Here is the entire planted setup.  The plants, in order from left to right, are corkscrew vallisneria, marsilea quadrifolea (aquatic four-leaf clover), cabomba, a small cultivar of Amazon sword, water wisteria (background), cryptocoryne wendtii (midground), Java fern.

The tank currently houses 14 ghost shrimp; I never see them all at one time anymore because a) they're transparent and b) they're amazing at hiding.  Here's one on the leaf of an Amazon sword.  I grew this particular plant emersed in a tarantula tank and have transplanted it to this setup; this is its maximum size.  It's still adjusting to immersion and has not sent out new leaves yet.

Here's another good shrimp pic featuring the water wisteria.  This and the above picture are of medium-sized shrimp; the one very large one I have was in too difficult a position to photograph.  The wisteria is showing the most growth on the left side and is re-orienting itself towards the light.

Now, my camera distorts the quality of the light in my tank.  I'm using two Sylvania 20-watt compact fluorescent bulbs in an incandescent fixture rated for up to 25 watts.  So, 4wpg on my tank.  The light in the tank is actually a pleasantly clear hue, not the strong yellow picked up by the camera.  This picture here shows the "blue" side of the light; if you combine the two in your imagination, you'll get a good picture of what the light looks like.

And here's a detail picture of a few shrimp in that same bluish hue; sometimes the camera does it yellow and sometimes blue.  Sometimes it makes it look like there's not a light on at all.  :/  Anyway, in this picture you can clearly see the substrate.  I'm using a natural creek sand taken from the creek on my property; the water is chemical/pesticide free.  The sand is 1.5 inches deep on average and was washed thoroughly outside until the water ran clear.

In addition, I'm using a variation of the "earth as a substrate" method.  The dirt-like material is processed coconut fiber, which you can purchase as reptile bedding.  I rehydrated it and washed it several times, sifting off the portion that naturally floats, and added it to the tank.  Here also you can see part of a natural root that I collected, which not only adds to the decor but gives my plants something to anchor to.

Above is a shot detailing the cryptocoryne and the driftwood I collected, to which some Java moss is tied.  The cryptocoryne was potted but had been overturned, so the plant grew "sideways" as it aimed for the light.  In only a few days it has mostly turned upright again, and the roots are already anchored firmly in the substrate.

Below is a shot of the corkscrew vallisneria.  It's still deciding if it wants to grow well or not; some older leaves are showing brown at the tips, but many of the leaves are showing a much brighter green color.  One is unanchored but I'm letting it send roots on its own rather than disturb the other plants:

Lastly is a shot showing some of the new fronds of the marsilea (clover) and the beautiful, lush growth of the cabomba.  In the next few days I'll be doing the first cuttings from the cabomba plant, as it's already hitting the water surface with its new leaves.  The shrimp love to shuffle around in there are find tidbits of food.

As I write, one of the shrimps is taking a foray to the surface of the tank and another is picking food off a floating, decaying clipping of a vallisneria leaf.  It seems like I never see the same shrimp twice, they hide so well.  The large shrimp is now sifting through the Java moss on the driftwood.  They love the finer plants that they can work their mouthparts though.

So far I have not had any mortalities; the shrimp seem content in their own private oasis.

If you have any questions or comments just shout.  I know that was a long post...and it was mostly plants, I realize now.  Oh well, it's an invertebrate tank and the invert section needs more posts anyway. ;) 

Be warned -- everyone at college has a weird roommate. If you don't have a weird roomate -- then you're the weird roommate.
                                                                                                  Conan O'Brien, Stuyvesant High School.

Maybe I should give up on the shrimp idea since I'm going to put cories in there anyways and go along with a heavily planted, gourami and cory tank. Thanks for the inspiration!

Does it have CO2 injection in there?

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If life gives you lemons, squeeze them into people's eyes and run away!

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Great tank!

JOHN CHAMPAGNE

55gallon/4wpg t05/pressurized Co2/moderately planted (with the intent of heavily planted) 10goldbarbs,10 olive nerite snails,6 ottos, 2 mollies,three guppies

Breeding them would be quite exciting, but I am officially moved into college and there'd be no outlet for baby ghost shrimp besides to feed the neon tetras I'll soon be stocking.  If the red cherry shrimp I have in the works breed, I'll gladly take them to the aquarium store where the owner is setting me up with some.  He happens to be an alumnus of my college.

I'll post more pictures soon, and am contemplating doing a weekly post on snail info featuring the activities of my very own troublemaking gastropod.  The marsilea is growing like a weed, and I've had to prune the cabomba twice.  However, I'm having issues with consistency in my fermentation process so there'll be a "help!" post coming soon in Plants.