Want to try plants

[67chevelle]

I have had low light plants before,without much luck.They always seem to stay alive,but never thrived.They seemed to clog the filter,and make more mess than they were worth.Right now I have no live plants.
So,I am thinking about trying it again.I am going to try this in my overstocked 10 gallon.If it works better in this tank,I might try it in others.Here is the light I am thinking of buying this light,
http://www.petmountain.com/product/light-fixtures/512404/current-usa-nova-ex
and changing the actinic bulb to one of these http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent-bulbs/511020/t5ho-10%2C000k-d
I will also be using a DIY co2 reactor.Basically a 2 liter bottle with a glass diffuser.What are some of your ideas on this light,and on DIY co2?What plants would you suggest for a 10 gallon tank with tetra,gourami,cory,otos,and a snail?

[red_wall]

Anubis :] , I really like the look of anacharis as well, possibly some java moss. All beginner plants really. Depends on what you want the tank to look like.

Anacharis as a background, anubis attatched to some driftwood, or even just planted in the substrate, then java moss wherever.

[67chevelle]

Anubis :] , I really like the look of anacharis as well, possibly some java moss. All beginner plants really. Depends on what you want the tank to look like.

Anacharis as a background, anubis attatched to some driftwood, or even just planted in the substrate, then java moss wherever.
I guess I am not all that inrerested in what kind of plants.I have had all of the ones you mentioned.I am interested in lighting and co2.Thanks for the response though.

[red_wall]

Lighting looks good, and for DIY co2, just type it in on youtube, it shows tons of different ones to use and step by step instructions on how to do it.

[phanmc]

40w of T5HO over a 10g tank is a lot of light, more than I'd be comfortable using with only DIY CO2. Good price though, I'd use only one bulb if you decide to use it.

I wouldn't use a glass diffuser with DIY CO2, it doesn't generate enough pressure to maximize the effectiveness of a glass diffuser. I'd use a powerhead and stick the CO2 outlet near the intake of the powerhead, or stick the CO2 outlet near the intake of your filter and let the filter dissolve the CO2.

[Riiz]

DIY CO2 primer and build ideas: http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

Another route instead of DIY CO2, is a product called Excel, made by Seachem. Anacharis and Vals are sometimes sensitive to it, but it actually works, and has the side benefit of killing algae also, but that isnt advertised.

[foofooree]

They have a freshwater version of the nova extreme I am pretty sure..... I had 40 watts pc and sunshine for 1 hour a day with diy co2 and it worked great!

[Mgamer20o0]

i would also look into using a incandescent hood and put cfl bulbs in them. i have a 20 long with two bulbs over the top and can grow a lot of plants. really starting out you should low light and work your way up. have any tanks other then a 10?

[67chevelle]

i would also look into using a incandescent hood and put cfl bulbs in them. i have a 20 long with two bulbs over the top and can grow a lot of plants. really starting out you should low light and work your way up. have any tanks other then a 10?
Yeah I have a few other tanks check out my tank set up,lol
But I wanted to try it on a 10 gallon,because I have had low light plants before in this tank,and other tanks,and although I liked them,they never really thrived,and made more of a mess,and were a major pain,IMO.So if I try it again,I want to make sure I have proper lighting and CO2.
Someone else had mentioned the light fixture I want to buy with 2 bulbs would be too much for a 10 gallon using DIY CO2.Why is it too much?
Also,I thought DIY CO2 worked fine,but I have no experience with it.If it is not a good idea,can some one suggest another way to get CO2 that is fairly inexpensive,under $50 hopefully.

[phanmc]

The smallest light linked is a 2x20w T5HO totaling 40w. T5HO is much more efficient than regular fluorescent and even more efficient than compact fluorescents. I have a 12g tank with 50w of CFL lighting and that hood would be about the equivalent. Growth is very fast, CO2 and nutrient uptake is also very fast. At this light level there isn't much room for mistakes.

Unfortunately there isn't a cheap pressurized system. I'm currently using a $200+ ADA mini CO2 system for my 12g. There is a pressurized system that can fit onto a paintball CO2 canister but that's still close to $100, and you still need to purchase the canister.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/4531/product.web

I think 1 bulb on the T5HO fixture is sufficient for your needs. It should be able to grow a wide variety of plants with the addition of CO2 and not go out of control. Mgamer's idea of using an incandescent hood is also good. Screw in two 20w bulbs and you have all the light you'll need.

[67chevelle]

The smallest light linked is a 2x20w T5HO totaling 40w. T5HO is much more efficient than regular fluorescent and even more efficient than compact fluorescents. I have a 12g tank with 50w of CFL lighting and that hood would be about the equivalent. Growth is very fast, CO2 and nutrient uptake is also very fast. At this light level there isn't much room for mistakes.

Unfortunately there isn't a cheap pressurized system. I'm currently using a $200+ ADA mini CO2 system for my 12g. There is a pressurized system that can fit onto a paintball CO2 canister but that's still close to $100, and you still need to purchase the canister.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/4531/product.web

I think 1 bulb on the T5HO fixture is sufficient for your needs. It should be able to grow a wide variety of plants with the addition of CO2 and not go out of control. Mgamer's idea of using an incandescent hood is also good. Screw in two 20w bulbs and you have all the light you'll need.
But isn't two 20w incandescent bulbs the same watts as the fixture I had the link to,40w??
Could you also explain what you mean by at this light level there isn't much room for mistakes.What does that mean?Also the link you gave me,all you need with that is the paintball cannister?

[67chevelle]

This is the look I am wanting,what do I need to do this?
http://www.pozitifpc.com/editorblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/takashi_amano_2.jpg

[phanmc]

There is regular fluorescent (T12, T10, T8, etc), which we base much of the wattage per gallon on. There's compact fluorescent (the spiral and U-shaped lights) which are slightly better. Then there's the high output fluorescent which the T5HO fixture you linked are. High output fluorescent put out much more light than regular or compact fluorescent bulbs, so 40w of the spiral CF lights are not equal to 40w of T5HO.

When I say there isn't much room for mistakes, I mean that the light will drive growth to the point where it will use up the available CO2 and nutrients very quickly. If you do not have enough CO2 and ferts present, plant growth stops and that leaves room for algae to take advantage of what small amount of nutrients are available. Not only will the possibility of algae increase, the plants themselves will begin to show signs of nutrient deficiency much quicker.

The picture you linked is very doable with 20w of T5HO or 30w of CF light. The plants in the pictures are HC, dwarf hairgrass, and java fern. The most light demanding one is dwarf hairgrass and you don't need very high light with them, Mgamer's pic with the 1.5wpg T5HO shows the same dwarf hairgrass.

The CO2 system I linked has most of the important parts, you just need a glass diffuser, bubble counter, and paintball CO2 canister. If you go with pressurized CO2, I would also invest in a drop checker so you know you're not overdoing CO2, they're cheap on eBay.

[67chevelle]

Cool,thanks!