Converting a 10g tank into a planted tank

[bballsosh]

Could somebody tell what i would need. filter, light, etc. I would like know of a price range. Also would i need a c02 system for it. Any help would be great. Thanks. Just want a basic 10g planted aquarium.

 

[blazeyreef]

I am in the process of doing the SAME thing! so I might be able to help lol

well a 10gall would be great to start off with LOL, you can get just a tank for $10, or one with a hood, for $30 with incandescent hood or $50 with 15 watt fluorescent, its up to you, but either way you will want to get a new light (even though im just adding light to mine) unless you want a lower light tank
filter, a normal HOB would be fine, IMO, or a canister, but in that small a tank a canister might take up to much room (?) a HOB can cost anywhere between $10 and $40 is, depends on what you want
heater about $15 ish for a good one
and DIY CO2 would be very beneficial, its actually very easy to do! and cheap as well, all you need is a empty 2 liter bottle, sugar, yeast, and water!
and for substrate, eco complete, (eco complete is a little more expensive, about $25 ish for 15 pounds here) or VERY FINE gravel (about $12.99 for 15 pounds here) would be great!
a test kit would be a must! you can get a master FW test kit for about $25, it will have nitrite, nitrate, PH, and ammonia!
water dechlorinator is a must
and some fertilizer would help as well!

 

[bballsosh]

any idea on how much i would be spending?

 

[blazeyreef]

it depends on what all you want, I personally have spent about $172.79 (been keeping track) but ive gone all-and-out with it, and that includes fish/plants, several different lights, and stuff, that was my trial and error spendings LOL

 

[bballsosh]

As for the co2 system what kind are you using and how much did it cost and same for the light? lmk thanks

 

[blazeyreef]

im useing DIY CO2, it cost me about... $7!
and the lights, I have done the incandescent thing, then fluorescent, then several kinds of fluorescent (like white, or color enhancer etc) and right now im useing a 15.watt color enhancer (Fluorescent) and 2x 13watt PC 's in extra fixtures! I got the 15 watt F, and the tank, and heater, and filter, for $50 though (walmart set...ugg)

 

[bballsosh]

Sorry for this dumb question, but i am not familar with the co2 systems. What exactly is a diy c02 system.Does it work good and where could i get it?

 

[blazeyreef]

DIY CO2 is do it yourself CO2, its were you get a empty 2 liter bottle, clean it out, then get the cap and drill a small hole in it, just big enough for a piece of airline tubeing to go in, then get some sealent and make the airline tubeing secure to the cap, then for CO2, mix about 2 cups of sugar, 1 tbs of yeast, and the rest water, and the mixture of yeast and sugar will creat CO2 and push it through the airline tubeing into the tank, you will want something to make the CO2 bubbles very small and fine so they dont desolve as fast! hope that makes a little sence ?!? ( I learned all this from help from the members here!)

 

[rkilling1]

Just let me interject one thing here. Be smart when you are shopping. If you plan on purchasing things from petsmart, go online first and printout the online price and take it into the store. I do this everytime and save a lot of money in the process. If they will not match it (not that I have ever had this happen), Petsmart online has free shipping until the end of the year as long as you purchase more then 50 dollar worth of goods.

I say this because the master test kit IS 25 dollars in the store, but it is only 14 bucks on line! and if you bring in the printout, you walk out saving 11 bucks!

HTH

 

[bballsosh]

DIY CO2 is do it yourself CO2, its were you get a empty 2 liter bottle, clean it out, then get the cap and drill a small hole in it, just big enough for a piece of airline tubeing to go in, then get some sealent and make the airline tubeing secure to the cap, then for CO2, mix about 2 cups of sugar, 1 tbs of yeast, and the rest water, and the mixture of yeast and sugar will creat CO2 and push it through the airline tubeing into the tank, you will want something to make the CO2 bubbles very small and fine so they dont desolve as fast! hope that makes a little sence ?!? ( I learned all this from help from the members here!)

Thnks but what do you use to make the bubbles fine and to just put the tubing in the tank? with a suction cup

 

[Purrbox]

I highly recommend that you take a look at the sticky at the top of the forum. It's got links to several threads and articles that cover all of the information that you are asking about. While it's not a step by step guide, it will give you the basic information to understand what you need to consider. We can help clarify anything that still isn't clear after you've done some reading up.

There have also been several threads lately about setting up 10 gallon tanks as well as several logs in the aquascaping forum on 10 gallon tanks. These will give you some ideas on what other people are doing with the same size tank and what some of the possibilities are.

 

[czcz]

Here's another guide for small tanks with being cheap/investing wisely in mind.