New 10 gallon. First attempt at planted.

[lorddaftwager]

Hello, I'm planning a 10 gallon aquascape/planted tank. I bought the 10 gallon dennerle scaper's tank and have been collecting hardscape, equipment etc as money allows.

The light that the tank came with is an led 5 watt, 6500 kelvin, 500 lumen (1270 lux in 40cm of water.
The filter is a corner filter at 2 watts with a pump capacity of 150 l/h.

I've too many questions for one post, but here are a few:
-fish/fishless cycle with/without plants?

-what plants to start with? (what will grow in my setup? Willing to venture into co2 injection)

-recommended fertilizer for startup?

Can't wait to get started! Thanks for any advice.

 

[Bert2oo1]

View attachment 297452
Hello, I'm planning a 10 gallon aquascape/planted tank. I bought the 10 gallon dennerle scaper's tank and have been collecting hardscape, equipment etc as money allows.

The light that the tank came with is an led 5 watt, 6500 kelvin, 500 lumen (1270 lux in 40cm of water.
The filter is a corner filter at 2 watts with a pump capacity of 150 l/h.

I've too many questions for one post, but here are a few:
-fish/fishless cycle with/without plants?

-what plants to start with? (what will grow in my setup? Willing to venture into co2 injection)

-recommended fertilizer for startup?

Can't wait to get started! Thanks for any advice.

Hey, loving the set up! Not really sure what your par would be but if it's a "scapers tank" I'm sure it's more than capable!

If your going to have pressurised co2 then I'd say you can grow any plant u want to.

I'd do a fishless cycle with plants (plants help soak up abit of ammonia etc) and then u can enjoy your tank straight off [emoji106]

If u plan on planting heavy straight off then I'd recommend EI dry salt dosing or PPS pro. Both methods work well. I'd say if yours going a lot of stems then EI is better but for majority carpet plants I'd say PPS pro is a better approach.

What kind of look are u going for? If I know your ideas (jungle or refined) then I can give u a few plant ideas

 

[lorddaftwager]

Hey, loving the set up! Not really sure what your par would be but if it's a "scapers tank" I'm sure it's more than capable!

If your going to have pressurised co2 then I'd say you can grow any plant u want to.

I'd do a fishless cycle with plants (plants help soak up abit of ammonia etc) and then u can enjoy your tank straight off [emoji106]

If u plan on planting heavy straight off then I'd recommend EI dry salt dosing or PPS pro. Both methods work well. I'd say if yours going a lot of stems then EI is better but for majority carpet plants I'd say PPS pro is a better approach.

What kind of look are u going for? If I know your ideas (jungle or refined) then I can give u a few plant ideas

Awesome, thanks for all the tidbits. I'm going for a riverbed look. Though I would like a little carpeting. Here's a pic I googled for an example of what I have in mind:

 

[Bert2oo1]

Rotala colourata will be good for over the back right, rotala sp for next to that. (Colorata goes red in high light).
Best moss is weeping moss for the weeping look haha

S repens will work nicely in front.

Dwarf hair grass or blyxa japonica will give u that grassy look where u want it.

Needle leaf Java is a good space filler.

hydrocotyle japan is a nice addition (pretty sure that's what's in the middle under the wood in the picture.

AR mini is good for a splash on red as a focal point.

Anubias nana petite is a good little bush plant.

Easy plants to grow are:
Mosses of most types
Java ferns of all types
Anubias of all types
Crypt's of all types
Bacopa
Hygrophila's of most types

Medium would be:
Blyxa japonica
Dwarf hair grass
Rotala of all types
AR mini
Ludwigia of all types
Monte Carlo
HC Cuba
Hair grass

These are all a good starter for u. Obviously there is plenty more. My advice would be to google all of these a pick the ones u like and then get them

I would say these are the most common scape plants.

 

[lorddaftwager]

Whoa! That's a ton of choices. Thanks for taking the time and sharing all that plant knowledge. I have some research to do.