Hey guys! I'd like to thank this community for being so knowledgeable, and for treating newbs with respect. I've always been a fan of community aquariums, and now I finally get to own one. I knew virtually nothing about aquarium maintenance, cycling, fish profiles, and the benefits of live plants. With the help of information on this forum I was able to slowly piece together the puzzle of being an aquarist!
So here's how my 10G planted took off, and how it is looking today, one month later.
1) Bought the 10Gal (came with
HOB Filter, Hub with lighting (2 bulbs) (stock incandescents are terrible btw), White sand from
LFS (thoroughly washed), and some black substrate. Bought a 50W heater 78-82F auto, and an air curtain.
2) Placed a decent piece of filter media from a healthy tank at home (picture) and waited a week and a half, testing regularly for an established cycle with my API
FW Master Kit.
3) Thoroughly washed, and bathed a piece of Malaysian Driftwood from local
LFS before dropping it in the tank with some Moss(Algae?) Balls which I took apart and stuck on the driftwood. I didn't use any glue or anything, the moss stuck quite nicely on its own. None came off when I lowered it into the tank.
4) Two days later, I added my main fish, two Emerald Colissa. They look like Blue Dwarf Gourami, and probably are cousins, but don't have close to the amount of red in them that the Dwarfs do, which is why I picked them for their nice turquoise full shimmer. Also picked some Java Moss and placed it around the driftwood/in substrate. Isn't the lighting terrible?
5) During the next week and a half, I added two Corys, two Black Longtailed Mollys, and four Cherry Barbs which are still tiny. Stock count is at 10 fish. Gouramis are an inch a piece, Mollys as well. Corys are tiny, about 3/4 of an inch each, and the Barbs must be babies because theyre about half an inch each at best. Oh, and I replaced both incandescent bulbs with
PC Marineland 5100K 10W Natural Daylight fluorescents. What a difference! Also, added some plant with red tips whose name eludes me, any guesses?
6) I'm looking into the Eheim 2213 for a better filter than my Tetra Whisper PF10 which is terrible in comparison. Also, doing weekly 25%
WC's with API Stress Zyme and Seachem Prime. Feeding with TetraColor Tropical Crisps, Nutrafin Max for Bottomfeeders (which my Corys don't seem to touch?) and Nutrafin Max Tropical Fish Flakes which my Barbs prefer to the crisps because its soft.
Anyways, comments welcome guys! I just need to know what to feed my Corys, and if I should be looking into an Algae Eater. No Algae as of yet. Here's a last pic of my biggest of the two male Gourami
but my 5 java ferns have come today. Still no sign of my moss though.
Linear Mode
