10G Planted FW Craigslist Special

[Mixer]

So I got this 10G for free from Craigslist and decided I would make a planted tank (my first). I painted the back, got some good organic dirt, some rock and a few plants and went to work. You will see in these images how it turned out. All is going pretty well, except that after 24 hours it is getting a bit green. I am building a DIY CO2 injector that will be done tonight, and I think that the CO2 will help the green.

What do you think?

Any help, ideas or suggestions will be received with great appreciation.

Edit: Notice the pantyhose in the front, trying to seed this tank with a little gravel from my other tank.

 

[Mixer]

Little update: I didn't really like how much dirt and gravel I put in this tank, so I pulled the greening water out and removed about half of the dirt and rock. However in doing this I have really stirred up the dirt and so it will take a couple of days and water changes I believe to clear it up.

Here are a couple of shots of the tank and of the DIY Co2 injection system I built.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Looks great. There isn't really a point to having the co2 in there until you put in some plants. I would pull it out as its just feeding the algae. If the water starts to green again while you cycle, turn the light off and let it die out.

Or you can start loading it up with plants now. I had a 55 and 90 gallon natural soil setup before and it worked really well. You don't need to add fertilizers at all. There will be an acclimatization period for your plants though. Make sure you wait it out and the plants will eventually thrive and take over.

 

[Mixer]

I have a few plants in there now, you just can't see them because everything is stirred up. I will be doing a few water changes over the next few days to hopefully clear it up. My Co2 setup needs to be tweaked because it leaks, so I hope my plants don't die before I can get it figured out.

The plants I have now are 2 x java fern , 1 x anubias. They are the ones you see at petsmart, I have some more on order from sweet aquatics, see below.

5 x Anacharis (Egeria Densa)
5 x Rotala Indica (Rotala Rotundifolia)
2 x Cabomba Furcata
3 x Cryptocoryne Crispatula var. Balansae

 

[Crepe]

Great start. Soon you won't get enough of plants and it'll move out of the water and onto land plants XD. I'm starting to save up for some hydroponic lights for a bonsai passion I've just started feeding.

 

[Mixer]

Update on my tank. Well after a few water changes, adding some rock and building my DIY Co2 setup, the tank is pretty clear, the ph is 6.8 down from 7.6 so I can safely assume that at least some of the Co2 is getting dissolved properly.

Anyway here is a picture and a link to a video, enjoy.

 

[daileene]

very nice...it did clear up pretty good....

 

[Coleallensmom]

Nice!