10 gallon planted tank journal

[jhawk__]

So I've been begging my parents all week to let me get a 10 gal and make it planted and the finally let me! I'm so excited!

In this thread I will ask questions and keep you all updated on the build! Please subscribe/follow!

I plan on maybe adding fry or breeding guppy/platy/molly/swordtails and adding a few algae eaters or catfish!

What are some good algae eaters and catfish I can stock in this tank? Also what about some snails?! Maybe even a small school of tetras?

Here's what I have so far plant wise:
4" Argentine Sword
4" Compacta

Those are what my Lfs said would do good. What are some other low light plants I can add?

Any advice is useful!!

For substrate I use Eco-complete. It looks great!

Pics:

 

[Julianciraco]

Hey I just subscribed I'm interested on how your tank will grow to be like haha. Umm low light plants: java fern, moss, some swords, anubias.
Algae eaters: some plecos, I have 4 ancistris and they do pretty good,they get to a total size of 5" and clean the leaves pretty well, you could also do shrimp idk much about them but you can surely find enough information for it here.
What substrate are you putting in it? Swords are heavy root eaters so you're gonna need either root tabs or a rich in iron and potassium substrate.
What light do you want to put? 10g are great cause you can get cheap lightning that will do REALLY good lol and have you considered putting co2? You could run a yeast sugar system for really cheap and end up getting plants pearling and stuff >.< all depends on what you like .
Can't wait to hear about it

 

[Julianciraco]

Hey I just subscribed I'm interested on how your tank will grow to be like haha. Umm low light plants: java fern, moss, some swords, anubias.
Algae eaters: some plecos, I have 4 ancistris and they do pretty good,they get to a total size of 5" and clean the leaves pretty well, you could also do shrimp idk much about them but you can surely find enough information for it here.
What substrate are you putting in it? Swords are heavy root eaters so you're gonna need either root tabs or a rich in iron and potassium substrate.
What light do you want to put? 10g are great cause you can get cheap lightning that will do REALLY good lol and have you considered putting co2? You could run a yeast sugar system for really cheap and end up getting plants pearling and stuff >.< all depends on what you like .
Can't wait to hear about it

Wow I just realized you put a picture of ecocomplete, feel like a total dumbasss lmfao!

 

[Rivercats]

A 10g is only suitable for a few guppies or even less platies. Swords and Mollies get way too big, swords can reach upwards of 5+ inches and mollies grow very large depending on the type and sailfin mollies can get upwards of 6+ inches. Both swords and mollies aren't suitable for small tanks. A 10 gallon is very limited in the type of stock you can add. And when you refer to catfish there is no catfish suitable for a 10g. For algae eaters you need to know that all algae eaters eat specific types of algae and some algae no algae eater will eat. Your best choice for keeping in such a small tank would be 3-4 nerite snails. They can't breed in freshwater and they eat the biggest variety of algae... diatoms, bio-film, green dust algae, and green spot algae. They also won't add to your bio-load allowing for the max number of fish.

The Argentine Sword will grow too large for your tank so you will have to keep it's leaves trimmed to keep it somewhat under control. Other plants that would be good are water sprite or wisteria which can be trimmed to the size you want, crypt wendtii and parva, dwarf sag, 4 leaf clover, then if you have DW you can use anubia, java fern regular and wendilov, and bolbitus (african fern). You also need to get some liquid ferts. I would recommend Seachems Flourish Comprehensive to use weekly after WC's. And also get API Leaf Zone for potassium and iron to use as directed. For your swords and crypts you need to get root tabs for extra nutrients as they are heavy root feeders.

 

[Rivercats]

Pleco's are not suitable for a 10g. Only oto's are small enough and should only be added to a mature tank as they are hard to acclimate. Red Cherry Shrimp would work well with guppies and give a nice touch of color. One thing, be sure when you set your tank up to only run lights 6-8 hours max to help keep algae from taking over.

