My first planted tank

[GlassmanMD]

So I decided to give a sand base with plants a try. I have always been into the aquarium lifestyle and I would love to be able to do some great tanks someday lol. Im currently in an apartment and space is limited but I am a professional glass guy by trade so I hope to build my own tankS very soon. I'm waiting mortgage approval lol.

Anyway, I'm currently cycling my little 10gallon tank with a sand bottom. It has a little castle thing in it I'm really fond of. I'm hoping to get something viney or carpet like to cover it for a more natural look. I might be going driftwood hunting this weekend. If I find something I really like the castle may get tossed in favor of a nice piece of wood.

As the tank stands right now I'm using a Marineland LED light I cant remember the specs offhand lol. The tank also gets a good amount of afternoon sun which I'm sure isnt the best thing but there really is no where else to put it.

So my questions would be: What would be some easy to maintain plants? IS there any favortie carpet type or viney plant to cover the castle or maybe some driftwood? I have been looking into Java fern and some java moss. Also some Star moss for some ground cover. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

I know it's out of level and needs more water

 

[fort384]

Moved to Freshwater & Brackish - Planted Tanks - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

 

[sudz]

You got it! Java Moss and Java Fern are pretty much zero requirement plants. If you have SOME light, and some nitrates (fish poop) you're good to go.

With a tank that size, the unlevel isn't a big issue - but when you get to an 800 pound tank (75 gallons) its a lot of stress added to one side of the tank - Somethign to consider when you start building your monster tanks from scratch. (kind of wish I was a glass man!)

Depending on your lighting (which I'm assuming is a T8 Strip light) some other low light plants like HornWort or Duckweed might work as well, but will eventually fill up the top of the tank and choke out light. (looks pretty though!)

All depends on your lighting!

EDIT - Just zoomed up - LED lighting. Assuming you have the double bright with 8 LED's. THis will work for low light plants - you might be able to get some crypts going too, But I'm not sure if they'll flourish.

Also not sure if your substrate is ideal - but I'll leave others to comment on that!

Sorry for the unessary lighting questions

 

[GlassmanMD]

No need to apologize for questions lol. It is a double bright with moonlights. I do think the substrate could be deeper. I wasn't totally sure how much to put in there being my first sand base lol. I actually have some duck weed floating in there from my 37 hex tank. I keep up with and remove some as needed. So far it's been up for 3 weeks it has about 6 guppies and two otos from my other tank. They are doing well all my parameters are spot on. Hopefully I can find some nice wood over the weekend. I was debating about making a 3d background for it. I could get the foam for free so that's a plus. I've kinda been making this a test tank. I have 2 55 longs and a 40 breeder in a closet waiting for the space to set them up. If I can get some good things going in this little tank once my mortgage comes through I'll have all the apace I need for bigger and better things. I'll place this little one in my daughters room lol.