My first tank! 10g

[Alaris]

Friday I bought my new tank! I was going to go with a 55g and asked all sorts of questions about what I would need. Well it all just seemed so overwhelming (esp in the pocketbook) so I started looking at craigslist for a 10g. I found a great ad for a 10g w/ hood/lights, filter, heater, and black wooden stand for $40. Sounded great! So my husband and I picked it up Friday and brought it home.

I cleaned it with vinegar and Ed put it in the bath tub and filled it up to make sure it didn't leak. We then began to inspect the supplies. The filter was an internal filter and I don't know how long this tank has been dry, but the filter media was disgusting and we couldn't figure out how to remove/replace it. We didn't even want an internal filter. So we chunked it and bought a new AquaClear 20. (Petco has them on sale for 19.99. Shock!)

We got a used air pump from Ed's brother and some extra airline and air stones he had laying around. Ed got some pool filter sand and buckets at Home Depot. The rest of the supplies were too expensive at Petco so I'm going to order them online.



Ed and his brother went out to the creek and picked up some really cool rocks. I'm going to boil them later today.



When we plugged in the hood one of the light bulbs popped and broke. There was 2 25w incandescent bulbs in the hood. We bought 2 15w incandescents.

I was just looking at the heater to find instructions for it online and it is only a 25w heater. So need a new heater, too.

In the end we got a tank w/hood and stand for $40. Still not bad, imo.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

not bad at all considering the stand which looks nice IMO.

Yeah Petco has been having the cheapest AC filters lately(everything else is way over priced like you said). I just got an AC20 for my 10G and it works great and I like it. Only issue I had with it so far is I saw a baby shrimp get sucked into it, so I turned it off and inspected it and found 5 adult shrimp and 1 adult Endler living in the filter, lol. SO I'm currently using pantyhose over the inlet but looking into this.
Filter-Max III Prefilter | Sponge Aquarium Filters | Filters | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com
Its cheaper here:Kens Fish Home of Quality Fish Food, And Supplies At Excellent Prices.


If you looking to for live plants look into some spiral compact flourescent screw in bulbs to put in the hood, the 13w ones actually grow plants pretty well. Walgreens had Feit "daylight" bulbs onsale for $8 for a 4pk and these are good lights so far

 

[Alaris]

http://kensfish.com/index.html If you looking to for live plants look into some spiral compact flourescent screw in bulbs to put in the hood, the 13w ones actually grow plants pretty well. Walgreens had Feit "daylight" bulbs onsale for $8 for a 4pk and these are good lights so far

I am doing plants, but going with low-light like java moss and anubias nana. Would the fluorescent you mentioned be too much light?

 

[Purrbox]

Actually 20-30 watts over a 10 gallon is a very nice amount of light for low to medium low light plants.

 

[new2betas]

Very Nice Buy for $40.00. I'm jealous! Can't wait to see it progress! Have fun!

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

I am doing plants, but going with low-light like java moss and anubias nana. Would the fluorescent you mentioned be too much light?

No because the wpg that everyone talks about is talking about flourescent bulbs, incandescent bulbs are less efficient at creating light(they produce more heat). I as well as others are running 2x 13w spiral bulbs with good results for lower light plants on 10G tanks. I'm not sure bit the incandescent bulbs may be able to keep low light plants alive but I dont think they will grow

 

[Alaris]

Thank you! Yes I'll be buying fluorescent then. Hmm...might have some in the closet...nope used them all. You are talking about those energy efficient bulbs? I've replaced every light in my apt with them.

I've boiled my rocks and they look very cool in the tank. I'll post another pic after I've washed and put in the sand.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Yes energy efficient bulbs, but you want the "daylight" colored bulbs that have a kelvin rating of 5000k-1000k. Normally for this kind of bulb its either 5000k or 6500k.

These Feit bulbs are the cheapest and working good for a couple of us on here w/ 10G's
Daylight 60 Light Bulb | Feit Electric | Walgreens

Otherwise Walmart has the GE "daylight bulbs

 

[marchmaxima]

You might find that a 25w heater is enough, depending on your climate. My primary heater recently spat the dummy and so I put in my 15w backup and I find to my surprise that it heats the 15g tank fine.

That said, I live in a place that never sees snow in winter.

