10 Gallon Planted from the ground up

Im really appreciative of all this help everybody. I think
the radicans will start out on opposite back corners of the 10. Ill see how quickly they get take over and then go from there. Geofied, danios cycled my 1st tank too, I still have 1 female Glofish in my 29. As much as I like them though Ive told myself not to buy anymore unless its for a river tank, as they like the faster flow, plus they prefer cooler water temps than most other tropical fish. They sure do love to eat though, I used to hand feed mine by dipping flakes into the water :)

If I were to go with dwarf corys and neons, since they are both schooling fish, how many should I stock of each? :read:
 
Well, you're a bit limited with a 10 for schooling fish, as I've found. I would suggest 4-5 neons minimum and maybe 3-4 pygmy corys. Especially keep your stocking a bit light until your plants take off.

Folks will tell you that for some of these fish to really show their schooling off they need a bigger (longer) tank. I can see the truth in that, and think your corys may display schooling behavior more than tetras in a 10g. My tetras school to some extent, but they don't really have room to do laps. I'm trying to move my overgrown Rotala to the back of my heavily planted tank to give them more front space.
 
Plant order from Mikeswetpets on Ebay should arrive today or tomorrow!! :bday: :bday: Will have pictures posted once I get them in the tank. :dance: :dance: :dance:

:dance2: :dance2: :dance2:
 
Cool, so what are you getting?

Reading all these new tank posts/questions got me itching so I started another 10G planted the other day. Got a bunch of different plants on Aquabid, and 30+ Cherry Shrimp to go in too. This forum is bad for my addiction.
 
Alright!! Order came today, just finished planting them and doing 2 WC's (10 & 29). I got 1 Anubias Nana, 2 Radican Marble Swords, 1 bunch of Corkscrew Val, and an approximately 3 x 3 inch mat of Microsword. Decided to put the Vals in the 29, hopefully my electric yellows will appreciate that.

Nicely boxed, no reused shoe box here
Nicely Boxed.jpg

6 Free Root Tabs
6freeroottabs.jpg

Snugly wrapped and taped in newspaper
Newspaper.jpg

Secured in plastic baggies with moist newspaper around roots
Baggies.jpg


:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

New 10 with the plants added
10straighton.jpg

... a lil from the side, you can see the microswords instead of a neon green blur/blob
10withplants.jpg

Bonus picture, my 29 with the vals added to the background, hopefully they will grow in nicely.
29Valsadded.jpg
A lil sympathy my camera sucks and the water was a little cloudy from my graceful planting method. Hopefully I planted the microswords right, I was at a loss and dug out a small depression and pushed the mat down into it then scooped the substrate back around where it wouldn't float back up. I can always redo if needed. All in all I'm very happy with my order and will do business with this seller in the future. Although there were some small snails in with the microswords, but the lil feller in my avatar will love to take care of any extras for me :dance2: Nowww what to do next :read:

6freeroottabs.jpg Newspaper.jpg Baggies.jpg 10straighton.jpg 10withplants.jpg 29Valsadded.jpg Nicely Boxed.jpg
 
Awesome, the vals will look great as a backdrop in the 29, I hope they reproduce for you. You're on your way!

Next? I'd keep adding plants, but I'm obsessed and just keep trying new/different plants.

I actually breed snails now to keep my Dwarf Puffer happy. Next to no snails in his tank, even though I'm always dumping them in there.

Enjoy, keep us posted.
 
Couple questions...Should I go ahead and upgrade from the 2 10 watt CF to 2 15 watt bulbs now without having extra co2? Also I think I'd like to get another Nana or 2, what other plants would you recommend? I've stocked ramshorns into this 10 and my other 2 tanks as well, once they start breeding I'll use the babies to feed my puffer. I learned after the first time they won't last long in the same tank as him.
 
Switch to 15w bulbs if you want to grow microswords and get CO2 in there asap, I was never able grow microswords without CO2. Spread the microsword out in little clumps, it will spread quicker that way.

I'm a big fan narrow leaf java ferns and crypts (wendtii, willisii, beckettii, parva). Water wisteria, water sprite, or windelov java fern if you want the frilly lacy look. Ludwigia repens or rotala rotundifolia if you want color (and after you bump up your lighting).
 
If it's going in your 10, it should be fine. It should be o.k for your 29 also.
 
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