Setting up a new 10g, want to go mid-tech..??

[myswtsins]

So I have a 10g RCS tank that is completely low-tech and low maintenance that I love but I would like something that actually grows. I need to setup another tank for my Betta, BN & Apple snail anyways so I figured I would like to go planted again but take another baby step up.

Where the tank is going to be setup it will be viewable from all angles except 1 short side. So thinking about it is terms of the normal view I would want it to go...short-medium foreground, tall midground (with driftwood) and short-medium background again. Keeping in mind that it is 10g so "tall" would be a medium height plant at best. For the foreground & background a simple "grass" would be great and a couple species in the midground around some thin driftwood. Because I only have 10inches of width to work with I am not sure that arrangement will work, opinions? The long "island" in the middle with driftwood is mostly for my BN to have a safe area.

Here is where we get to the fun stuff! I want to have a mid-tech tank, if there is such a thing. I do not want to go all out with injected CO2 and major ferts but I am willing to do DIY CO2 (or excel) and some ferts. Lighting, I can build a custom hood to house CFL screw bulbs or redo one of my existing light fixtures so lighting is very flexible.

So I am looking for ideas for plants and aquascape but I guess info on a mid-tech tank is most needed. I am open to any ideas!

 

[Bk718]

Petland discounts sells an incandescent hood for 10g which you can replace the bulbs with 2x 14w screw in cfl from homedepot. This will put you at 2.8wpg and you will be able to grow a large variety of plants. Specifically your foreground plants will grow better/faster and will be much healthier overall with this light.
But hey you got the tools so why not build a simple canopy/holding box just for the lights. Inside you can either paint it white and use two rubber indoor/outdoor sockets and it will be just as good as the one from the stores.
Heres a link to my simple light box (not canopy)

As far as co2/ferts. You can go with diy co2, and knowing that you will have an HOB on the tank you would need to maximize your co2 diffusion. For that you can use a limewood airstone under the filters overflow, worked like a charm for me and is pretty cheap. That in combination with excel will give your plants the required carbon they need. I would also suggest then you go with some trace like regular Flourish. Though if you want/have spare $$ you can go for the whole seachem line which will last you for a long long time. (Flourish Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium)

Plants: Foreground could be dwarf hairgrass, dwarf sag (make sure its dwarf), dwarf clover, or even at this light you can do blyxa japonica (my choice due to its beauty)

For the back you can use any stem plant, just will have to trim it every two weeks or so. Rotala, ludwigia, bacopa are just some examples.

 

[myswtsins]

I can always count on BK to reply!

Thanks for the heads up on Petland Discounts. I found lots of places that sell the incandescent light fixtures for $14-19 so that is fine with me! That is actually what I am using on my RCS tank.

My concern here is that I know when you add more light you have to find a balance of light-ferts-CO2 & I do not want to go too high. But from my understanding the WPG rule (and well as most other "rules") do not apply to 10 gallon tanks so I was thinking I may have to go higher than 28 watts to be equal to 2.8wpg...????

I do like the blyxa japonica but I have rather alkiline water (8.2) and although I am sure it would survive I'd rather it flourish.

I have Dwarf sag in my RCS tank and just dies. NO growth and where I trimmed the dead ends off it is yellowing and dying off too.

I really like Micro Swords but didn't find many people having a lot of luck with them in anything but high light. But I prefer the wider grasses over like the hairgrass.

I am think of the dwarf clover (which I had my eye on previously) & some sort of dwarf echinodorus for the foreground/background & Rotala Rotundifolia, Asian Ambulia and/or some bacopa for the mid ground.

Optimally I do not want to have to dose the tank every day though, hence I am trying to take a "baby step" into this. I have read on other threads that some people only dose 2 times a week. Will this be possible with the plant selection listed? Money is not the problem as much as time and effort is so I have no problem buying the whole Seachem line.

 

[Bk718]

I think the issue with the wpg rule and 10g tanks is that most people end up using screw in cfl bulbs on their 10g tanks and after my experience with them and PC bulbs, i see that their potential is great but is only a small fraction compared to the PC bulbs. I say if you want balanced growth and get the max potential out of the watts then you can go for either with PC bulbs or t-5.
Perfect example is on my 29g where i had about 70w of screw in bulbs and the results were great.. or so i thought.. once i added only 55w ahsupply I saw wayyy greater results in plant growth/appearance.
Not sure if you clicked on my link i provided but there i actually used an ahsupply kit with an 18w bulb (6700K) and with it the tank was alot brighter and the light was evenly distributed to the tank than with the 28w of screw in cfl (5500k). If you have a place where you can get hooked up with straight pin end caps then you can surely do a diy fixture and just use two 18w pc bulbs. If not then you can still make use of the good ol screw in bulbs..

