Advice on first planted tank with fish

[Tanked]

I have a 10 gal. planted tank that has been set up for a couple of months now and everything is growing but slowly. I have 4.5 watts per gallon of compact flourescent light a substrate comprised of a 1" layer of peat and 1 1/2" of fluorite. I also have diy CO2 that I used the first month and have since stopped. Right now I have hornwort and microsword. The hornwort grew rapidly with the CO2 and I thinned it by half on two occasions but the microsword grew slowly and actually seems to do better with out the CO2. It doesn't make since to me. The hornwort is still growing well just not quite so rapidly. My problem is that with the CO2 injections the PH fluctuates between 5.2 and 6.7 without the CO2 it flucuates from 6.2 to 6.7. I added some neon tetras because the tank need a little movement. My question is this: is there any way to stabilize the ph to an acceptable level while using CO2 injection? Also what other small (6" to 10") plants would make a nice addtion to the tank?

 

[EMS503]

What was your pH before you started using the CO2. If you started it right away I would stabilize the pH at 7.0 and make sure it stays there then run the CO2 again. pH usually dosen't move until the CO2 is stopped and then it will jump up.
You could try Anabus small plant with med. leaves or Java Fern . Swords are not a real fast growing plants. I am not familiar with using peat this may have something to do with the pH but I will leave that to someone who is familiar with it.

 

[Bearfan]

This is a common occurence with the DYI system, that's why I like the Hagen, it hasn't effected my Ph. Java ferns are easy to grow and some varieties remain short.

 

[Guest]

1" layer of peat

There's your ph problem. 1 inch of peat is far too much for a 10 gallon. It will drop your ph like crazy. even large tanks, like my 45, it's only recomended to use 1/4 inch of peat.

Also what other small (6" to 10") plants would make a nice addtion to the tank?

Get some stem or bunch plants, they grow really fast and you trim them when they get too tall.

is there any way to stabilize the ph to an acceptable level while using CO2 injection?

Not with that much peat in there, I dont think so. Sorry, but IMO, it's time to break it down, get the flourite separated from the peat, and just put back the flourite. You should see an improvement in the ph levels right away.

Small plants, or bunch plants you might like, dwarf saggitaria, dwarf valisineria, hygro polysperma, geez theres tons more.

 

[d9hp]

I love anubias nana, as long as there are other vine type plants to even things out. Look at tyler's 5.5 in the photo gallery, most likely the cooles anubias I have seen. I agree with the hagen system. I have a 5.5 tank, and the pH only changed by about .3

It stays at a constant 6.4 now.