New to plants, couple of questions.

[Torama]

I have a ten gallon tank. I have a couple plants in it. I asked the pet store clerk about each plant before purchased and he says they should be fine.

I have the original hood and lighting from the tank. It has two 25watt bulbs. It also gets a little sun exposure for a couple hours. I have the lights on a 8am to 8 pm timer.

I have a corkscrew plant (as far as I can tell) it has three shoots and It's been in the tank for two weeks and has a new shoot started. I got some type of hygrophilia (three stocks) a week ago, it seems to be doing well.

I have a few fish in the tank. 4 zebra danio, 2 blue tetra, 1 white pleco (one inch), 1 neon, 1 dwarf neon rainbow. (going to get two more).

So my three questions:

1) is my lighting okay?

2) Do I need to use ferts and what / how much?

3) What kind of small plants can I use in the foreground.

Thanks you in advance for the help.

 

[bmthepainter]

Hello. This is my first reply on this board.
As for Your questions I would say you may have an Algae problem with the sunlight into 2-25 watt bulbs are very low and probably the wrong spectrum
I would stick with lowlight plants like Anubus nana and yes you should use a little bit of fertilizers once in a while if you get a lot of Algae you may want to add an algae eater to the tank.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I have a ten gallon tank. I have a couple plants in it. I asked the pet store clerk about each plant before purchased and he says they should be fine.

I have the original hood and lighting from the tank. It has two 25watt bulbs. It also gets a little sun exposure for a couple hours. I have the lights on a 8am to 8 pm timer.

I have a corkscrew plant (as far as I can tell) it has three shoots and It's been in the tank for two weeks and has a new shoot started. I got some type of hygrophilia (three stocks) a week ago, it seems to be doing well.

I have a few fish in the tank. 4 zebra danio, 2 blue tetra, 1 white pleco (one inch), 1 neon, 1 dwarf neon rainbow. (going to get two more).

So my three questions:

1) is my lighting okay?

2) Do I need to use ferts and what / how much?

3) What kind of small plants can I use in the foreground.

Thanks you in advance for the help.

The lighting is pretty low. Almost all hoods that come with a tank are low light. Could you provide a picture of the hygrophila? What kind of pleco is it? The 10g is going to be a bit overstocked when you add 2 more of the rainbows and neons like to be with others of its species. For low light plants you do not need ferts. Is the corkscrew plant a corkscrew val? For a low-med light foreground you can use pennywort or dwarf sag.

 

[andresdeo]

25 watts, but what kind if bulbs? Incandescent ir CFLs? You should restrict photoperiod to 8 hours max. If you are aiming for low light plants, almost any bulb will work, CFLs are the best in my opinion.

If you have inert substrate you might have to add ferts at some point with a low light setup, but it will depend on your water content. Phosphates and nitrates will probably be covered, some potasium later on and micros might be needed.

Java moss or ferns could work, look up lists of low light plants and see what you like.

Hope this helps and good luck.

I recently started a planted 10 gal, just in case you want to check it out.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/planted-10-gal-rcs-tank-299191.html?referrerid=36544

 

[Coursair]

For screw in CFLs for my small tanks I use http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003QZF7JA?pc_redir=1395508560&robot_redir=1

 

[Torama]

Thank you all.

I will get some pictures next wednesday.

I got an anubis barteri.

I don't seem to have any algae what so ever.

As far as substraight goes its just natural gravel.

The cork screw plant I don't know the type but it is doing very well the shoot has grown quite a bit and looks very healthy.

As far as the pleco they just called it an albino pleco. However it has blue eyes. It looks like this:

but as I said mine has blue eyes.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I think it's an albino bn pleco. They stay small.
Can you get a pic of the corkscrew plant?

 

[Coursair]

Thank you all.

I will get some pictures next wednesday.

I got an anubis barteri.

I don't seem to have any algae what so ever.

As far as substraight goes its just natural gravel.

The cork screw plant I don't know the type but it is doing very well the shoot has grown quite a bit and looks very healthy.

As far as the pleco they just called it an albino pleco. However it has blue eyes. It looks like this:

but as I said mine has blue eyes.

I'm sorry to say a Bristle Nose Pleco or ANY Pleco is too large and has too big a bioload for a 10g.

I recommend returning the fish. They get 4-5" and a brand new tank has nothing for them to eat and they'll tend to knock your plants around in such a small place.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+837+1039&pcatid=1039


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[Sk3lly]

You got serious stocking problems. Most fish you have are not suitable for your tank

 

[Coursair]

You got serious stocking problems. Most fish you have are not suitable for your tank

I just checked your stock list and have to say I agree. Please research your fish before you buy. I would return all of them and start over. Even Neons should be in groups of 6 or more and wouldn't have much swimming room in a 10g.

AquaAdvisor isn't perfect but it can give you a general idea of what fits and people on here can help if you ask.

Suitable for a 10g ?

A single Male Betta
Or
Male Guppies or Endlers
Or
A group of Ember Tetras
Or a group of other Nano fish like Chili Rasboras or Celestial Pearl Danios.
http://www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm

Not all of these are easy to find. Some are not beginner fish. Most prefer planted tanks as tiny fish are shy.

If you have to have the Neons clear out the other fish and have 5 Neons
And later add a snail or some tiny Cories like C habrosus.

You can check my stock list for ideas, but my Shrimp Jungle is heavily planted, mature and I do a lot of water changes.

Doing a Shrimp tank without any fish besides Otos works also.


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[Sk3lly]

The pleco is your worst choice. They create so much waste! It will foul your water in no time

 

[FishCr8zy]

I just checked your stock list and have to say I agree. Please research your fish before you buy. I would return all of them and start over. Even Neons should be in groups of 6 or more and wouldn't have much swimming room in a 10g.

AquaAdvisor isn't perfect but it can give you a general idea of what fits and people on here can help if you ask.

Suitable for a 10g ?

A single Male Betta
Or
Male Guppies or Endlers
Or
A group of Ember Tetras
Or a group of other Nano fish like Chili Rasboras or Celestial Pearl Danios.
http://www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm

Not all of these are easy to find. Some are not beginner fish. Most prefer planted tanks as tiny fish are shy.

If you have to have the Neons clear out the other fish and have 5 Neons
And later add a snail or some tiny Cories like C habrosus.

You can check my stock list for ideas, but my Shrimp Jungle is heavily planted, mature and I do a lot of water changes.

Doing a Shrimp tank without any fish besides Otos works also.


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+1 I also agree the fish are bad choices. Even though albino bn plecos stay small compared to most other plecos, they create way too much waste for a 10g. They will not get enough to eat because it's a new tank as well (like coursair said).

 

[treemanone2003]

+1 I also agree the fish are bad choices. Even though albino bn plecos stay small compared to most other plecos, they create way too much waste for a 10g. They will not get enough to eat because it's a new tank as well (like coursair said).

+1 more on this and all the other overstocked posts. There's no room to add and you'd be much better removing a few IMO. Being such a small tank and that kind of bioload, when it crashes, and it will, it will do so rather quickly and uncontrollably and before you notice it will be nearly impossible to recover from it.