The alkaline water will decrease once you add the co2. If anything you can use some peatmoss in your filter and add some driftwood such as mopani which releases alot of tannic acid which will drop the ph a bit. Will also cloud water but hey you said money isnt a problem, so to deal with that you can get Purigen (by seachem) to clear the tank up. Works better than carbon.
My pH out the tap is 7-7.2ish and after co2 it drops to 6.0. Also ny is known to have soft water, is it the same in nj? If so then that ph will be easier to decrease.

Micro sword is a bad bad plant lol I say this because like you stated its a high demand plant. Only tanks i saw it grow and actually make a carpet was in very high tech setups.

Not sure if i stated before but you can try glosso as well. Not really grassy but does give the tank a nice bright green look. Looks something like dwarf clover but way smaller.

If you do go with 2.8wpg area then I would suggest you really keep up with the co2. Excel and diy would work but make sure you get the maximum diffusion out of the diy.
With dosing you can try dosing flourish 2x a week. One time a day after the WC and the 2nd time a day before WC. See how the plants go with the traces and then if you notice a deficiency then consider getting other ferts (npk)
Heres a chart of a typical Seachem dosing schedule (ignore the 5% wc and the buffers)

 

[myswtsins]

Wow thanks BK! Let me clear something up though...money is not a problem but it is always an issue! I wanna go as cheap as possible of course but within reason.

I will have to look into DIY CO2 some more before proceeding. I forget to mention in my last post that I was planning on going with an internal filter or a DIY in-tank canister type filter (a few compartments with a small power head).

I will also see if I can find a place to get some straight pin end caps because I would like to go with PC. I would need a ballast too though, right? I am just starting my adventure into electronics but I think I can handle it.

My water is alkaline & med-hard (Ph 8.2 & Kh 12). I am not concerned about lowing the PH though as I know it doesn't affect things quite like everyone thinks it does. I just don't want to add plants that really prefer soft acidic water.

So I will go research DIY CO2 and we will go from there. I really made this post to get some feedback on mid-tech tanks but it ended up being specific to MY tank, but that's ok! Thanks again BK!

 

[Bk718]

np :grinyes:

Internal filters are great but they take up 2 much room. You can try the zoo med or tom rapids canister filter. Its cheap and good for a tank this size. (also will be great for diffusing co2)
straight pin end caps.. this is your lucky day. Earlier this week i came across them on www.marinedepot.com . They are about $6 + shipping. And yes you would need a ballast. You can go with the same brand AHsupply uses which is workhorse. Heres a site that carries them: http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com
depending on how many watts you will add to the tank you can go for either workhorse 2 or workhorse 3. And if you want 18w PC bulbs let me know ill give you a heads up where to get them for a good price.

But seriously if you break down the pricing the ballast will cost you around $25-30shipped, the end caps will be $18-20shipped. You already are at the cost of an ahsupply 36w kit. And the PLUS you get out of ahsupply is their badarse reflectors!!

About plants and acidic water. Almost all plants will LOVE acidic water. They grow better in it. But perhaps someone can suggest some that can withstand hard alkaline water.
Back to co2. Since you are going "medium-tech" lol you would need to really be on top of the co2. Making sure its being produced good and diffused even better. For a 10g tank you can go with a 2L or even a 3L bottle and work from there. (once again diffusing via the mini canisters will greatly increase the efficiency of the diy co2)

 

[myswtsins]

So after lots of looking around at options I think I may go with a "natural aquarium" for now and do a larger higher tech tank later.

Thanks so much for all the info though, I will put it to good use later I promise!

Anyone wanna suggest some plants that do well in hard alkaline water though? So far Anubias nana & Java ferns seem to be the only things thriving in my other tank (but I think it may be a matter of lack of wastes/ferts).

 

[Riiz]

Actually most plants do very well in hard alkaline waters, but the reverse isnt true. If those are the only plants that survive, then maybe your lighting is too low for other species or the lack of a Carbon source.

 

[myswtsins]

Hmm, ok! I was considering increasing the light a bit anyway. Thanks Riiz!