10 gallon obsessive Plant Collector tank.

[E-cubed]

I started a thread almost a month ago in the "Introduce Yourself" section. Since my tank is now well planted and waiting to grow in, I thought I would start a new thread here. I hope you enjoy my journey as I learn, make mistakes and new discoveries after a 2 decade absence from the hobby. So much has changed! :nilly:

My 10 gallon tank has many kinds of plants and when they grow in, I may be in for trouble. It is also packed with driftwood. I use just 2 13 watt CFLs with a color temperature of 5800K (daylight). I started off with 12 hours of light and of course that was too much and experienced a bloom of algae as the tank cycled. (I seeded the tank with some material from another tank's filter so the cycle went pretty quickly.) I use an Aqua Clear 20 for a filter and keep my temp at 77-78ºƒ. The water in Portland, OR is very good and my pH is very consistent at 6.5. I don't have all the other test kits (never had them years ago when I had breeding Discus.) Water here tends to be soft coming from pristine mountain reservoirs fed by rain and snow melt.

I considered using a yeast reaction CO2 system, but have now decided against it. I do use Flourish Excel at the recommended dosage. I started with a slightly higher daily does for a few days after the initial recommended blast, but have now settled on a routine of .7ml every morning. (Directions on the bottle say to use 1ml every day or every other day. I chose a middle course.) I measure with a 1ml syringe.) I have cut my hours of light back to 8 hours. So far I do not fertilize and am open to suggestions for an easy way to do so. The only "fertilizer" comes from the fish and the laterite I mixed into the bottom inch of gravel as per package directions.

The only fish I have is a school of Ember Tetras and a single Longfin Albino Bushynose. I feed him a slice of blanched zucchini every day, and feed the Tetras with a flake food, frozen baby brine shrimp and frozen daphnia. I was going to keep this as a species tank for the Ember Tetras, but they are rather difficult to see because of their size, so I am considering a slightly different course.

I have fallen in love with some Green Neon Tetras and am considering a few of those for some flash. (It seems that I read that they stay smaller than the regular Neons or Cardinals... advice please!) I am also considering a pair of Blue Rams for a signature fish. I wish I could have a single Angelfish because my local fish store got some really beautiful half dollar sized Koi Angelfish, but the tank is so short I don't think it would be fair to the fish. If I had a taller tank, I would have one already.

Enough words. Here is a picture I took yesterday... :headbang2:

 

[b19fish]

I like it looks like a mini jungle keep up the good work

 

[E-cubed]

Thanks for that! Yes, a jungle, and like I said, I better keep the trimming scissors near by! :cheers:

 

[GianniFish]

It's a small beautiful tank, have you thought of upgrading to 20 or 40 gallons so you could house a pair of Angelfish. The impact would be very impreesive.
I admire the coloration of your plants. Well kept.
Gianni, NY

 

[E-cubed]

It's a small beautiful tank, have you thought of upgrading to 20 or 40 gallons so you could house a pair of Angelfish. The impact would be very impreesive.
I admire the coloration of your plants. Well kept.
Gianni, NY

I sort of wish I started with a larger tank, but the space would not allow for a larger footprint. I should have gone with a 15 tall, or my local fish store had a 20 X-tall that both had the same footprint as the 10 gallon. No more fish in either tank, but the taller plants would have more space and the height would allow for an Angelfish. I will be satisfied for now...

I do have a 90 gallon tank that has never been set up. I am thinking that may have to be set up eventually and I can use this one for an isolation tank, and for a "greenhouse" for plants that may eventually move. I love the fish, but the plants are what I really like!

 

[Starry]

I love your wood piece and the anubias growing on it! Lovely.

 

[E-cubed]

Thank you Starry! Your tank has gone through a lot of changes! I know mine will too.

Of the several pieces of wood, the one with a big hole through the middle was a "must have". When I found it at the Fish Store, the staff had a hose going through the hole to keep it out of the isle. I made them extract it for me. My Ember Tetras like to swim through the opening going from the front to rear of the tank. :grinyes:

 

[Fordtrannyman]

Nice!
If I'm not mistaken, I see a couple plants that may soon be too big for that tank.
Of course you may already this.

 

[jameshilljr]

great looking 10g-it looks bigger than that with all of those plants! If hadn't seen the top of the tank in the picture-I couldn't tell that it had water in it...

 

[E-cubed]

Nice!
If I'm not mistaken, I see a couple plants that may soon be too big for that tank.
Of course you may already this.

Yes, well, the E. parviflorus 'Tropica' is a smaller sword plant, but will get bigger. I also have an E. 'Red Flame' that may get too big, but if it does it will move on and I will plant a baby. The Crinum calamistratum gets huge, but the leaves are narrow, and if they get too long I will shorten them. Others I hope stay in line with trimming, such as the Myriophyllim tuberculatum. And the Java Fern grows like mad, but I will keep it under control. We shall see...