Planning 10 gallon tank

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Bettafanatic

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So I finally tore down my saltwater tank so now I have an empty 10 gallon and want to do a freshwater planted, and would like some advice from the experts here. I have a few questions about the plants. Would these be suitable for this tank? They're just ideas.

-Anacharis
-Dwarf anubias (a must have for me)
-Crypts undulata/wendtii
-dwarf hairgrass
-wisteria
-hornwort

1. What would be the best lighting for my choice of plants?

2. I don't plan to use co2 so I was thinking about dosing seachem flourish excel, but would it harm the shrimp I'm planning?

Thanks!
 
Excel has never caused me a problem with all sorts of different species of shrimp.

Whats your lighting budget, and do you have an idea of what kind of light you want? You could easily make a CFL type fixture work, and there also some great LED off the shelf fixtures that would work great for this size tank.

Your plant choices are fine - except be aware that excel can cause anacharis to melt. Hornwort too in certain cases. I would skip excel dosing if you are set on those plants.

All the plants would grow fine without CO2 and with low/medium light. The dwarf hairgrass would do much better though under higher light with CO2 injection.
 
Melt? Literally melt? That's bizarre O_O

So should I pick between anacharis and dwarf hairgrass? Will dwarf hairgrass still grow without co2 or excel or will it only survive?

For lighting I'd just like something simple. It doesn't have to be too bright because the tank is shallow and I'm only using low-medium light plants.
 
You may want to consider choosing between the 2. DHG benefits substantially from the addition of excel or co2 in my experience.
 
Melt? Literally melt? That's bizarre O_O

greetings.

there is no such thing as liquid CO2, the european liquid co2 alternative on sale is basically a type of poison that when reacting with water turns into carbon, but carbon isn't a part of the photosynthesis, co2 is. some plants react badly to this.

sincerely,
nereksnad.
 
Excel will kill the anacharis because anacharis is one specific plant that does not like excel. Diy CO2 is a better option than excel and its cheaper in the long run.
 
There's no room to set one up in the place it's going to be. I'll just skip the anacharis and hornwort, and stick with dhg. I've always loved those grass-type plants.

What are some good alternatives? The tank'll be a bit empty with only four types of plants. Are there any really nice species of cryptocoryne I can add instead?

And anyone have any lighting recommondations?

Oh and I managed to upgrade to a 20 long. Yippee!! So the light fixture has to be 30". Thanks for the help everyone!
 
What would be a better substrate for this tank? Eco-complete or searchem flourite? Or just normal sand?
 
Just added a bag (20#) of Eco complete to a 20L and it provides a shallow but workable depth. 2nd bag might have been too much. Pretty cloudy at first but it settles out. Low tech here...stock T5 or T8 bulb (can't remember...the bigger type), no CO2. Java moss, cabomba,
Banana plants.
 
for substrate having clay-based buttom of a cm or so and normal gravel on top is good, clay substances suck up nutrients and plants gather them by their roots from the clay. but i am not aware of any american products that is designed for that specifically, i've only seen clay mixed with gravel. i switched to a clay/spagnum buttom layer a few weeks ago and i've never seen this few bad leafs on my swords.

sincerely,
nereksnad.
 
I've decided to go with Eco-Complete. I also use it in my 38 gallon and have been pretty happy with it, but was just wondering if there's anything better for my selection.

So I was thinking of adding java fern and java moss to my list, and considering banana plant and camboba (thanks for the ideas, Fresh2o) but I hear camboba is a hard plant to care for. Is that true? Oh and is banana plant nice and easy too?

For lighting can I use this fixture? It's what I use on my 38 gallon and I'm really pleased with it so far. http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-AquaS...489&sr=8-2&keywords=zoo+med+light+fixture+30"
 
Is this a good stock for a 20 long tank?

6 harlequin rasboras
8 neon tetras
4 otos
4 amano shrimp
4 red cherry shrimp
1 dwarf gourami
 
Bettafanatic said:
Is this a good stock for a 20 long tank?

6 harlequin rasboras
8 neon tetras
4 otos
4 amano shrimp
4 red cherry shrimp
1 dwarf gourami

Id get rid of one of the schools, up the other to ten, drop the Otos to two, and get rid of the RCS
 
Is this a good stock for a 20 long tank?

6 harlequin rasboras
8 neon tetras
4 otos
4 amano shrimp
4 red cherry shrimp
1 dwarf gourami

Sounds mostly fine. To be honest, I think you could start with 8 harlies too. Them and the neons are pretty petite, so they don't have a giant bioload. You may even be fine to add more, but it's good to start small and add from there IMO.
Your rcs might meet their demise from the dg. If the tank is well planted, they will have places to hide, but no guarantees.
 
I'll skip the RCS then. Would the amano shrimp be okay if I keep it heavily planted?

I'd rather keep both of the schools. The only reason I upgraded to the 20 was so I could have some tetras too. I'll add two more rasboras to it.

I'd like some more opinions on the otos before I change their numbers. Drop them to two or keep at four? I could do three also.
 
Bettafanatic said:
I'll skip the RCS then. Would the amano shrimp be okay if I keep it heavily planted?

I'd rather keep both of the schools. The only reason I upgraded to the 20 was so I could have some tetras too. I'll add two more rasboras to it.

I'd like some more opinions on the otos before I change their numbers. Drop them to two or keep at four? I could do three also.

You're choosing the gourami over the cherries? Cherries breed fast and can develop very beautiful, dark colored offspring. Gourami are just fat bullies IMO. Never have understood why people like them.
 
You're choosing the gourami over the cherries? Cherries breed fast and can develop very beautiful, dark colored offspring. Gourami are just fat bullies IMO. Never have understood why people like them.

That's your opinion. I'm allowed to have my own. I think they're beautiful fish, and I'll get one if I want to. I can get cherry shrimp some other time. I can start a shrimp tank out of that old 10 gallon if I want, but I'd rather have more fish than shrimp if I'm starting a fish tank. Thank you for your input.
 
Bettafanatic said:
That's your opinion. I'm allowed to have my own. I think they're beautiful fish, and I'll get one if I want to. I can get cherry shrimp some other time. I can start a shrimp tank out of that old 10 gallon if I want, but I'd rather have more fish than shrimp if I'm starting a fish tank. Thank you for your input.
I love my dwarf gourami (in my 3year olds tank) aswell hes full of personality and confidence which i like :) and hes not scared of me one bit. Red cherrys are lovely too i have some in my community tank that were doing great untill i added two sparkling gourami, now their mysteriously disappearing :/. Im going to move them to my 5g chi betta tank and see how they go.
 
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