Dario Dario, the most colorful native fish for planted tank

Scarlet badis/ Dario dario:
Dario dario or the Scarlet badis, this beautiful red colored fish is native to India, in particular the northern part of West Bengal, usually found in the streams of the North Bengal's hillstream area. This fishes have many characteristics of cichlids group, and for many days they are seemed to be a cichlid. I have kept a dozen of them in my planted tank, and found them dig for live worms those hide in the sandy bottom.

Salvini Cichlid

Scientific name: Cichlasoma salvini / Nandopsis salvini
Common name: Salvini cichlid, Salvin's Cichlid, Yellow-Belly Cichlid, Tricolor Cichlid
Max. size: 22 cm / 9 inches (usually less)
pH range: 7.0 – 8.0
dH range: 5-20
Temperature range: 22 - 27°C / 72 - 81°F
Introduction to Salvini Cichlid:
The Salvini cichlid is a very beautiful mid sized fish that are mostly suitable for community south American or Central American cichlid aquariums with other semi aggressive cichlids. The temperament of this fish varies with the nature of the tankmates. The fish is not suitable for complete beginner to aquarium hobby, but they are good for those who have kept ishes,but this is the first time they are trying cichlids. These fishes are hardy and easy to care for.

The Salvini cichlid s common in this hobby. This fish  can be found under the names of Yellow-Belly Cichlid and Tricolor Cichlid. 

The Salvini Cichlid takes on the most vivid colors during the time of breeding. They do not always appear terribly colorful, most of the time colored either pale yellow or grey, they take on bright color variations at the time of spawning.  

Eye Biter Cichlid

The Malawi Eye Biter fish has an elongated body shape, it has a triangle-shaped head, which is the best way to identify a eye biter cichlid. 

This species has a reputation for eating the eyes of other fishes in the wild. That' s what behind it's name. Some feel that the eye-eating is a result from an attempt to blind its prey, other think that the eyes are a delicacy for the fish. Strangely though, this behavior has not been observed in home aquarium.
Difficulty of care: 5. A hardy fish that requires a large tank. Be aware that this species is piscivorous. Live foods are required in the diet of this fish.

Planted Aquarium Basics

Introduction to beginner's Planted tank:

So you are the next one to enter the beautiful world of Planted tank. Here are some useful tips for you to begin your journey. 
Like any other tank the first and most important thing is a tank with good dimension. But this time the bigger is not always the better, because with bigger tank you have to invest on more wattage of light, more fertilizers to add, more substrate, more to spend on CO2(Carbon Di-Oxide) per month for planted tank and obviously to buy more aquatic plants initially. And contrary to fish only tank, where we should not add all the fishes at once, instead add them in a small group, here in planted tank, we must plant almost all the plants in the very first day to prevent algae growth. 

Guess you have noticed few terms, like fertilizers, substrate, algae, CO2(Carbon Di-Oxide), wattage of light and curious how those terms are related to planted tank. Let us discus:

CO2 for Planted Tank

CO2(Carbon Di Oxide)

As all of you know during photosynthesis plants use CO2, and with help of light and some macro/micro elements make food. So CO2 is in the primary importance for plants. You can use DIY Yeast+Sugar method to produce CO2. Alternately, you can spend some money and buy a pressurized CO2 kit.

From my personal experience I have learned that pressurized CO2 kit is a must have for any planted tank to maintain stable rate of CO2 in the tank.

Substrate for Planted Tank

Substrate in Planted Tank

Substrate is the base of the planted aquarium where we have to plant the plants. Most of plants grow roots inside the substrate and take nutrients from the substrate. So a nutrient enriched substrate is highly important for healthy growth of the aquatic plants. As I have mentioned in the Beginner's Planted Set up Guide, the cheapest substrate solution is laterite, freely available at roadside, in West Bengal.

I have also mentioned in that post how to use it as substrate for planted aquarium. 

In this post I will discus some general substrate ideas for planted tankDIY products and also the Commercial subsrate for planted tank like ADA Amazonia/Africana, Seachem flourite, Oceanfree etc. available in the market. including the

Light for planted tank

Light for Planted Tank

There are various options in the light for planted tank, you can use either of the T12, T8, T5, T5HO, PLL, CFL, MH lights. The choice depend on the tank dimension, the choice of plants, the availability of the lights in your place and obviously on your budget. Also you must plan for the reflector of the light along with the light. Reflector of the light is the most important counterpart of light in planted tank.