Regretting my 38g Bowfront after a year with 10g :(

[Tamaradebra]

I love the look of it, it's beautiful and made me think of the curved tanks at Ripley's  But reaching in to work on plants and design, catching fish for isolation and such leaves me alternating painkillers and ice packs on my neck for days after! Plus does anyone else find it hard to orient visually due to the curved glass? Had to replant so many times to get the right position.

It's only been a month with the bow front and for the first two weeks I was elated and so proud of my accomplishment, one I never thought I could achieve - then distressed over dying plants (due to insufficient manufacturer included lighting ...and my own ignorance) and now depressed over my fish losses due to the excessive plant waste buildup - especially my three year old's beloved bushy nosed pleco "Spot". And I see now I was equally attached to him!

I am now overwhelmed as I peruse the variety of other tanks and tempted to resign my membership, go back to plastic plants, the plastic castle and shipwreck, and my 10g!

Happy to hear any thoughts or shared experience.

[Calico3]

So sorry to hear of the problems you have faced and especially the loss of a special fish to yourself and young son. I do hope that you continue with this hobby as it can be very rewarding and we all unfortunately  learn to be better fish keepers from our problems.  Yes we have all have had them and I have thought about stopping several times as well . I am in the process of trying to up date my lighting systems as most of my tanks were purchased also as sets with inadequate lighting to promote good growth of plants. It will take me time to make these changes but will do so as I can afford to and try to improve  my fish keeping goals.
I do hope that when you are ready you can involve your young son in the purchase of another fish that he loves.

[Gilbotron]

Sorry to hear about the challenges you are having making the transition to planted aquarium. I was in the exact same boat as you almost 4 years ago, and now that I've figured it out (somewhat) I will never go back. It takes a lot of patience and trial and error is always part of it. But the benefits of the planted tank far outweigh the learning curve required to get there so I recommend you stick with it. I'm a firm believer in the motto - "take care of your plants and they will take care of your fish", and it has served me very well ever since.

Looking at the pic of your tank, it may not be the lighting. Some of your plants are low light capable plants (the moss, and what looks like a crypt in the back) and should be fine with stock lighting. Looks like you have inert gravel which will not contain any nutrients for your plants, so they could be starving.  Also, I don't see many fish, and their waste is another nutrient source for your plants (although it does take a while for it to breakdown and be plant consumable).  Are you using any fertilizer or root tabs?  I recommend you dose some Flourish on a regular basis and/or put some root tabs to get some nutrients in there.  Keep it simple - you don't need all the various fancy ferts for now - just a general all-in-one fert will make a big difference. 

There are many plants you can grow with the stock light on just about any aquarium. If you want to have some early easy success without investing in more hardware, try some of the following. PM me if you want some clippings of various plants to try out in your setup.  Most of my tanks are low light and heavily planted so I should have lots that will work in your environment.
Wisteria
Water Sprite
Most Crypts
Some ludwigia species
Dwarf Sag

[charlie]

Sorry to hear about the challenges you are having making the transition to planted aquarium. I was in the exact same boat as you almost 4 years ago, and now that I've figured it out (somewhat) I will never go back. It takes a lot of patience and trial and error is always part of it. But the benefits of the planted tank far outweigh the learning curve required to get there so I recommend you stick with it. I'm a firm believer in the motto - "take care of your plants and they will take care of your fish", and it has served me very well ever since.

Looking at the pic of your tank, it may not be the lighting. Some of your plants are low light capable plants (the moss, and what looks like a crypt in the back) and should be fine with stock lighting. Looks like you have inert gravel which will not contain any nutrients for your plants, so they could be starving.  Also, I don't see many fish, and their waste is another nutrient source for your plants (although it does take a while for it to breakdown and be plant consumable).  Are you using any fertilizer or root tabs?  I recommend you dose some Flourish on a regular basis and/or put some root tabs to get some nutrients in there.  Keep it simple - you don't need all the various fancy ferts for now - just a general all-in-one fert will make a big difference. 

There are many plants you can grow with the stock light on just about any aquarium. If you want to have some early easy success without investing in more hardware, try some of the following. PM me if you want some clippings of various plants to try out in your setup.  Most of my tanks are low light and heavily planted so I should have lots that will work in your environment.
Wisteria
Water Sprite
Most Crypts
Some ludwigia species
Dwarf Sag

Great advice.
Don't give up quite yet.
I would be happy to lend a helping hand in getting you going.
PM me if you are open to that offer.
Regards