Okay, so part of what I think is fun is live plants. This is a slight disappointment due to Jeff's link that African Cichlids don't enjoy plant life; however I will get more advice on this from the fish store.

I when to fish store today and had in mind one plant to test my tank and my light. I have a corallife 50/50 light. That means 50% UV (sun light) and 50% artificial light (just regular light bulb). I was told that if I wanted to have multiple plants, which I do. I want my tank filled with plants from the bottom up. To make look more like a real lake near the sore.

The advice I got was to buy a special bottom plant feeder that acts like rocks or gravel, but is food for the plants. This was a little expensive, but I have to do whats best for the plants. Then I needed to get some more rock, gravel, or stones for the bottom of my tank. This is for the roots of the plants to set in and grow. I also bought some chemical plant food.

P.S: The pictures look a little foggy because the fish food gravel like material is loose and fogged up the tank. I waited a few hours, but I am getting my moolers (spell check wont work on that word sorry, but it has to do with the back 4 teeth.) out tomorrow and will be sleeping at moms tonight, so now was the only time I could take a picture. It's fairly clear at this point, but the plant food is not all settled yet.

I was told I will need a better light if I expect to have more plants. This one should survive, but it truly is just a tester plant. The cheapest one I found. There is a beautiful plant that I expect to get once my new light goes up that is actually set in wood. Also not good for the African cichlits, the wood that is, so I will have to decide whats more important, but maybe I can add some coral to off balance the negative PH of the wood.

No more further ado the pictures: