My (soon-to-be) new-to-me first ever 10 gallon

M

MichiganMan

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Sep 21, 2008
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Well. I guess I'm going to set up a tank, first time ever. I found a little 10g tank on craigslist (link), $20 with a hood and a "meh" stand. Don't believe it comes with a filter or heater.

I'd like to set this up in my home office. My intent is to try and have a relatively low-maintenance tank, as this is my first one and I believe it would be better to ease into it. I'm thinking a piece(s) of driftwood, a couple live plants, that sort of thing. I've read jm1212's stocking guide and intend to use that as starting point for livestock.

In addition to general advice, I have some specific questions.

1. What to use on the bottom of the tank? Sand, gravel, some sort of plant media, or some combination?
2. Does that look like a decent aquarium? $20 is not going to put me in bankruptcy court, but I like to get some value for my dinero!
3. What sort of filter/heater/widgets/gizmo's would you recommend? Again, low noise and maintenance are the goals. By low maintenance, I mean that I intend to set the tank up, do regular water checks, water changes weekly, that sort of thing. I don't want to have to spent 3 hours every day playing with it.

Appreciate the input!
 
That's a nice little stand that came with it. Not a bad deal I would say.
You would need to upgrade the lights for any serious planting but you could probably grow some java fern attached to the driftwood, maybe put in an anubias plant, something like that.
A good filter would be an Aquaclear 20 or a Penguin 100.
Lots of options for substrate. You do not need to put in expensive stuff. Pool sand is good if you like the look. Or just plain aquarium gravel.
 
Well, wouldn't you know that I check Craigslist again and find a 29g for $5 more and closer to home. Hmmmm.... if I can snag it, I will. No hood, but does have a nice metal stand (which will go much better in the room). More room, more water, more tolerance for rookie mistakes... (from what I've read).

More to follow...
 
Welcome.

First to answer your questions.

1. Substrate: It mostly depends on what you like. Unless you're going for heavily planted you don't really need a plant media.
2. $20 is not too bad for a tank with a stand. I picked up a 10g kit at Walmart for $35 and that includes filter and hood, but no stand.
3. You'll most probably need a heater assuming you're wanting to keep tropical fish. Marineland Stealth are the most recommended ones here. 50w is enough for a 10g. You'll need a filter. There are many different kinds. For both of my smaller tanks I have a small hang on back (HOB) kind. Get one rated for 10 - 20 gallons. You could also check out a sponge filter.

I've found that the more plants I have, the more time I spend on maintenance. I'd recommend going with slower growing low light plants to start with. You don't have to spend too much time trimming and replanting the trimmings.

Since this is your first tank, make sure you've read and understood the cycling process. There's an article on it.

Good luck and continue to ask questions here as there are many people here who can help.
 
20-30 gal. makes a good newbie tank size.
 
definatly go with the bigger tank, the more water you have the better the dilution on any mistakes ( like over feeding) which we have all done..lol besides adding room for mor plants and wood depending on your preferences but i would use a natural colored small gravel substrate
 
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