Planting a 10 gallon tank

[codeoverride]

I am setting up a 10 gallon tank and although I have already purchased some artificial plants, I really love the grassy looking plants that I've been seeing on photos.

I have a fluorescent light for the tank and it is currently cycling (one week) with fish - I didn't know it was bad for them but they seem to be doing okay so far..

This is what my tank looks like right now. I wanted to remove that fake breeding grass and add a real grassy carpet bottom to it. Would that be possible and how would I go about setting it up?

Thanks!!!

 

[Purrbox]

Most likely you've just got the standard lighting that came with the tank. For flourescent that would be a 15 watt bulb and therefore low light. The main things that you can grow with that amount of lighter are Anubias, Crypts, Java Fern, and Java Moss.

To be able grow the kind of plants that you are talking about you would need to upgrade your lighting to at least medium light if not high light. The more light you have, the more maintenance that will be required (more ferts to dose and adding CO2).

I'd recommend starting by reading the stickies at the top of the forum and the related articles in the articles section. These contain lots of useful information that will help you to decide what exactly you want to do with the tank.

 

[hashbaz]

Some plants you can just pop them in and they will be OK.... but this is not true of most plants - especially the ones you want.

You will need a ton of information to grow a "lawn." There are some stickies at the top of this forum that will get you on the right track.

To briefly answer your question, you will need:
high light (2.5 wpg - preferably more)
CO2 (or fluorish excel)
a better substrate

 

[mr funktastic]

u would actually want more like 4-5 WPG becasue the smaller the tank the more light u need for it to be highlight. grassy plants blyxa japonica would make a nice mid to buckround plant and has that grassy look u like. ELEOCHARIS ACICULARIS is another nice grassy plant. LILAEOPSIS BRASILIENSIS <------ i think u will really like this one. those are a few options but as u can see they mostly require higher light. tell us what u are specifically interested an and we can help u choose a set up appropiat for what u want.

 

[codeoverride]

You're right, I really do like the LILAEOPSIS BRASILIENSIS. Some of the ones on my search looked a little long but I guess I could trim them shorter?

I've never had live plants so I'll check out the stickies you guys mentioned. As for the lighting, I tried looking up the watts but the box didn't mention it (all it says is full fluorescent 10 gallon hood and it's by aqua culture).

 

[mr funktastic]

how long is the bulb? it is probabaly an 18" 15 watt bulb. pretty standard for those tanks. THIS would be a good light if u had a freshwater bulb instead of the 50/50 bulb. u could either use flourish excel (a liquid substitute for co2) or u could make a DIY system(extreamly easy to do but very effective) and use an EI dosing. this all sounds confusing but once u read the stickies and follow the advice of all the people on this ite u could have that dream tank u didnt think was possible.

 

[codeoverride]

I just measured the bulb, seems to be 17" but the watts were not mentioned
I'm looking for something really grassy and short that covers the bottom like a carpet.

 

[mr funktastic]

the LILAEOPSIS BRASILIENSIS would be your best bet then. it stays low and will cover the bottom. there are alot of different ground cover plants but they dont have the same appearance as grass. your stock bulb will not be able to grow anything but low light plants like purrbox mentioned. u may like different types of mosses. they are hard to use as foreground plants but u can tie it to rocks and wood to get some really cool effects. and it will be able to grow under your current light. christmas moss and java moss are 2 easy to grow options.

 

[codeoverride]

So you think I could grow the LILAEOPSIS BRASILIENSIS or the JAVA MOSS? I think they both look pretty good

A couple more questions..

1- To keep them more grass-like, would I Just have to trim them with scissors?

2- How many hours of light do they need? I'm afraid of warming up the water too much..

3- Would I just buy a couple patches and plant them a few inches apart?

4- I wanted to get 2 clown loaches and a dwarf gourami. Will they destroy the plant?

5- When cleaning, do I just syphon the bottom like I normaly would?

