10 Gallon Photo Log

[Purrbox]

Well I finally got the 10 Gallon Tank set up that I've been planning for a while now.

Tank: Standard 10 Gallon 20"x10"x12"
CO2: 2x1 Liter DIY CO2 w/ DIY Inline CO2 Reactor powered by a ViaAqua 180 Water Pump
Lighting: Current Satellite 2x40 Watt w/ Moonlight (1 Dual Daylight and 1 50/50)
Substrate: 30% Onyx and 70% Turface MVP
Heating: 50 Watt Visitherm Stealth Heater

Plants: Rotala Rotundifolia, Rotala Rotundifolia "Colorata", Cryptocorne Willisii (questionable ID), Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Cryptocoryne Lucens, Elatine Triandra

Should be receiving some moss soon which I plan to tie to the driftwood. Once the plants fill in and I'm sure that the tank is stable, I plan to add some Red Cherry Shrimp.

 

[rich311k]

Nice tank. Cant wait to see it grow in.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

It's going to look great once it's all grown in. Good job...

 

[LittleNami]

*squirms excitedly* I agree with lwb, that is going to look awesome once it starts to grow in more. You definately have to keep us updated on growth. So how many pieces of driftwood are being used? It looks like 2-3 big pieces and a smaller once in front, but I can't tell for sure.

 

[Purrbox]

There are three large pieces of driftwood. There are two leaning against eachother in the back left and the third is the arching piece on the right.

 

[Jchillin]

I like the look of the tank as well. Very nice job. The Turface MVP looks really good as well. I would only suggest a couple of stones/rocks to the hardscape...maybe you've seen this recommendation previously?

 

[Glenc]

Very nice! Love the driftwood, will be spectacular when it grows in.

 

[HiFi]

Nice shape and depth with the driftwood
The moss will help set it off even more.
Some Light stones might look nice to counteract.

 

[Purrbox]

Well the tank has hit the two week mark and has developed Diatoms right on schedule along with a few other types of algae to make things interesting. I'm just letting the plants grow and fill in for now. I won't worry about whipping it into an aquascape until things have settled down and reached a nice balance. As a result the Elatine Triandra looks a lot more like a stem plant than a ground cover at the moment.

 

[rich311k]

That tank is amazing. You are an incredible aquascaper.

 

[Glenc]

That is a ton of growth in two weeks! You will have alot to work with when you decide to cut it down and shape it, going to be beautiful.

 

[Purrbox]

Thanks all. The growth isn't "quite" as impressive as it seems. The amount of Elatine Triandra was roughly doubled when I moved some more over from the 5.5 gallon after replacing it with Marsilea Minuta. However all of the upward growth has been since planting. I also add some Rotala Rotundifolia "Green" on the far front left as well as some Ludwigia Brevipes in the back middle. There's also some Cristmas Moss floating in the back left waiting for me to deal with tying it to the driftwood. So the plant mass has probably only doubled during the last couple of weeks, not the several times over that it appears.

 

[mr funktastic]

it is still very impresive. i like how u have made it look alot larger than it is. once that moss fills in it will look amazing. did u get only christmas moss? i like christmas moss but prefer java moss. it is much more wild looking and grows faster. i wish all u people lived in canada so i could ship u stuff cheap. i have tons of the stupid java moss that i would be more than willing to send ya. i cant wait for updates!!

 

[Purrbox]

Here's a shot of the tank at night with the moon light on. Moon lights are really awesome!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Pretty cool.....

 

[travis simonson]

I'm really starting to think I need a small tank now. Very nice

 

[mr funktastic]

ya i am with travis on this one. i am really tempted to go set up my 5 gallon and give it a try.

 

[Purrbox]

Well the tank has hit four weeks and is officially out of the worst of the new tank algae stage. Of course it did have a little help from a couple of plump otos that decided that my tank HAD to be their new home and begged until I caved and bought them. There's still some minor algae here and there, but not too bad, the worst is the Green Spot Algae that plagues all my tanks.

I've started trimming to try and give the scape a bit more structure. I've removed an amazing amount of Elatine Triandra which ended up being shared between three people that I know of, although I only sent it to two. The first batch was so huge that the recipient didn't have enough room and was going to share it with a friend who needed some for their 75 gallon! He couldn't believe that it had all come from a single 10 gallon tank.

I'll try to get some new pics later this week.

 

[Purrbox]

And here is the promised picture of the recently shorn tank.

 

[rich311k]

Great just Great. Love the foreground, background effect you have. When the front grows in some more, it will be truly magical.