Adding plants to 10g tank

[picture_117]

I have a 10g tank with Guppys and a pleco in it. I already have one plant in the tank & it grows up with long stems and leaves at the end, I want plants that fill in and provide cover, any help?

 

[Homedog98]

I have a 10g tank with Guppys and a pleco in it. I already have one plant in the tank & it grows up with long stems and leaves at the end, I want plants that fill in and provide cover, any help?

What type of lights, and what type of pleco?

 

[picture_117]

Britle nose pleco, two 15 watt incandescent light bulbs

 

[adadkins1]

Okay, you will definately need to be religious with your water changes since you have a bristlenose pleco in that tank. I have one in my 10g, and it is not exactly advisable for unless you are up to doing the maintenace required. If you are dedicated you should be able to make it work depending on the exact species of your bristlenose they can get 4 - 6" fully grown. I too have a bristlenose in my 10g, but am willing to have to do the extra work for the little critter.

The second thing is: incandescent bulbs will not grow any kind of plant. The light spectrum they put out is essentially useless to plants. So, you will need to get some compact fluorescent bulbs from Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. The ones I use are 13 watt "mini cfl", just make sure the package says "daylight bulb" and/or "6500 K rating". Two of these bulbs will grow low to medium light plants in your tank setup.

How many guppies are in the tank? Livebearers and plecos are notorious for having a high bio-load (excreting a lot of waste).

 

[Homedog98]

Ok, for plants, you've got really low light, so I'd say anubias (attach to DW), java moss (attach to DW), java fern,and anarchis are your best bets. As for the big plant, it sounds like an amazon sword.

For the pleco, you were right to buy the bristlenose, but I'm afraid even they'll outgrow a ten gallon. Is it possible for you to upgrade to more like a 30, or trade them in for a few ottos? They'll do just as good at cleaning algae, without reaching 6 inches.

 

[picture_117]

Yeah incandescents are just for now, will probably get fluorescent or LED's.

I am planning on giving my pleco to a friend who has a 60 gallon tank because like ya'll stated it will outgrow mine.

I have 6 guppys in the tank. I can post a picture of the plant

 

[Homedog98]

Yeah incandescents are just for now, will probably get fluorescent or LED's.

I am planning on giving my pleco to a friend who has a 60 gallon tank because like ya'll stated it will outgrow mine.

I have 6 guppys in the tank. I can post a picture of the plant

Sounds good! We love pictures!

 

[adadkins1]

Alright, if you can give him away your tank is probably about stocked. You could get some oto cats or smaller plecos (pitbull) if you still wanted an algae eater. They may be hard to come by depending on where you live though. If you are on a budget, cfl is a whole lot cheaper than LED's IME. Two bulb pack for me was about $7.

If you upgraded to this lighting, you would have a much wider variety of plants for your tank. If you are impatient, like me, fast growing stem plants like anacharis, cabomba, water wisteria, and water sprite could work in your tank. They will fill out a tank fairly nicely.

+1 on the pictures.

 

[picture_117]

I'm leaning towards the Java Moss

 

[picture_117]

So I now have new fluorescent lights, and switched out the BN Pleco for an Oto

 

[daileene]

hi...so far you already had good advices from everyone here.

+ with the CFLs with 6500k-10000k rating. The plant in the picture looks like some kind of a crypt. But someone must have a proper name for this later.

You are in the right track of exchanging your BN pleco to an oto.

Keep it up!

 

[picture_117]

Thanks!!
I was wondering which would be the better plant, a Ruffled/ Amazon Sword or a sort of moss?

 

[Homedog98]

Are you gonna get the Otto some buddies? 2 more would be perfect! (they school)

 

[picture_117]

Yes!! When I purchased him (lonely otto) the lady said to go back on Sunday, they get their shipment Saturday, and get about two more for my tank

 

[Homedog98]

Yes!! When I purchased him (lonely otto) the lady said to go back on Sunday, they get their shipment Saturday, and get about two more for my tank

Aww, cool!

 

[picture_117]

I got some driftwood & black sand today, and a sort of sword plant

 

[daileene]

that's cool. DWs are good with java ferns and anubias and/or java moss too.

 

[Homedog98]

I got some driftwood & black sand today, and a sort of sword plant

"cough" pictures?

 

[picture_117]

 

[picture_117]

Sand isn't as easy to work with as I thought
The fish seem to like their new additions, & going under the driftwood.