Stocking 10g planted

Scientiste

Scientiste

AC Members
Jun 19, 2008
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Rockville, MD
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Should plants be added gradually? Id like to go ahead and order a plant pack, as it seems to be the cheapest option, but Im not sure if adding them all at once will mean certain death.

This standard pack (for 30g)of 9 plants on liveaquaria seems reasonable for a 10g tank - am I completely wrong here? I am going with the Current USA Satellite Single Compact Fluorescent, 40 watts.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+2146&pcatid=2146

Also, I do not have a specialized planted tank substrate in my tank, just very fine sand (as seen below) - Im not sure how I would go about changing it when it is already stocked with 3 Harlequin Rasbora.

The plants you see in the photo ended up not being true aquatics, and they soon rotted.

2621445152_54d9ca81a4.jpg
 
Nothing wrong with adding all the plants you plan on having at the same time...generally the plant packs won't look full in your tank till they spend a few months growing out anyways.
 
:iagree: Adding plants is not like adding fish where you need to do so gradually. I like to get as many plants as I can in at one time so I can get a nice layout right off the bat and not fuss with it too much when I get more plants later.
 
Are you going low-tech or high-tech planted? That'll help determine which plants you can have.

That plant pack is probably a little more than you need for a 10g. You can also find many plant packages or individual plants being sold in the classified forum here.

I don't think you have to switch out your substrate.

If you're ever over in the Burtonsville area I can give you some free plants. I throw away some plants every 3 weeks or so.
 
I'm looking to start really simple - the more I think about it, I want to start at a very easy care level with just some anarchis and java fern before getting quite so many plants. I'd really like to try hairgrass eventually.

My folks live in Laurel, so I may take you up on that offer if I dont have luck finding what I need at the LFS!
 
Java ferns and anacharis are good starter plants. Anubias is also a good starter. Try any of the low-light plants.

I have some corkscrew vals, java moss and frogbit I can give you anytime.

There a really good lfs in Cloverly called Scales Tropical Fish Warehouse. They don't have great plants but the fish are nice. Worth checking out.

If you want some cherry barbs, I also have some of those to give away. Mine had babies a while ago and they're now ready to go out.
 
If you are planning on having 40watts over your 10gallon, thats a ton of light! I might cut back to 2.5-3 watts and even then you will most likely need some kind of co2 injection and fertilizers. Otherwise you are just inviting an algae problem. If you wanted to keep it more low key there are lots of options for low light, low tech tanks.
 
That is pretty high lighting if you are going low tech. If you get the plant pack you will want to add ferts, maybe Flourish plus Flourish Excell for a carbon source.
If you just start with anacharis and java fern you would want to float the anacharis rather than try to plant it. It will diffuse the light a bit and help keep algae from taking hold. I would also put in some fast growing stem plants.
 
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