Help with planted tank!

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I was thinking something like an upside down catfish
 
Ok thanks! So what is that plant that looks like water grass?
 
keep in mind that upside down catfish aren't algea eaters. They might graze on it once in a while to supplement their diet but you can't have it as their staple diet. Each one can get 3-4" so even if you have a small school of 3 you'd be pushing the limit on being overstocked IMO. This by no way means that it isn't doable, just up your filtration and PWCs :)

Dwarf Sagittaria (Sagittaria subulata) looks like grass, and is pretty easy to take care of.

For a 10g you could pretty easily get away with a DIY CO2 or a paintball setup if you want to get something you can control more.
 
Lots of great advice I really appreciate it!! I have tons of questions.
 
shrimp won't disturb it, but some types of snails like the malaysian trumpet snail burrow under the gravel. it isn't bad cuz it doesnt disrupt it and it aerates it for the roots to grow.
 
Assassin snails and Malasyian trumpet snails are the only snails i can think of that will burrow. The MTS breed like rabbits so just a heads up.
 
Nerite snails are fantastic algae eaters, don't breed in freshwater, and don't disturb the substrate. Shrimp will turn over some of the gravel bits on top, but nothing really gets disturbed from that. Otos are a small catfish (a little over an inch full grown) that munch on algae too, but be aware that they are skittish if they don't have friends. I have 3 in my 10g and when they see me walk up to the tank they dart around and hide fast. I'm actually afraid they hurt themselves running into things :(

As far as light goes, the "watts per gallon" rule only applies to T12 and T8 lamps. 24w T8 will put you into medium light on a 10g , but you also need the correct temp (K rating) and spectrum (color wavelengths). Generally you want a 5000-6800K daylight lamp. If the light is a T5 you are most likely in the high light category and with high light comes a need for co2 and ferts to match it, otherwise you end up with algae problems. I highly recommend looking into lights more in depth. Several posts on these forums have resources and links you can check out for lighting info.

You can easily make a DIY co2 kit, again search the forums here for instructions. It's cheap and will really make your plants look great.
 
So I ended up buying the fluval substrate but it says you can't mix it with other substrates why is that?
 
For example the fulval fertilized substrate says that not you have fish that disturbs the substrate

i have 2 striped raphael catfish who love to burrow into the sand and create tunnels underneath their rocks and the pvc tube i have in there for them but a 10g would be too small for them so you wouldnt want them
 
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