 

[jhawk__]

Hey I just subscribed I'm interested on how your tank will grow to be like haha. Umm low light plants: java fern, moss, some swords, anubias.
Algae eaters: some plecos, I have 4 ancistris and they do pretty good,they get to a total size of 5" and clean the leaves pretty well, you could also do shrimp idk much about them but you can surely find enough information for it here.
What substrate are you putting in it? Swords are heavy root eaters so you're gonna need either root tabs or a rich in iron and potassium substrate.
What light do you want to put? 10g are great cause you can get cheap lightning that will do REALLY good lol and have you considered putting co2? You could run a yeast sugar system for really cheap and end up getting plants pearling and stuff >.< all depends on what you like .
Can't wait to hear about it

Lol yeah, I'm using Eco complete, and I bought a kit, so ill check the wattage on the bulb.

I don't plant on using co2 cause I have no idea how to lol. I do plan on adding.

Where can I get some root tabs? And do have any info in fish less cycling? I'm a newbie at this lol.

 

[Rivercats]

Heres a good link for fishless cycling.... The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

Here's another one... Tips and Tricks For Your Fastest Fishless Cycle! - Aquarium Advice

 

[Julianciraco]

Hmm, I don't know much about fish less cycling, i can tell you that I've been told it takes a while, and I'm not a person that waits lol I put hardy fish in there and turbo start bacteria in there lmao but I recommend I you ask ppl who know more about that. You can get root tabs at umm LFS or aquariumplants.com, they should be easily available, I'm not sure about it lol I still haven't gotten mine >.< I didn't know much about co2 but I watched some videos in YouTube on how to do the yeast reactor so I tried it, now I have a gh/kh table and test kit so I can know how much co2 is actually in the water but I'm sure there's people here that know more about it lol I'm still learning bout plants haha

 

[jhawk__]

A 10g is only suitable for a few guppies or even less platies. Swords and Mollies get way too big, swords can reach upwards of 5+ inches and mollies grow very large depending on the type and sailfin mollies can get upwards of 6+ inches. Both swords and mollies aren't suitable for small tanks. A 10 gallon is very limited in the type of stock you can add. And when you refer to catfish there is no catfish suitable for a 10g. For algae eaters you need to know that all algae eaters eat specific types of algae and some algae no algae eater will eat. Your best choice for keeping in such a small tank would be 3-4 nerite snails. They can't breed in freshwater and they eat the biggest variety of algae... diatoms, bio-film, green dust algae, and green spot algae. They also won't add to your bio-load allowing for the max number of fish.

The Argentine Sword will grow too large for your tank so you will have to keep it's leaves trimmed to keep it somewhat under control. Other plants that would be good are water sprite or wisteria which can be trimmed to the size you want, crypt wendtii and parva, dwarf sag, 4 leaf clover, then if you have DW you can use anubia, java fern regular and wendilov, and bolbitus (african fern). You also need to get some liquid ferts. I would recommend Seachems Flourish Comprehensive to use weekly after WC's. And also get API Leaf Zone for potassium and iron to use as directed. For your swords and crypts you need to get root tabs for extra nutrients as they are heavy root feeders.

Thanks!! I'll make sure to just keep guppies and maybe a few juvenile platy or Molly. I have a 26 gallon I can move them to once they outgrew the 10.

Where can I get these root tabs? I would like to add them!

Ill get a few snails, and what about a few Cory catfish? Would they work? What about an albino pleco? I've heard they don't get as big.

 

[Julianciraco]

Heres a good link for fishless cycling.... The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

Here's another one... Tips and Tricks For Your Fastest Fishless Cycle! - Aquarium Advice

Great ****ing article lol

 

[jhawk__]

Here's some pics of the tank and the plants! I just now got it all setup.

The biggest plant is just a plastic one, my dad insisted I get it since it was "on sale" lol.

What do you guys think? Design suggestions?

 

[Rivercats]

Fish in cycling is much more work as you need to do daily ammonia/nitrite/nitrate testing and do WC's as needed to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at or below .25ppms. Which reminds me one thing you do need to invest in is an API master test kit so you can monitor ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. You need this for fishless or fish-in cycling.