Thanks so much

 

[mr funktastic]

1- To keep them more grass-like, would I Just have to trim them with scissors?

the LILAEOPSIS BRASILIENSIS only grows to 2 inches so u shouldnt really need to trim but yes u can just trim them with scissors. and no u cant grow them under your current light. u will need higher light like the one i suggested to grow it.

2- How many hours of light do they need? I'm afraid of warming up the water too much.

usually 8-10 hours is the norm. but it doesnt matter how long the light is on them if the wattage is not high enough.

3- Would I just buy a couple patches and plant them a few inches apart?

yep. buy a patch of the plants them carefully plant each little bit with tweezers spaced out over the forgorund. thiss will make sure it gets better light when first starting out and also makes it spread faster.

4- I wanted to get 2 clown loaches and a dwarf gourami. Will they destroy the plant?

the cloun loaches will more than like rip it up if u put them in right after u plant it. u would want atleast 2 weeks for the plant to be undisturbed so it can grab roots and hold itself down.

5- When cleaning, do I just syphon the bottom like I normaly would?

once this plant fills in u wont be able to siphon the bottom which is fine becasue the planst will be using most of the debris that is created. u can just simply waft the siphon over the grass to kick up any loose debis.

under your current light u can grow the java moss and christmas moss,Anubias, Crypts and Java Fern. if u want all those nice grassy plants u will have to upgrade your lighting. sorry but the better they look usually the harder they get lol.

 

[codeoverride]

Okay, so maybe Java Moss might be my best option for the grassy looking terrain under my current lighting condition?

I ran into this article about Riccia (seems like I might not have enough light for that one either) and I was wondering if that wire mesh with netting over it would be the right way to keep Java Moss from floating up to the surface (because Java Moss won't normaly root itself to the rocks at the bottom of my tank, right?)

Here is the article: http://www.petfrd.com/forum/articles.php?action=viewarticle&artid=8

Thanks

P.S.; I was also wondering about Glosso as a possibility

 

[mr funktastic]

java moss will grow itself into the substarte but it will be very stringy and loose. if u can get the wire mesh or plastic mesh(used for macromay) u can either sandwhich it with a hair net or tie it down with fishing line. i am actually trying this right now for a ground cover. the mos would grow well in your light and should provide u with that grassy appearance untill u have the light to support other ground cover plants such as HC, all those grass plants i suggested, glosso, riccia... the list goes on. the moss will be a great start for u.

 

[JRagg]

I know this isn't in response to your plants, but there is no way you should keep two clown loaches in a 10g tank. The tank isn't big enough. Even juvenile clowns would outgrow that tank very quickly.

 

[mr funktastic]

lol i didnt even register that when i read it. thanks for pointing that out jragg. i totally agree that 2 would be wayyyyy to much for a tank that size. u may want to consider cories instead for a bottom dweller since they are smaller and u could get a school of them.

 

[codeoverride]

Oh, that really sucks
I had 2 clown loaches in this tank before and they lasted 3 years and seemed very happy.
I guess I'll look for something else this time around.

How many hours of light a day does the java moss need?

 

[ryan]

you should normally have tank lights on for 9 to 10 hours but 9 will do for low light plants.

 

[codeoverride]

Wow, that's a lot of light time.
What do I do if it heats up the water? Add ice cubes in a ziplock bag?

 

[rich311k]

NO bulb should not heat the water at all. Most PC fixtuires come with built in fans to keep things cool. What kind of bulbs do you have?

 

[JRagg]

Agreed, the only way that a light fixture heats up the water is if it is sitting directly on a plexiglass or plastic hood. With a glass hood if you lift the light about 1/4" off of the tank to provide some airflow underneath the light you shouldn't see any temperature swing at all.

A normal 15W bulb that comes on a 10g tank shouldn't produce much heat at all.

 

[Peyton]

I like the looks of your tank as it is now. It's neat how you matched the plants on your background with the plants in the tank. Gives it more depth I think.