wondering something

[XX Mikey XX]

i was wondering what type of freshwater plants that i could use with a...well...i dont really know what type of light it is. If it helps, it came with the 10 gallon tank setup i bought from wal mart.

right at the moment i have 2 "shubunkin" goldfish, a pleco (that doesnt do any good) and a pineapple swordtail fish (i got the swordtail to "break in" the tank and its still going for 3 months without any problems), but i really want to do something different because im getting tired of the goldfish #2ing all over...

i was wondering what fish and plants i could do in a 10 gallon tank...i realize i wont be able to do much because of the size of the tank (im working on getting a bigger tank), but i have to work with what i have.

i would like to do real plants, any eye catching and visually stimulating fish, and something that will actually do its job of cleaning.

right as of now i have a submersible heater (50W i believe), an underwater thermometer, and i scrapped the 10 gallon filter for a 30 gallon filter...

on the decoration side i have 5 plastic plants from wal mart, a custom made rock cave (i have 2 scorpion tanks so i have lots of different rocks to work with and be creative with), gravel (duh), and random geodes, marbles and those ridiculous glass gems, and 2 little buddha statues that are no bigger than an inch and a half tall...

ill more than likely scrap all the decorations in this tank for better ideas, but i also want to be able to add my male veil tailed betta to my new setup because the 2 gallon tank its in right now is kind of bare and id rather have it in my tank in my room...

but any help, advice, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated...
id rather have experienced advice than doing actual research because i did the research on websites when i got into scorpion raising and i learned 1,000x more on the forum i joined so i decided to apply that knowledge to this endeavor...

oh yeah, thank you in advance for anything im told by you guys

 

[BillD]

You probably have an incandescent top, so for lighting get a couple of 13 watt compact florescents bulbs in 5000K or 6500K colour temperatures. Either will do, but my preference is for the 5000K. Philips makes them in both those temps. this will allow the growth of vals (make sure you go with the shorter varieties), cryptocoryne, hygrophilia, Anubias, Java Ferns,and some other stem plants. These plants will grow fairly well in plain gravel, and you want about 12 hours of light per day.
For cleaning in a 10, Oto cats are hard to beat and a small school of a smaller variety of cory.

 

[meegosh]

My kit from walmart came with a fluorescent hood. I am growing swords, vals, red wendtii, and some others in my 10g with no problems. I replaced the 18" (I think) bulb with a 6700k bulb and the plants really took off.

 

[XX Mikey XX]

well mine has 2 bulbs that are like 3 inches in length (my estimate), im letting them cool down so i can pull them out and see what exactly they are...

 

[taylorodw]

If you don't want to replace the bulb, you can do java fern, anubias nana, and java moss. I had those in my 10g with the stock lamp, and they didn't grow too much but they were healthy.

 

[meegosh]

well mine has 2 bulbs that are like 3 inches in length (my estimate), im letting them cool down so i can pull them out and see what exactly they are...

If there are two bulbs then it sounds like you have incandescent bulbs. If that is the case, follow BillD's advice.

 

[XX Mikey XX]

ok...
when you say oto cat, do you mean the Otocinclus ?

oh yeah, and my bulbs are 15 watt..is there any live plants i could put with them until i get better bulbs?

 

[HeathB]

ok...
when you say oto cat, do you mean the Otocinclus ?

oh yeah, and my bulbs are 15 watt..is there any live plants i could put with them until i get better bulbs?

Yeah, thats our lovely name for them. After all, who wants to say otocinclus all the time?

Java ferns, moss, and anubias will do fine at those light levels. The oto cats might look like they are nibbling, but they're just scrounging for bits of algae.

When you do go pick up those little spiral shaped flourescent bulbs, make sure that you get the ones that say something like daylight bulbs on them. It should have a number on the box somewhere that is around 6500-6700K

 

[XX Mikey XX]

sweet...
thank you so much for the advice...
ill inevitably be back with more questions lol