My plant is spreading rapidly for the first time ,any idea why?

[Blackwater guru]

So this is my 8 gallon aquarium that I setup about 2 weeks ago and I have let it cycle since then and I have also started to notice that my plant to the right that I forgot the name off is growing and spreading in several different directions with some bigger or smaller than others. Test results show zero nitrates and also zero nitrites on the test strips for some reason which is not surprising given that likely the plants have been absorbing the nitrates in the tank especially the bright green spiky plant possibly indicating that the tank may soon be ready for a betta fish if not in a few more weeks of waiting.

 

[Back in the fold]

Enjoy it . It’s nice when plants thrive . You’re doing something right .

 

[Blackwater guru]

Enjoy it . It’s nice when plants thrive . You’re doing something right .

So I went a bit wild with adding sand because my back of the tank had too shallow of a sand bed and at the aquarium store I took sand from a much larger bag and put it in a smaller one of which I bought two in total which in hindsight was a bit too much but on the plus side I now have a nice deep sand bed which will be useful once I add Betta fish to the tank