Two 10 gallon planted tanks

[Christian Patti]

Hi I'm new to this forum and would just like to say it seems like a great site! Anyways I'm getting into planted tanks for the first time and I have LOTS of questions.

I built a stand that can hold two 10 gallon tanks on top of each other. For lighting I'm going to wire and build my own fixtures. I am going to use two of these bulbs over each tank Click (http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18358/si1379183/cl0/aquaglo15wt8fluorescentlamp18) This should put me at 3 watts per gallon on each tank which is what I understand to be high lighting. For CO2 I'm going to go the DIY route and have a 2-liter bottle for each tank. For substrate I'm going to do something made for plants like seachem flourite or eco-complete.

Now thats my plan after extensive searching and reading every article I could find on the subject. Now what I need to know is there anything else I should buy or know about because I am completely new to this. Such as fertilizers or anything else you might happen to think about.. And test kits such as KH ect ect please tell me everything

Also I need to know what kind of plants to put in each tank and how many I can put in one ten gallon.

I chose these as potentials so far, tell me what you think.. i want these tanks to look like jungles lol

Anubias barteri v. ‘Round Leaf’
Baby Tears (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
Pennywort, Brazilian (Hydrocotyle Leucocephala)(6-8 stems)(8"-10" tall)
Wendtii, Red (Cryptocoryne wendtii)
Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
Retrospiralis (Cryptocoryne retrospiralis)
Vals, Corkscrew (Vallisneria americana)

Also keep in mind I'm planting two 10 gallon tanks so I would like to know if these plants can be divided when I get them so I can put them in two tanks and i want to have both of these tanks to be like a jungle so please tell me if i need more plants to do that

http://www.AquariumPlants.com is where the palnts will most likely be bought from.

[midmichman80]

Sounds like a good plan to me. You could probably fit all those plants into one 10 gallon easy, it just depends on how much of each you want in each tank. You can easily split most plants into seperate sections, most times when you purchase stem or bunch plants, you'll get several per order and be able to seperate roots(pull apart) and plant seperate root systems in different places.

Sounds like you have done a lot of research. A suggestion to save money though, if you are going to build your own lighting system, I'd go with screw-in spiral energy saver flourescent bulbs. They are cheaper to purchase, last just as long(if not longer), more readily available.

The only thing I would purchase in addition would be some snails, nerites are great for clean-up, only eating dead plant material, and MTS(Maylasian trumpet snails) are also good at clean-up and will stir up your substrate too(helps aerate the gravel, plant roots like O2-go figure).

That's all I have, good luck and prepare to upgrade, lol, once you have two beautiful 10 gallons, you'll want a 20 long, then a 55, MTS gets the best of us.

[customdrum]

looks like you did your homework! only thing you may want is fertilizers.
if you go with medium light plants youll need to get seachem products or dry ferts in addition to the co2. alot of people just use excel and flourish in tanks but if you plan on having medium light and more difficult plants youll want to go dry ferts to save alot of money.

you can most likely buy those plants here cheaper than at an online store.
i sell plants here and others sell those cheaper than they do to so check the classifieds for some plants.

[Christian Patti]

alright and also where can i get these dry fertilizers everyone keeps mentioning

[midmichman80]

I got my ferts at aquariumfertilizer.com, good prices, quick shipping.

This site does have a lot of plants for sale, and much cheaper then most any online store.

[Christian Patti]

I was just going to ask about that. Because the site I was going to buy from is surely more expensive but I can pick whatever plants I want and pay one shipping fee and get them all. What are the chances of finding someone here who has all the exact plants I want.

[jamesstill84]

The majority of those plants are pretty common on here. You have a pretty good chance of getting them all from one person.

[Christian Patti]

Thanks for the input, also I can probably get larger amounts of each plant here so I have enough for both my 10 gallons. When I'm ready I'll have to make a request thread

[jamesstill84]

That is very true. People tend to be pretty generous with their product on here.

[Christian Patti]

Sorry for all the questions :rolleyes: Heres another though, do you think my tanks are too small for an amazon sword since I've heard these grow to be massive?

[jamesstill84]

I keep amazons in my 10 gallons. Mine seem to grow fairly slow (even with Flourite, dosing Excel, med light, and DIY-CO2). You should be okay for a while if you get a young one.

[Christian Patti]

ok thanks for all the help james

[jamesstill84]

No problem. :)

[customdrum]

you can also get a tropica sword, they only get around 8" max height.
the ruby red melon also takes awhile to get bigger and would work good in a 10g tank. i have them both for sale to.

[jamesstill84]

Melons are beautiful too!

[Christian Patti]

The last thing I'm still confused on is fertilizers. I keep hearing people mention dry fertilizers. If you could clarify this and wether you not you think they will be necessary would be great.

and ive learned so much on this site already.. thanks again

[tigerbarb88]

i have about 13 stems of wisteria in my ten gallon and believe me, they grow like crazy under 2.5 watts per gallon and Flourish liquid fertilizer.

[addicted2fish]

The last thing I'm still confused on is fertilizers. I keep hearing people mention dry fertilizers. If you could clarify this and wether you not you think they will be necessary would be great.

and ive learned so much on this site already.. thanks again

well most people start with the seachem liquid ferts . I would probally say start there, when you know more about water chemistry, what plants you like, whay ferts they' like,. you will know when your ready to use the dry ferts. I belive thier is a website that is dryferts.com ..LOL ~ just do some research on all of these, and see whats best for you . *( liquids) Excel & florish are 2 that most people use weather the use others or not . again , depends on what your plants are asking of you . with 3 wpg , and diy co2, I would say yes, you will want to use ferts .

when you get the tanks looking like you want , and as you watch your plants grow, you will see what plant responds to what water, lighting, ferts , etc... its pretty easy , remeber the KISS rule, *( keep it simple stupid ) it just takes a little while with the tank up , to see where your going with it . I used' to use diy co2, and higher lighting , I found it to be a pain for me. so IMO I like 2.5 wpg, and ferts, no co2. but i dont mind if my plants grow slow ... :) I just like them healthy & green . No algea. ~

Test kits ~~ You can buy a API FW test kit at most LFS,
, this will have all the test you need from the start to the planted tank .

you sound like you have a great start ! So just go slow, and get it right the 1st time, although if your like us planted freaks' you will probally re-scape alot .. lol Good luck !!

You may want to look at hardscapes' do you want driftwood ? rock ? what kind of fish if any ? what do they like in thier tank ? just some more to research .. lol have fun !

[Christian Patti]

Thanks again everyone... another few questions (hopefully the last ones)

I only have one heater but two tanks.. Will the plants be okay without a heater and just at room temp

second, are the plant substrates like eco complete or flourite worth it because they are about 20 dollars a bag which is crazy.. if you know of a cheaper alternative that works just as well let me know

[jamesstill84]

I have used regular gravel, play sand, pool filter sand, top soil with sand, & flourite. I can say that I think Flourite does the best. You can get it in natural color or in black. It helps the plants grow roots really fast. Much faster than any other substrate i've used.

The top soil covered in sand helped them to develop a nice root system too, but I didn't notice too much growth above the soil...