Hello all, newbie here looking for some critiques or suggestions. I used to work in a fish store and had a house full of tanks, but that was roughly 10 years ago and I feel like everything has changed now!
I decided to set up an old ten gallon I had lying around and do a planted tank as I used to have one with a pair of angels in it and LOVED it. Honestly, even back then, when I "knew what I was doing" I think I just got lucky. So now I'm trying to learn the ins and outs and do things properly.
Here's what I've got:
- As the title says, this is a 10 gallon tank
- I am doing a fishless cycle but with live plants already in
- Substrate is Ecocomplete
- Lighting is a Marineland F15T8 that came with the hood
- Plants:
one small Anubias nana attached to driftwood
three bunches of Anacharis
(2 rooting in substrate)
(1 floating loose at the top)
one banana plant
a few home-grown spider plant babies that I'm rooting
* All of the plants are doing amazingly well thus far!
ALL of the Anacharis has started rooting - one is so deep into the substrate I'm afraid to move it now and the other is getting close. The bunch that is floating loose is sending out runners every which way. The banana plant has grown three leaves in ONE WEEK and is sending out some long tendril-looking thing toward the light.
* The baby spider plants will not be permanent. I just have SO MANY from the momma plant that I've run out of places to put them. The bettas are doing their part to house these little orphan plants so I thought the large tank should pull its weight as well.
- Filter is HOB for 10gal (I forget the brand)
- I have the water level lowered a bit so the filter aerates the water a bit more than usual; did this when I noticed a bit of a filmy layer forming on the surface - problem seems to have fixed itself
- Also have an air stone running on opposite end of the tank from filter
- Lights are on between 6-10 hours per day depending on work schedule; once the tank is fully cycled I intend to put them on a timer for 8 hours. Haven't had time to pick up a timer yet.
- Dosing with Prime every few days when doing water changes and adding Stability every day. I've heard mixed reviews but the good outweighed the bad so I figured, why not? There's no fish yet so what could it hurt?
- Inhabitants (stock) are as of yet undecided. The tank may end up going to one handsome betta all by himself. I'm hoping to do more of a community tank I think, but I really love this betta so I may just hold off on more fish until he goes and let him live in this mansion.
- Water parameters are currently:
PH - 7.5 (ish)
Ammonia - 0.5 ppm
Nitrites - off the charts high (5 ppm+)
Nitrates - 5 ppm
* Testing with API Master Test Kit, NOT strips *
Temperature - 75* ish - buying a better heater tomorrow bc this one is inconsistent and I'd like to be at about 78*
If I've forgotten any critical information please let me know.
If I'm doing anything wrong or could be doing something BETTER please tell me! Teach me, teach me! I need to re-learn! Thanks, guys. 
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