 

[jhawk__]

Hmm, I don't know much about fish less cycling, i can tell you that I've been told it takes a while, and I'm not a person that waits lol I put hardy fish in there and turbo start bacteria in there lmao but I recommend I you ask ppl who know more about that. You can get root tabs at umm LFS or aquariumplants.com, they should be easily available, I'm not sure about it lol I still haven't gotten mine >.< I didn't know much about co2 but I watched some videos in YouTube on how to do the yeast reactor so I tried it, now I have a gh/kh table and test kit so I can know how much co2 is actually in the water but I'm sure there's people here that know more about it lol I'm still learning bout plants haha

That's what I always did to cause I never had enough patients! Lol

 

[jhawk__]

Fish in cycling is much more work as you need to do daily ammonia/nitrite/nitrate testing and do WC's as needed to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at or below .25ppms. Which reminds me one thing you do need to invest in is an API master test kit so you can monitor ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. You need this for fishless or fish-in cycling.

Yes, I have an API master test kit and ill make sure to read that article on fish less cycling!

 

[Rivercats]

Thanks!! I'll make sure to just keep guppies and maybe a few juvenile platy or Molly. I have a 26 gallon I can move them to once they outgrew the 10.

Where can I get these root tabs? I would like to add them!

Ill get a few snails, and what about a few Cory catfish? Would they work? What about an albino pleco? I've heard they don't get as big.

All plecos, including bristlenose albino or regular ones, still are too large and have too heavy a bio-load for a tank that small. Only oto's are suitable and they don't do well in new set ups. And not all snails are the same. Nerites are the ones you want. Only dwarf or pygmy cory cats are truely small enough for a 10 gallon. But if you have to have cory's then your going to have to look around for Panda cory cats. They stay pretty small but you can only do 3 in that size tank.

As for root tabs I've seen Flourish and API root tabs at PetCo and Pet Smart plus actualy fish stores usually carry them.

 

[Rivercats]

Yes, I have an API master test kit and ill make sure to read that article on fish less cycling!

Here is a link to all the different resources for setting up a new tank, fish-in and fishless cycling plus other important info... http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...started-check-out-these-resources-154837.html

 

[jhawk__]

All plecos, including bristlenose albino or regular ones, still are too large and have too heavy a bio-load for a tank that small. Only oto's are suitable and they don't do well in new set ups. And not all snails are the same. Nerites are the ones you want. Only dwarf or pygmy cory cats are truely small enough for a 10 gallon. But if you have to have cory's then your going to have to look around for Panda cory cats. They stay pretty small but you can only do 3 in that size tank.

As for root tabs I've seen Flourish and API root tabs at PetCo and Pet Smart plus actualy fish stores usually carry them.

Ill get some dwarf Cory's then and a few nerite snails. How soon can I add these to my tank during the cycle? And ill pick up some root tabs tomorrow!

 

[Rivercats]

Don't add nerites until you see diatoms starting to appear in your tank. Diatoms are brown algae that occurs in new setups due to excess silicates in the water. Nerites love diatoms and you need to have food for them before you add them. As for cory's you want to add them after you've added the guppies. They will do best if the tank is 3 or so months old.

 

[jhawk__]

Don't add nerites until you see diatoms starting to appear in your tank. Diatoms are brown algae that occurs in new setups due to excess silicates in the water. Nerites love diatoms and you need to have food for them before you add them. As for cory's you want to add them after you've added the guppies. They will do best if the tank is 3 or so months old.

Alright ill make sure to do that!

 

[jhawk__]

Ok so my dad said (being stubborn) that I wasn't aloud to spend any more of his money on my tanks so I can't get the pure ammonia from ace hardware.

But I did start cycling my tank just by adding established filter media and a few pinches of fish flakes.

Ill check my parameters tomorrow to see if my ammonia has raised to see if my cycle started!