10g FW Planted Build

[AggieMel]

Hi everyone!

I just started a 10g FW tank 5 days ago. It's nicely cycling and I've been slowly adding plants as I can acquire them.

These are the stats on my tank:

10 gallon freshwater (20x10x12)

Filter: AQUA-Tech 5-15

Substrate: Gravel

Lighting: Two 15 watt T10 clear 120 Volt bulbs

Plants:
2 Anubias nana
5 Anacharis/Elodea (Egeria densa) stems
5 Water Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) Stems
1 Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)
1 Marimo moss(algae) ball
2 Lily bulbs and 6 Aponogeton bulbs awaiting germination
Small cave and sandcastle decor
Currently on day 5 of fish-less cycling with fish food and added substrate from an established tank (4ppm Ammonia, no Nitrites or Nitrates yet).

First off, do you all think that my lighting is adequate for the plants I have? From what I've read, they all are supposed to be OK for low-light conditions, but I just want to be sure. I already made the mistake of buying a couple non-aquatic plants at the LPS before joining this forum. Just looking for some confirmation here since this is my first tank.

I do not plan on getting a CO2 system, unless I've missed something and you all tell me I need one.

Also, what kind of fertilizer regimen am I looking at to be successful with a simple gravel substrate? I'm an Agronomy major, so I'm all too familiar with fertilizer requirements of terrestrial plants, but I'm clueless when it comes to plant life underwater.

I am also looking to get some real moss (Java or Christmas, perhaps) and driftwood to replace the tacky decorations, but I cannot find any locally. My LPS also sells Argentine sword plants (Echinodorus argentinensis), and I may go back to get one or two in the future...

I'm also still brainstorming stocking ideas, so if you have any favorites you think might be appropriate inhabitants for my tank, suggest away.

Any input you all have will be helpful!

EDIT: I've done some more reading, and it seems that incandescent light bulbs are virtually useless for plants, would replacing my bulbs with two CFLs with these specs enable me to have medium light requirement plants?

Light Output: 905 Lumens
Energy Used: 15 Watts
Volts: 120
Incandescent Equal: 60+ Watts
Color Temperature: 5000 Kelvin
CRI: 82
Bulb Type: CFL

Cheers,
Melissa

 

[daileene]

Hi Melissa! Welcome to AA!

The only thing I want to recommend for the light specs is if you can get the "daylight" CFL bulb that has at least 6500-10000K. 5000K might be okay, but I think your plant will not thrive as good. They always recommend 6500-10000K. And 20W x 2 will give you medium lighting. The reason I know is that, I have a 10G too and the experts helped me through my lighting needs. And now, I have 2 x 20W CFL 6500K, and they said that I am in the medium lighting. So.....

With regards to the ferts, if you will stick to the low light plants, you can dose the Seachem Flourish (this is always recommended so I have one too) or Seachem Flourish Comprehensive (this is hard to find but very effective), or you can use FloraPride or Leafzone. If you have heavy rooted plants (amazon swords, other kinds of swords) you can put root tabs in the gravel maybe 2-3" away once a month and they will benefit from that. I have the API root tabs. It helps so far....

Did I miss anything else?

 

[daileene]

And oh, you might want to change the lighting as soon as you can before the plants will start melting on you. Just my humble opinion.

 

[BigJim]

So you've got 30W of fluorescent light over a 10g? That should be enough for most of your plants. I'm not sure about the bulbs or the wisteria. That 5000K looks pretty yellow. It should be good for the plants, but I think I'd put a daylight spectrum (6500K) bulb in place for a more blue look.

Do you have fluorescent tubes or spiral CFLs that screw into I can't say I've seen T10 bulbs before. Are you sure they're not T8? Finding replacement T10 bulbs might be a real pain.

CO2 probably isn't necessary at this point. Yes, you're over the 2Wpg threshold, but it's a small tank so the Wpg rule doesn't apply well. You could dose Flourish Excel or try DIY CO2 pretty easily if you need it.

Seachem Flourish is decent fertilizer for a low-tech tank.

You can post a wanted ad in the Classifieds section for moss. Many people post plants for sale there. Most swords will quickly outgrow your tank. I'd stay away from them.

