10 Gallon Planted from the ground up

eugenet

eugenet

AC Members
Oct 30, 2006
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I've decided to do a true planted tank for my new 10 gallon I have. I do have another 10 and a 29 with live plants, but both are low light and only the 10 has any extra co2, also they both have HOB filters and playsand substrate. So I want to do this one slowly and try to get everything right the first time. So far all I have is the stand and the tank, just bought it empty at walmart with no accessories. I plan to use either Flourite, Eco-Complete, or Schultz Aquatic Soil as my substrate and both my other tanks have MTS, so I'm wondering if I should get a substrate heater or not? Also would a sponge filter be a good choice for a planted tank? Lastly I need help picking out a hood/light setup for it. Any help would be great, I'd love it if anyone could post links to specific products they recommend from personal experience too. Thanks in advance everybody.

Here are my other 2 tanks for your viewing pleasure :dance2:

PICT0087.JPG 3-30-07 10 Gallon.JPG
 
I plan to use either Flourite, Eco-Complete, or Schultz Aquatic Soil as my substrate and both my other tanks have MTS, so I'm wondering if I should get a substrate heater or not?
All good substrate choices. A regular tank heater would be fine (Visitherm Stealths are very good).

Also would a sponge filter be a good choice for a planted tank?
If you're thinking powerhead/sponge, yes. Airpump/sponge - not if you're going to add CO2. You'll want to keep not-too-messy fish (if any) in there w/ a sponge filter - the mechanical aspect of filtration they provide is a little weak.

Lastly I need help picking out a hood/light setup for it.
www.AH-Supply.com for a 10g, you're looking at one or two 13W PCs or a single 36W PC. Any more light than that will turn into an algae farm w/o CO2.
 
Well I am planning to do a DIY yourself co2 once I start the tank up. What type of filter would be best with a co2 system? A canister maybe?
 
Well I am planning to do a DIY yourself co2 once I start the tank up. What type of filter would be best with a co2 system? A canister maybe?
Click to expand...

Alot of people use the Zoo Med canister filters, usually used for turtle tanks, for smaller planted tanks. Here's a link: http://www.healthypets.com/zoomedfilter.html.

If you are going to have CO2, then I'd go with a 40w light fixture. Higher light is needed in smaller tanks, and 4wpg would give you pretty good plant choices, as would the addition of CO2, even if it is DIY. ;)
 
Ok, so Ive got the empty 10, a 20lbs bag of eco-complete black, incandescent hood with 2 6500K 10 watt power compact fluorescent bulbs, so now I have to decide on a filter.

Would this filter be a good choice for a planted tank? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=16742&N=2004+22777

I will be stocking this tank with a Crowntail Betta and Im wanting to get a filter thats not going to gas off all my Co2 or have a too high flow rate that will disturb the betta.
It's a little cheaper than the above one, plus Ive ordered from here before and trust the service already.

Thanks :read:
 
id go w/ atleast 15w 6500k x2, thats what i have over my 10 planted and it works great...havent found any "high" light plants that i cant grow...the only restriction is the height of the tank itself
 
If you are heavily planted, you may consider a cheap HOB filter rated for 10-15 gallons. I have been using the generic Whisper filter that came with my 10g kit and have never lost a fish or had a bad ammonia/nitrite/nitrate reading. Remember, plants help filter the water, especially floating plants like duckweed and water lettuce (that is why they use them in waste-water treatment plants). I use Flourite for my planted tank, but have heard great things about the others you mention too. Some decide based on the look they are going for.

I used nearly the same lighting config you have and it was sufficient to get a great start to my planted tank. The difference was that I used one daylight bulb on one side, and one Coralife colormax on the other to provide fuller spectrum. Looked a little unbalanced, but served the purpose.

At some point I decided I wanted to up my wattage a bit and got two 15watt strip lights, which provide better coverage as well as fights through my full cover of duckweed on the surface. But it is hard to tell if the new lighting has really accelerated things. I think the tank looks better to me now that I can see better.

Here is how my tank was after 2 months using the retrofitted incandescent hood with Mini Compacts:
Tank before.JPG


Here is how it looks currently:
Tank20070501.JPG

Tank before.JPG Tank20070501.JPG
 
Before you go buy a canister filter and use CO2, what are your plant choices? Plant choice will determine whether you want to go with 10w or 15w bulbs, it will also determine if CO2 is necessary and whether you need to spend money on a canister filter.
 
Nice tank there geofied!!
 
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