First timer- 10g low tech?

[mannamae]

I think I will start with the hood and put the LED's on the wishlist I love the natural light they give, but the price is a bit outside the budget at the moment.

So... Have: tank, filter
need: better lighting/hood, play sand for substrate, plants, heater, chemicals, test kit... then fish
also need: to figure out if the tank leaks or condensation gathered on the bottom. Leaning towards condensation as there was no water in the tub, just drops all over the bottom of the tanks.

 

[Byron Amazonas]

I think I will start with the hood and put the LED's on the wishlist I love the natural light they give, but the price is a bit outside the budget at the moment.

So... Have: tank, filter
need: better lighting/hood, play sand for substrate, plants, heater, chemicals, test kit... then fish
also need: to figure out if the tank leaks or condensation gathered on the bottom. Leaning towards condensation as there was no water in the tub, just drops all over the bottom of the tanks.

About the best test kit you can get is the API Master Combo liquid test kit. This is a liquid test, as opposed to strips which are considered less reliable, and has tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. These are what you should have.

By "chemicals" the only thing you really must have is a good water conditioner. Chlorine is present in most municipal water, and in some places chloramine too. These can kill fish very quickly, depending upon the strength. Most conditioners deal with chlorine, and many chloramine too--they will say this on the label. Beyond this, it depends upon your tap water. Generally I do not like using conditioners that do more than what is necessary, i.e., dealing with whatever is in the tap water to start with. I don't know of any "bad" conditioners, though I have my preferences. You should check with your municipal water people, on their website probably, or use your new test kit to test the tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Any one of these may be present in some areas.

Byron.

 

[FishFanMan]

I think you'll really like the LEDs. If you can delay starting up the tank until you save enough for the LED, I think in the long run you'll be happier with the options that it will open up for you. If you know a handyman, he/she can make a DIY upgrade to your current hood by putting in 1 or 2 CFLs in there. I did that to my 12 gallon hood.

 

[mannamae]

I will keep looking at the LED options, maybe I will come across a sale
API test kits are all I ever have used so I will likely stick with that. And a conditioner and plant food were all I was talking about with the chemicals. THough I do need to see if my LFS will give me some established media to cycle the tank with, I think if I can buy some of the plants out of established tanks w/ some substrate attached but I will go see them soon.

 

[Byron Amazonas]

THough I do need to see if my LFS will give me some established media to cycle the tank with, I think if I can buy some of the plants out of established tanks w/ some substrate attached but I will go see them soon.

This is not wise. We quarantine new fish to prevent disease entering our aquaria, and the same pathogens and more can enter via any matter from a tank with live fish. Never use substrate or filter media from another person's or a store's tanks.

You are intending a planted tank, so I would plant it and then add the first few fish. This is how I always do it. If you are overly-concerned, you can always use one of the proven biological supplements that seed live bacteria. I have used these, though with live plants I never bother.

Byron.