Go with small rasboras or tetras.

 

[AggieMel]

Yay new lights

Thanks, daileene and BigJim.

Up until today I had two 15w incandescent lights in my hood (the ones that came with it). This afternoon, I made a trip to my local hardware store, and I purchased two 13w screw-in spiral CFLs rated at 6500K. I know they are less watts than I anticipated, but the next step up bulbs were rated over 20w and my (cheap) hood clearly states not to use anything greater than 15w. I hope this is sufficient. I really want my plants to be happy.

So, in short, I now have 26 watts of 6500K spiral CF lighting over a 20x10x12 10g tank. And boy, what a difference the bluer fluorescent light makes!

I bought a nice piece of Malaysian driftwood along with some Java Moss off Ebay yesterday, and I can't wait for it to arrive. I also bought two more portions of the Marimo algae at my LPS before they ran out (it was a limited/special order they had in) and have it all spread out now in one corner of my tank. It really adds a lovely, soft, carpet-like texture.

Does anyone have a link to a good simple DIY CO2 thread that wouldn't be overkill for at 10g? I've poked around but haven't found anything that seems like it would be good for my situation. I'm not too keen on buying the Hagen system after the reviews I've read. If I could get something fairly inexpensive and set up, I wouldn't be opposed to it.

Thanks again for the help! When I get closer to stocking, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. Still open to fish ideas from anyone else out there

Best Regards,
Melissa

 

[daileene]

Hi Mel,

I am happy you finally got a new light. Yes, it really does make a difference when it is bluer...it's pretty cool. You just want to look at them.. And yes, you have a sufficient wattage for your plants.

Yayy, new DW...that would add more beauty to your tank.

I will recommend for you to PM fort (he is our newest mentor) coz he knows so much about CO2. He is in my friend's list if you like. He helped so many members here when it comes to planted tanks. You can ask any question and he can answer almost all of them...

I am afraid to do a DIY but I only have low light plants right now so I will just dose Seachem Excel if I really need CO2 later on. I personally think you really don't need any dosing of CO2 right now, just because you don't have much medium-high light plants. What you have right now will thrive without CO2. Dosing ferts can be enough....

 

[daileene]

Do take some pictures please when you get a chance...we all love to see the before and after transformation of the tank..

We are picture hungry...hehe!

+1 with BigJim on the swords. They do get big, but i think if you really like the kinds, get the rosette swords (they stay pretty small - well, enough height that it won't overtake your tank). JMHO.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Following along

 

[AggieMel]

I'll get some pictures up later today. I just did some re-arranging in the tank, so it's a little cloudy right now. As soon as it clears up, I'll take some new pictures and get them up here, so be on the lookout!

 

[AggieMel]

Picture time

Picture time!

Old Lights

New Lights in Hood

Overall Shot

I wasn't originally a fan of the castle (donated by a friend), but I gave it a nice mossy lawn, and now it's kinda growing on me. Don't know if I'll keep it once I get my driftwood.

Marimo moss, Java Fern, & Elodea/Anacharis

Different angle with the little Anubias poking up in the back

Larger Anubias. I've had one heck of a time trying to get this thing to stay put without burring the rhizome.

My wisteria doesn't look very happy. I hope it perks up with the new lights.

 

[AggieMel]

Driftwood Pic

This is the driftwood I ordered. It is scheduled for delivery Monday or Tuesday. Can't wait

 

[fort384]

Hi Mel, welcome to forum!

Here is a thread that you may find useful if you are planning on DIY CO2:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/1-4-diy-3-4-purchased-co2-system-136350.html

It looks like you are off to a great start! The CFLs will make a dramatic difference.

 

[AggieMel]

Thanks for the DIY CO2 info, Fort. I am seriously considering a set-up like that. It seems extremely affordable, and as far as I can see, would be a positive addition to my tank. Not sure if I really NEED it, per se, but I definitely like the idea of it.

Did a 50% PWC today because the Ammonia started creeping up to what looked like almost 8ppm! Yikes. Got it back down to about 4. Wish I could have found a good ammonia source in town. The fish food method has so much guessing to it.

