10 Gallon Do Over

After Phoenix's tragic and inconclusive death, I've been looking for a new theme for the tank, not to mention a new betta.

The gravel I will switch to sand.
I will add more plants.
I will add a piece of driftwood.

I'm hoping to go for a sort of "jewel" theme for the tank, if I get this fish which I just bid on:

This fish will be named Midas (again, this all assuming I win the auction), a colony of cherry shrimp will represent living rubies, my plants will represent an emerald forest, and the Buddha statue and elephant in the tank will represent nature's riches and peace. I have a flower pit in the tank which I ell arrange with some glass stones to mimic actual "gems."

If this doesn't work out, I am hoping to go for a "spooky" theme by changing the background to a darker one, have the plants, black betta, and ghost shrimp. I will change the gravel to sand as well, but I would probably go for black sand or very fine black gravel. Or I could also go for a white betta to look like a phantom. The driftwood in this tank should resemble bare trees.

I'll be posting progress here. I'd also love any suggestions for tank ideas.

Very cool sounding themes.  I especially like the spooky theme!  Maybe if you're going to go for a planted tank, you should use the finer EcoComplete?  I've never used it, and I'm new at plants, but from what I've seen from online shopping, I like the color of the dark EcoComplete.
 
I may be off my rocker though.
 
Can't wait to see your progress!

The themes sound cool! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Cool themes! I like the jewel colors one better just because it is more colorful/cheerful.
I did a spooky then in my 29gal community tank a loooong time ago. I did black gravel and the white pearl- shine circular marbles semi buried in the gravel (made me think of a full moon on a clear night from a black and white photo I'd seen). Then I had some broken pottery (fish tank decorations) to make the tank look like an abandoned place.

I think if you do a spooky tank, a white like Rafael (other post ... RIP ) would look really nice. Although I've seen some really nice black HM bettas at my pet shop with just a few thin lines of a metallic silver/white which I'm really liking and would look nice in a spooky tank as well.

The theme tank is going to be on hold for a while. My truck was towed and completely wiped out my budget. However, as I make some money painting a friend's house, I'll pick up some of the pieces.
 
Another idea I've got for the tank is to do a dirt layer, then sand or gravel and grow out a bunch of plants in there with a betta. This isn't really a themed tank, but it is a useful one. I'd be able to bulk up my plants and add them to the twenty gallon periodically. In the meantime, I'll be focusing on getting some more money to put into the tank. It'll be a slow tank to redecorate, but I'm not rushing this.