VERY new to plants in tanks! A few questions!?!?!?

[Mommaof4boys]

I am looking to add live plants to my already set up 10 gallon tank! I currently have 1 black skirt tetra, 1 black stripe rasbora, 1 common pleco, and 2 moss balls! I only have a thin layer of blue rocks from walmart on the bottom of my tank, a rock, and 3 plastic plants! How do you convert to a planted tank? Will I have to remove my fish from the tank and start all over? I want a couple nice big plants and then maybe a few small ones... I would love any suggestions you could give me! Thank you!!

[rreekers]

Originally Posted by Mommaof4boys

I am looking to add live plants to my already set up 10 gallon tank! I currently have 1 black skirt tetra, 1 black stripe rasbora, 1 common pleco, and 2 moss balls! I only have a thin layer of blue rocks from walmart on the bottom of my tank, a rock, and 3 plastic plants! How do you convert to a planted tank? Will I have to remove my fish from the tank and start all over? I want a couple nice big plants and then maybe a few small ones... I would love any suggestions you could give me! Thank you!!

OK. I can help you with the plant info but you need to correct you stocking! you need to rehome your common pleco, like within a few days they need around a 125g tank, they grow to 2 feet long and have huge amounts of waste!

the other 2 fish you have are schooling fish and need groups of 5+

to help you with plants I need to know what lighting you have.. how many Watts is the bulb. is it a fluorescent bulb or 2 smaller bulbs

to convert to planted you just put plants in the tank .. no need to mess with fish or anything.. most likely you only have lighting for low light..

[Mommaof4boys]

I was thinking the pleco needed a new home... I don't think my lfs would take him and I don't know anyone with a big tank!! Maybe I'll call petsmart and see if they would take him!!

I wanted to get more of the tetra and rasbora a school of each would be fine for me!

I have two 30 watt bulbs, they came with the tank.. I actually have aquarium plant growth bulbs, they are pre-tested 15W incandescent bulbs!?

I had read a lot about using sand and plant pellets and co2.. lol I didn't know what I actually needed to do!

[rreekers]

well here is the issue with t.,he 2 types that you have. they are both top/middle swimmers. if you were to fill both school you would be very overstocked.. because they get to about 2.5 inches each... and neither are really suggested for a 10g tank...
some ideas you could consider would be:
Nano fish--ember tetras, chili rasboras, celestial pearl danios, sparkling gouramis
neon tetras, Pygmy cories, a betta, shimp, you could do a Ram for a center piece fish ..

copied from another thread: Celestial pearl danios, dwarf puffers, glowlight danios (not the same as GloFish), chili rasbora, micro rasbora, Endler's livebearers, guppies, platys, pygmy cories (C. habrosus, hastatus, pygmaeus), Asian stone catfish, rice fish, ember tetras, jellybean tetras, neons, green neons, scarlet badis, sparkling gourami, dwarf gourami, betta (there are a bunch more species than the ones you always see in the cups), croaking gourami, clown killifish, Norman's lampeye killifish, pygmy sunfish, least killifish, and shell dwelling cichlids. Keep in mind, not all of these fish are compatable, some need a species specific tank.

[Mommaof4boys]

Okay, well, if I got another 10 gallon could I put one breed in one tank and one in the other? Would I be able to add any other fish or just the school of the one breed?

[rreekers]

as far as plants go.. stick with the 2 30w bulbs rather than the 2 15w .. the more watts the higher lighting = more plant options.

here are some links to some awesome lists of low light plants.

Low Light Plants

Excellent List of Low Light Plants



i personally really like anubias, as well as java fern, java moss, for low light plants.

you do not need co2 and you do not necessarily need to dose fertilizers, but it may help with growth.

[Mommaof4boys]

Now I guess I just need to figure out what to do with the fish I have and what fish I need.. Thank you so much for your help! I should probably get another bag of rocks to go in the tank before I add the plants, I only have 1 bag of rock in there right now! Again, Thank you for your help!!

[rreekers]

well you can always take the fish you have to a lfs, they are normally really good about taking them, if you tell them that you dont have adequate space for them and want to get something more appropriate for your tank size.. but do your research on fish before taking pet store employees advice, they are just in it for the sale.

you want to have a 2in deep bed of gravel

i am more that willing to help you establish pros and cons of the fish you are interested in, as well as establishing numbers..

but need to know what type of filtration you have on the tank

[rreekers]

5 pygmy cories would be great in your tank - that covers a bottom fish.
green neons are mid/bottom - stay about 1in in legth --need groups of 5+ but are harder to find
chili rasboras- are top/ mid dwellwers -- need 5+ stay under an inch..

these 3 fish @ 5 fish each school would give you a nano tank , all of these fish like a some what planted tank for security..

Endlers stay about an inch as well, but will readlily bread if you house males and females together

sparkling gouramis, stay around 1.5 inchs

i would say if you want to do schooling fish and want to have full schools, find fish that stay smaller than 1.5 inch

[Mommaof4boys]

I really like the chili rasboras! They are very colorful and unique looking fish! I also like the green neons and the pygmy corys! However, when I was looking at them, it says they like biotope setup.. and I don't really want brown yuckyish water! Do they have to live in stained up water?

[Austin.b]

I have 5 chili rasboras in my shrimp tank and their coloring is awesome!!! However they can be pretty awkward. Mine are usually huddled up in the corner just chilling. My parameters are always pristine because of the shrimp. Anyways they're pretty cool! I've heard that you could do at least 13-14 in a 10G if that's the only fish in there. Maybe more, but I'm not sure that would be a good idea for you because your going to have cory's too. Maybe you could do 8 chili rasboras and 4-5 Pygmy cory's? Would you like to see a picture of one of my chili's?

[Mommaof4boys]

Originally Posted by austin.b

i have 5 chili rasboras in my shrimp tank and their coloring is awesome!!! However they can be pretty awkward. Mine are usually huddled up in the corner just chilling. My parameters are always pristine because of the shrimp. Anyways they're pretty cool! I've heard that you could do at least 13-14 in a 10g if that's the only fish in there. Maybe more, but i'm not sure that would be a good idea for you because your going to have cory's too. Maybe you could do 8 chili rasboras and 4-5 pygmy cory's? Would you like to see a picture of one of my chili's?

yes please!!!!!!

[Austin.b]

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Sorry, these were the best I could get. Oh, make sure not to overfeed, these little fish don't eat much at all!they also prefer more acidic water if I'm not mistaken

[Austin.b]

Forgot to attatch this pic

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[Mommaof4boys]

They are SO tiny, you can barely see them! LOL Thank you for the pictures!!

[Mommaof4boys]

Originally Posted by rreekers

well you can always take the fish you have to a lfs, they are normally really good about taking them, if you tell them that you dont have adequate space for them and want to get something more appropriate for your tank size.. but do your research on fish before taking pet store employees advice, they are just in it for the sale.

you want to have a 2in deep bed of gravel

i am more that willing to help you establish pros and cons of the fish you are interested in, as well as establishing numbers..

but need to know what type of filtration you have on the tank

My filter is a aqua-tech! It came with the tank! I also have a submerged water heater that is a constant 76 degrees and a bubble stick in there!

[Austin.b]

Originally Posted by Mommaof4boys

They are SO tiny, you can barely see them! LOL Thank you for the pictures!!

Yeah, if you would like to get some you have to cover up the filter intake with a prefilter. I found 2 in my filter just swimming around a day after I got them lol have you thought getting celestial pearl danios?

[Mommaof4boys]

I have a little like guard tip in my filter... So I'm good there! Lol and I looked at the the celestial danios but I don't like them all that much... They are ok but not my top pick!