10 gallon planted tank

[Loukas42]

So I've never done a planted tank before.

I've been Doing a lot of research and now I've come to my last stop, advice from the pros haha.

I would love for you guys to help guide me through this process.

Okay, where do I start?

 

[JokerWx13]

first, you've gotta understand that having a planted tank is a costly process
second, plants need a specific type of light to let them grow better
third, they need fertilizer as well

 

[MABJ]

You should start! Lol. Tell us your lighting system and all that good stuff.

 

[Loukas42]

Yes I know it's costly and I know they need a lot of care but I'm ready to take the leap into planted tanks.

I don't have lighting. I've been looking around at t5ho lights and also some custom led setups but idk which one to go for yet.

 

[fort384]

IMO t5ho would be overkill on a 10 gallon tank. I would look into LED or PC solutions.

Do you know what kind of planted tank you want to setup? Are you looking at low light, medium light, or high light plants? Have you started looking into CO2 injection yet, and is that something you are interested in?

If you have some species of plants that you know you are interested in and what kind of tank (high tech/low tech) you want to setup, it will help us suggest some good lighting solutions for your tank. Another good starting point would be your budget - there are low end and high end solutions for just about everything in this hobby, and everything in between.

 

[JokerWx13]

i wud suggest getting an incandescent hood from any store then replacing the bulbs with compact fluorescents. 2 10w bulbs should do since that would put you at medium light. and since it's a 10g tank, it's not too deep either so i think that would be perfect. don't forget, too much light and not enough nutrients or co2 would invite algae, and no one wants algae :/

 

[Loukas42]

Ive looked at DIY co2 but nothing on the actually co2 stuff. And I wouldn't want to worry about high light plants, just low to medium on that range. Not really a set list. I've read things here and there about some plants but not exact species yet.

 

[Loukas42]

With that hood idea with compact fluorescents, would I have to run a co2 with that?

 

[MABJ]

I'm a proponent for moss carpets/floors. They look sooooooooo cool. Especially depending on the moss you use.

Mosses like Java Moss could survive with no lamp whatsoever.

 

[fort384]

Nope. That would be a very inexpensive way to learn a planted tank. If you decide to upgrade later you won't be out a ton of cash. CFLs would give you many many options in terms of species.

 

[JokerWx13]

it puts you at medium light so that's probably the limit before co2 needs to be used. green spot algae and brown algae is normal and can be scraped off

 

[Loukas42]

Nope. That would be a very inexpensive way to learn a planted tank. If you decide to upgrade later you won't be out a ton of cash. CFLs would give you many many options in terms of species.

What type of species would we be talking for a tank that has that kind of lighting?

 

[Loukas42]

I'm a proponent for moss carpets/floors. They look sooooooooo cool. Especially depending on the moss you use.

Mosses like Java Moss could survive with no lamp whatsoever.

Do you have any pictures of your moss carpet I could possibly see!?

 

[JokerWx13]

mosses are very easy to keep and maintain since they don't grow out of control easily and they require very little light to grow. usually, carpet plants require more light since they stay at the bottom of the tank and the moss carpet is a good replacement, but i enjoy sticking my moss to driftwood or rocks since i like the appearance better

 

[MABJ]

Do you have any pictures of your moss carpet I could possibly see!?

If you check the early pages of my link in my signature, you'll see how it looked when I first put it in, but now it is on one side! I'll send some new pictures.

 

[Loukas42]

Sweet thanks!

 

[MABJ]

I have a variety. I'm new too.

 

[Loukas42]

What besides moss would be easy and good for that light setup I want?

 

[MABJ]

My entire setup is low light. Different dwarf grasses, java fern, rotalias, clovers, ect

 

[fort384]

To give you an idea of some of the stuff you could grow under medium light, here is a pic of my old 29... granted this is a high light tank but most of the stuff would grow under medium light:

The only exceptions would be the pogostemon erectum in the back left corner, and the blyxa japonica in the front right. Those are higher light.

Species you could grow with medium light that I had in this tank:
Several varieties of crypts
several varieties of anubias
several varieties of java ferns
mayaca (would grow slow, but would grow)
rotala rotundifolia (would grow slow, but would grow)
java moss
riccia (would grow slow, but would grow)