Ten gallon hi-light

[Marconis]

Hey guys,
So I've been hunting CL for cheap deals so I can get back in this wonderful hobby, but haven't found much. My girlfriend is giving me a tank back that I gave her (and actually forgot about) over the summer since a heat wave killed her fish and she no longer uses it.

With this, I figured I'd go planted. In the past, I had a 10gal low-light with a couple plants and an airstone. I only went this route because it was cheaper. Well, I hated it...it was probably the most boring, uneventful planted tank I have ever maintained. I blame this on the low-light limitations. Since I am in college and I have yet to get a job again since summer (not sure when I will be getting one), my funds are rather tight. So, I want to get a sort of ball-park figure on what a high-light setup would possibly run me. I already have the tank, filter, heater and a 15W flur strip. The new light and CO2 system would be the only new expenses, I'd imagine. Besides plants and substrate, what else is really needed for a high-light setup? I really want to go this route since there are so many more plants to choose from (or is this a misconception?) and there is faster plant growth. With my low light tank it'd take ages for them to even grow, in fact most of them actually died off.

Thanks!

 

[neilanh]

Lights, ferts & CO2 should be the only additions you'd need right away, but you'll also want to consider getting away from a HOB filter (as the splashing can off-gas the CO2 you're injecting) at some point, but in the near term keeping the water level high to minimize the splashing will work.

For lighting, I actually have a 65W PC fixture you can have. It's a little too long for a 10g (I ran it on my 20H, 24"), but the legs are adjustable. It's a lot of light, but maybe you could run a 50/50 bulb in it for the first few months to see if you want the full 65W or not.

CO2 is where your main expense will be. I highly recommend a pressurized setup, you can get the hardware on ebay for about $90, then you'll need to get a CO2 tank too. Buying one of those runs about $90 new as well, but check in your area at like a robert's oxygen place, many of those types of places will do a tank exchange program where maybe you don't have to purchase one outright (not all places do this, so just check around). The alternative is to go with DIY CO2, but in a high light environment I don't recommend it.

Ferts are pretty cheap from Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Home $20 or $30 worth will get you a probably close to 1 year supply on such a small tank, then you just mix them with DI water.

 

[Marconis]

To be honest with you, I had no idea a CO2 system would cost me ~$200. I'm not sure I am in any position at the moment to be spending that sort of money on just CO2 stuff. I want to get a tank up asap, so maybe I can start out with low light and no CO2 just to see how I fare? Also, I can't quite afford a canister filter at the moment, either.

I am not brushing aside the idea to a high light planted at all, I am just examining my options. With that being said, I'd like to hear some pros and cons (while I am aware of some already) of having no CO2 system under low light conditions. I can't help but feel that the last time I went about it, I didn't do it properly. There's got to be more to it than plants that barely ever grow or die

All in all, I definitely want to go planted. Having a vivarium with a dart frog in it really helped me gain an appreciation for plants. So, even if it takes me a while to find the right budget to go for a high light, a low light may be a nice place to start. Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks a bunch for all your advice, Neilan, especially for that offer of the light, I appreciate that. I need to start writing all this down.

*I'd also like to apologize for all the mention of money in this thread. You were all broke college students at one point too! *


As you can see, it was nothing special:

 

[neilanh]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with starting with what you have and working up as you can afford the pieces. Noone ever said this was a cheap hobby.

With low light you don't need CO2, ferts, or anything other than what you already have (not counting substrate and water and plants, of course). That setup will do you fine and mimic what you had before - but it will also yield the same results that you had before too. You'll be able to keep low-light plants alive, but you're not going to see growth like it sounds like you're wanting.

But like I said, go ahead and setup now, then as you can afford stuff (or monitor CL or Ebay and maybe come across some good deals) then you can build up into a higher-tech system.

 

[Marconis]

I think last time I just didn't do enough research on plants or how to properly take care of them. This time around I'll browse through some threads and articles, and see what will fare well in low light conditions.

 

[Joey2619]

Hey Marconis, long time no see!

I'm actually getting back into the hobby myself, and I just posted up a thread with some questions. I'm going in for a RCS/planted tank myself, but I'm aiming for about 2.5-3.0wpg. I'm going to go with the spiral CFL setup since they're cheap and they would seem to be able to light a 10g fine with my wpg goals.

What are your plans?

 

[Marconis]

Yeah so I am just going to do low light. I'm gonna use my 15W fixture. Not sure I'll get much plant growth with that, but I am going to do the proper research to find out which plants will do best. I'm excited to get back in this! Luckily it won't cost me much at all since I pretty much have everything.

One question I have, what kind of very fine substrate is available for plants? The last time I bought eco-complete (if I recall) and it contained pretty large gravel. I hated the way it looked. It was weird though because others that had the same substrate had much darker, finer substrate than I did.

 

[neilanh]

what color are you after?

 

[Marconis]

I guess black. I don't really like the look of brownish substrate.

 

[meegosh]

You can use pool filter sand or playsand for that matter. I have a high light pressurized co2 setup in my 30g long with playsand. Many stems and swords growing just fine.

 

[Marconis]

Well that'd be good because I've got a bag of PFS unused laying around in my parents garage. I like the way it looks too.

 

[neilanh]

or find a local farm store and see if they have turface MVP in stock.

 

[Marconis]

Just looked it up online...seems a little too light in color. Nice grain size though.

 

[neilanh]

Do some searching on here, I was under the impression that when it's wet it's a dark charcoal color (not dark black, but dark nonetheless).

 

[Marconis]

Will do, thanks Neilan!

 

[Marconis]

Could anyone with a lowlight tank possibly give me an idea of what types of plants I can grow? I'd love to see photos as well.

 

[sampster5000]

You could try Caribseas black sand. My plants did fine in it. I removed the sand because I think it was cutting up my cory's barbels and we cant have that Its very nice looking sand though.

Low light plants are the normal, java fern, cryptocorynes, anubias'. I'm pretty sure any moss is for any lighting.

 

[meegosh]

I have vals, java fern, anubias nana petite, amazon sword and java moss all growing in play sand in my 10g with a single 18" 15w 6500K bulb. I can snap some pictures of it later today if you want.

 

[Marconis]

I have vals, java fern, anubias nana petite, amazon sword and java moss all growing in play sand in my 10g with a single 18" 15w 6500K bulb. I can snap some pictures of it later today if you want.

Please do!

 

[Ziggy953]

I would also be interested in seeing that pic! I have a 10g FW that has moderate light. Looking to add c02 and ferts to not sure where to start being a SW guy but you know the saying, go big or go home.