 

[Alaris]

Lights: I bought 2 10w GE Daylight40's. It took me forever at Walmart staring at the bulbs b/c the soft white bulbs don't say that on the package. I finally found some that said Daylight 6500k. I bought the 10w 40's instead of the recommended 13w 60's because I wasn't sure if it would fit in my hood. And I was right. The 10w's were barely small enough and the 13's would have been too bulky.

Heater: Well I live in Dallas and the weather here bobs around sporadically. At any given time it is 60-80F in my apt. I am planning on keeping a betta and need the temp to be a nice 80F. I really believe that I'll need a 50w, but I'll keep this 25w as a backup.

And I bought a soap dish because I liked An t-iasg's idea for a betta bed.

 

[marchmaxima]

I'll need a 50w, but I'll keep this 25w as a backup.

And I bought a soap dish because I liked An t-iasg's idea for a betta bed.

Fair enough.... I'd probably do the same. I must also replace my backup which is now my main heater.. lol

 

[Atl300zx]

rocks look great, i wish i had ones liek that in my creek.

 

[Alaris]

Here are the 2 rocks we picked out to put into the tank. I washed the sand last night and when I added it to the tank...sandstorm!! So the new filter has had a go. Found a big bag of polyfiber in my craft closet and stuffed the filter basket with it. I came home from work to find it crystal clear! I rinsed the poly and stirred it back up. Not nearly as cloudy as when I first added the sand.



I'm going to get a black background. I'm ordering online for the rest of my supplies. Ed got ammonia from Ace last night. I hope to start cycling on Friday. w00t!

I hung my thermometer in the tank to see what the temp is without heat. It's been reading 73F pretty consistently. I still think I should go with a 50W heater.

rocks look great, i wish i had ones liek that in my creek.

Here's a pic of Ed looking for rocks (they're under your feet, not in the sky!) Apparently there were too many to choose from.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Lookin good!!

You would be fine with a 25w heater, The 50w heaters say they can raise the temp of 15gallons 18deg F above ambient. And the 25w says the same for up to 8 gallons, so since you have a good ambient of 73 deg F you should be fine as the highest you'll ever need to go is 87-88 deg F for ich treatment which may be a struggle for the heater but everyday use it would be fine.

But depending on what heater you have now, a new Visa Therm sltealth or Jager would be good heaters. Having a backup is always a good idea

 

[Alaris]

Ok I'm convinced. I'll stay with the 25w for now through the cycle to see how it performs.

 

[JohnPaul]

Looking good so far! If you get any plants that are heavy root feeders (things like Amazon swords, etc.), you will want to put some root fertilizer tabs in the sand near the plants so that they have the nutrients they need.

You may also want to get a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS), small little conical snails that burrow into the substrate during the day and usually only come out at night. They are great for sand substrates because they help "stir up" the sand, which prevents anaerobic pockets from forming and releasing toxic gas into the tank. Or, if you don't like the idea of having MTS, then you just need to periodically stir up the deeper layers of the sand yourself by hand (people often use chopsticks for this).

Please keep us posted, everything seems to be progressing well!

 

[Alaris]

Thank you!

I am liking some java moss and anubias nana petites. I'm looking for a nice tall background plant to go to the left of and behind the large rock on the left. I'm doing low-medium low light. I've been trying to get ideas on plantgeek.net.

The sand is less than 1" deep. I read that this also helps in keeping sand from becoming anaerobic.

 

[JohnPaul]

I am liking some java moss and anubias nana petites. I'm looking for a nice tall background plant to go to the left of and behind the large rock on the left. I'm doing low-medium low light. I've been trying to get ideas on plantgeek.net.

I would think many of the varieties of vals or crypts would work well. Or, if you wanted a "bushier" but yet still tall look, you could go for some hygro. Or bunches of stem plants like anacharis would also serve the purpose.

The sand is less than 1" deep. I read that this also helps in keeping sand from becoming anaerobic.

Yep, that is very true.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

a 25w heater will work hun.... now that im thinking about it.. its the correct size for that tank... it will work quite well. If you want better heating though, get another 25w from ebay or aquabid.com. You can usually get them for under 10 dollars. i bought my 100w on ebay for 8 dollars shipped lol

 

[fearlessfisch]

That's going to be a very pretty tank! I love the color of the sand you found. I bought pool filter sand in a closed bag, and it was such an ugly rust color in the water that I never used it. Then I bought some sand that looked just like yours in the bag, but now under my lights it looks pure white. Oh well.....white is okay for me.

Yours should look very pretty with the plants and fish in it!