Was wondering about creating a heavily planted 10 gallon tank. Didn't know about what substrates would be best, some good plant choices, lighting (i do have a flourescent fixture), and maybe if some small tetras would do ok, if so what kind? Hoping someone out there has some experience on doing something like this.
heavily planted 10 gal?
- Thread starter angelfish123
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I just did something like this. 10 Gallon tank which was already running for over a year, fish only. The gravel was already in there, irregularly shaped, probably 3-5 mm average size, ugly blue/white. I got some driftwood and attached some Java Fern, Java Moss, and Anubias nana petite to it. I also have some kind of sword and some crypt wendii in the tank (but I had to add more gravel to build up the substrate depth). So far, the crypt is doing the best, but nothing is dying. The Java Fern has some brown spots on it so I'm considering adding some Tropica Master Grow as a supplement. Here's some good information for a low light / low tech tank.
http://www.freewebs.com/aquariumplants/lowlighttank.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/aquariumplants/lowlighttank.htm
you and me both buddy...I am trying to start a planted tank too and have been researching
About substrates I think most people would just recommend fluorite ADS or eco-complete. Although these get prohibitively expensive with larger tanks, it's only about $15 for a 15lb bag to fill a 10 gallon at most. They also tend to last forever, so you'll never have to buy another bag for your life. Don't cheap out on substrate....
I'm confused about lighting too but I do know that it's harder to apply the Watts per gallon rule to smaller tanks. With the hood you have now, I'm assuming it came with your tank. In that case, it's probably only good enough to grow fish in and not grow plants. There are kits at A H supplies that people like to recommend. You can also build your own enclosure for them if you're good with your hands (which I am not). Don't forget that you'll need a glass canopy in that case.
If you go beyond 3 Watts per gallon (which you probably will if you want to grow any plants besides java moss and ferns), I think you're supposed to have some sort of CO2 supplementation. There's a DIY article somewhere on the forum about creating your own CO2 generator really cheaply using yeast and coke bottles. You might also have to create a CO2 reactor to disperse it. I've heard though that you can just put it near the intake of your filter though but I'm not sure to what kind of filters that works for. A note about this is that recently it has been suggested that silicon tubing causes a lot of CO2 leaking, so you might want to use another form of tubing.
About substrates I think most people would just recommend fluorite ADS or eco-complete. Although these get prohibitively expensive with larger tanks, it's only about $15 for a 15lb bag to fill a 10 gallon at most. They also tend to last forever, so you'll never have to buy another bag for your life. Don't cheap out on substrate....
I'm confused about lighting too but I do know that it's harder to apply the Watts per gallon rule to smaller tanks. With the hood you have now, I'm assuming it came with your tank. In that case, it's probably only good enough to grow fish in and not grow plants. There are kits at A H supplies that people like to recommend. You can also build your own enclosure for them if you're good with your hands (which I am not). Don't forget that you'll need a glass canopy in that case.
If you go beyond 3 Watts per gallon (which you probably will if you want to grow any plants besides java moss and ferns), I think you're supposed to have some sort of CO2 supplementation. There's a DIY article somewhere on the forum about creating your own CO2 generator really cheaply using yeast and coke bottles. You might also have to create a CO2 reactor to disperse it. I've heard though that you can just put it near the intake of your filter though but I'm not sure to what kind of filters that works for. A note about this is that recently it has been suggested that silicon tubing causes a lot of CO2 leaking, so you might want to use another form of tubing.
I have a ten gal tank with the typical fluorescent fixture. I have java fern, java moss, cabomba, hygrophila difformis, Cryptocoryne wendti and Cryptocoryne balansae all growing in that tank. There is a flourite substrate and I add minor amounts of flourish and flourish excel twice a week. There is also some
Sagittarius Subulata in that tank but I am not sure it is growing, though at this point it isn’t dying either. It has only been in there a few weeks. Oh and lest I forget the confounded bladderwort. I keep two killifish in there right now.
Sagittarius Subulata in that tank but I am not sure it is growing, though at this point it isn’t dying either. It has only been in there a few weeks. Oh and lest I forget the confounded bladderwort. I keep two killifish in there right now.
I had a 10 Gal HEAVILY Planted...my biggest concern was the lighting...but I solved that for about 30$, I got an incandescent hood and put in two 15W screw-in Compact Flourescents (about 6700K, the actual package said sunlight w/o a K reading). I had sand as a substrate and was pumping in DIY CO2, yeast and sugar mainly. There are some good recipies for DIY CO2 on this forum. I didnt fear about putting anything in that tank bc anything would grow well. Keep it simple and watch ur plants grow.
