swimming around A LOT, which he did not use to do, but I figure him swimming is a good thing. Unfortunately, under this light, it much easier to see how ripped up his fins are, I didn't realize how bad it was. But I don't believe he is a tail biter as they look more shredded than bitten. He seems like a happy fishy and attacks his food (Omega One) with gusto. I'm thinking about going to get some ghost shrimp and a snail in the next few days, but I want to make sure I don't overload my betta or the tank too soon, if that makes sense.

[Aus]

Go for the shrimp over the snail for the moment. Low bioload, algae-eating betta snacks are brilliant value so long as they have somewhere to hide from the fish so he doesn't guts them all down at once. I've found the larger shrimp species tend to survive being picked on a bit more, depending on the fish, whereas RCS are less aggressive and easier for the fish to spot, being red.. they are great at hiding however, and I always find one or two have survived when I go to restock the shrimp population every few months. RCS also breed quite easily, as the baby shrimp are brilliant live food - I have not seen a fatter (meatwise, not bloaty), more active and healthy female than my Cleo, who just cleaned up a pile of shrimplets this past few weeks.