On the sometime-way-in-the-future stocking note, I've been doing tons of research. It's tough because there is so much conflicting information out there! Celestial Pearl Danios, Emerald Dwarf Rasbora, and Kerri Tetras have all piqued my interest. I *think* they are all suitable for my tank in some combination or another... maybe not all at once, but some combination of maybe two, perhaps? Also liking RCS. I would really like to add fish with unique patterns and colors without having mollies/guppies/platies, etc. I like things that are a little more "out there" and not so common. The only fish that suit my tank I have found locally that I kinda like are Dwarf Gouramis.

Any thoughts, comments, or input from anyone experienced with the above-mentioned fish?

 

[Deep Seven]

Just want to make a comment on the lighting.

If your hood says 15w bulbs, they are talking about incandescent bulbs. CFLs have a ballast built in to the bulb. The CFL ballast will heat up under normal operation. I had a lighting technician tell me not to use more then the equivalent rating when using CFLs.

That means the 13w CFL is equivalant to 60w bulb.

This may or may not be a problem. Watch your hood, inspect it after running the lights for a long period. Make sure the lights are not overheating and damaging the hood. Until you are sure that you're not overheating I'd consider it a possible fire risk.

 

[AggieMel]

Thanks for the heads up, Deep Seven. I wasn't aware of that. I'll be sure to keep an eye on it and look into the safety aspect a little more.

 

[fort384]

Agreed, I would watch it closely... but I know a lot of folks on here have been running CFLs in their hoods for years without incident, if that is any consolation.

 

[Frognugget]

another option for diy co2 is the jello version A Jello CO2 Thread
although you may want to scale down the amount of yeast for a 10 gal tank.

as far as fish go i would recommend:
sparkling guorami (trichopsis pumila)
Mosquito Rasbora (boraras brigittae)
phoenix rasbora (boraras merah)
Salt and pepper dwarf cory (corydorus habrosus)
dwarf cory (Corydorus pygmaeus)
Aspidoras pauciradiatus
spotted blue eye (Pseudomigul Gertrudae)
most any otocinclus my favorait being the zebra oto (otocinclus cocoma)
dwarf anchor cat (Hara Jerdoni)

-this is not an exhaustive list of options-

Edit: yes celestial pearl danios (CPDs) or emerald dwarf rasboras (erythromicron) are suitable for a 10 gal. Also forgot to mention that many killifish and betta species work well in 10g tanks, however i have no experience keeping them.

 

[daileene]

looking nice mel....and I am so jealous in your soon to be DW...looks so cute...

 

[AggieMel]

Houston, we have Nitrites!

Firstly, thanks for the fish suggestions, everyone. I'm still compiling a prospective list of non-plant inhabitants.

I'm still giving the DIY CO2 some thought. Loving the threads yall have shared with me.

My cycle is going quite well, as today I tested my first trace of Nitrites! Woohoo!

I got my driftwood in yesterday, and it came with two mystery surprise plants! One is definitely more Anacharis (in poor condition) and the other is some rather large sword type plant. I now see what BigJim meant when he said swords would outgrow my tank! If it grows much more, I may put it up for grabs to whomever is willing to pay for shipping, since I got it unexpectedly for free.

I've done a little more aquascaping. I tied my smaller anubias to the driftwood along with some of the marimo moss. I've also sewn the remaining marimo moss onto some plastic craft mesh so that it will stay put.

In some not-so-good news, I also discovered my first pond snail yesterday... I removed it promptly, only to find 3 more tiny (<2mm) ones . I soaked all my plants in saltwater before introducing them to my tank as per recommended to prevent such incidents, but I guess I wasn't thorough enough. Anyway, I now have a zucchini snail trap set up to make sure they don't start reproducing exponentially in my tank. Haven't seen any today, at least.

I'll try to get some new pics up later today; tomorrow at the latest.

Thanks and Gig 'Em!
Melissa

 

[fort384]

A few snails are a good thing. They will generally keep the plants cleaned up and help keep the substrate stirred up. If you don't over feed the tank, the population will stay in control.

Definitely post a few more pics.


Oh, and how many aggies does it take to screw in a light bulb?