10 gallon planted: Ideas??

Fishwatcher14

Hello! I was thinking about starting a 10 gallon planted tank. Here's my list of supplies:

Sand: Possibly Flourite. Or could I use a differnt type of substrate like normal sand? I've got some playsand in my turtle's tank and a couple of live plants in that. They're doing REALLY well. So well that I've had to take some out. I'll use some of them in my tank if possible.

Plants:
Java moss (For on my piece of driftwood)
Java Fern
Four Leaf Clover (For a carpet)
And some of the plants from my turtle's tank.

Decorations:
Driftwood I found in a lake.

Fish:
Guppies (7) Or Mollies(7)
Otocinclus (2) Or an apple snail or two.

Heater:
Tetra Heater. Not sure on the details. It's rated somewhere between 10-30 gallons. It came with the tank. Don't know if it works.

Lighting:
What type of lighting???

So, which ones? Mollies or guppies? Otocinclus or snails? I've had a snail before but it died.

fishkid

Guppies would be better suited to a 10 gallon as mollies need more room to swim. Otos really tend to do better in larger established tanks as these give them more algae and biofilm to consume. If you've had previously had a snail die on you, it probably means there was something wrong with your water. Snails and invertebrates in general are much more sensitive to water quality than most fish are. If you used medication with copper in it (or have in the tank's past) then that could explain the snail's death.

For substrate, regular playsand with some root tabs in it is fine.

As for lighting, a CFL desk lamp will be fine. All the plants you listed don't need very much light.

Fishwatcher14

Thanks. I used Melafix in the tank before. Perhaps that's what killed my snail. I can't remember for sure if the snail died after or before the treatment... Hopefully soon I'll be able to get the plants and a couple fish to get the tank cycled.... Do you know if the 'instant cycle' stuff works?

fishkid

Melafix shouldn't have any effect on snails. I've used it in a tank that had nerite snails years ago, and they're still going strong.

Some of the instant cycle stuff does work, but it's best not to use that stuff as results are very variable. What I usually do is plant the tank at least moderately heavily and let it run for a few weeks. Then I add one or two small fish and go from there.

Freshcatch

The instant cycle stuff does work, because it is the needed bacteria in a bottle. I have had excellent results with Dr. Tim's One and Only. Some of the others were hit and miss.

Byron

First off, Fishwatcher14, welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.

I agree that a 10g tank is much too small for mollies. And at this point, I'll mention our profiles; second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the page. Each profile contains info on minimum tank size, minimum number of fish of that species, water parameters, etc. We have some plant profiles too.

Sand works well as a substrate, and some substrate fish do best with it, though here again a 10g is very limiting. Quikrete Play Sand is what I now have in 5 of my 7 tanks.

I would suggest a tank hood/light. The less expensive are the incandescant (screw-in bulbs) and with two Daylight 6500K 10w CFL bulbs you will have very good plant growth.

Byron.

Fishwatcher14

Thanks everyone!