my planted tank post

teddyzaper · Sep 21, 2009

ok so in this post i am going to keep everyone updated (every couple days) on my planted tank and u can see how it evolves (pics weekly). i created this one post so i dont have to make hundreds of posts. ok so here is the first week of the setup.

ok so from the top.
i started off with this tank. pretty plain and boring

soon after (not to soon) i added this little friend, a spotted sailfin pleco about 1 in long.

i then decided i didnt like how tall that tank was. there was also a heater malfunction which made the water temp 100F. (only for 1 hr or so) the pleco and plants made it but that condributed to me changing to this tank.the tank is 10 galons.

this is the heater. 12watts $19.99 from lfs (not so local as ive said a few times)

this is the bulb that i already had in the grage(how do u spell that word?). if u cant read it it says 6700k 65watts. to much?

this is the filterr i got. penguin 100Biowheel filter from lfs $29.99. this is rated for 20 gal so its a little over. i ordered a penguin 150Biowheel and it comes tommorrow. ill just use it for my big tank.

ok so here are my plants this one is a baby tears on driftwood. $16.00 from aquariumplants.com I HATE THIS WEBSITE. i ordered like 4 plants and they are tiny and horible looking i do not recomend it at all! as u can see in my other pics they look awful. they have been in my tank for a week or so and i can already see them getting better so this is what it looks like after it got better. this and the petite nana are the only ones i was satisfied with. but they are REALLY small.....

this is what i was talking about when i said bad.... this is how it looks now. it was miserable when it came it didnt have any green in it. this is dwarf 4 leaf clover. not the best picture but u know plants they are hard to capture when they swim away. (joke...) is there any way i can help this grow?

this is my petite nana and i am decently satisfied of the condition but not its size. its the size of my pinkie. oh well. some ppl say they need there roots visible? do they and also how can i do tht withough taking out the rock cause its almost imposible to take it out.

this is dwarf onion plant. i bought it at my not so local lfs. it lookes good but it bends at the top because my tank isnt tall enough. do i just clip it off at the top?

ok so for animals in my tank i have 5 ghost shrimp from my lfs. there are 2 of them in this picture, one is in the plant and one is just to the right of it

i also have 4 rummy nose tetras. i love these fish and plan on getting 3 more cause i am obsesed with odd numberes for some reason.

ok so there is everything and please answer all my questions if u can. also my pleco has been taking really long poops all day and turned slighly pale (very slightly) should i be worried or is he just getting acustomed to his new home. ok the other plant that i ordered was so bad that i had to through out more than half of it. that is why i didnt take a picture, it is a contortion val. oh and also when i got my shrimp i asked for 2 snails so i got some tiny snail (not babies, the ones that they gave me) i got them for free

dont tell me to take them out becuase if they mate i will regulate their babies and they are so cool to watch. wow longest post ive ever written. almost took me 45min lol. :BIGcool:

teddyzaper · Sep 21, 2009

please scroll over so u can read everything

Byron · Sep 21, 2009

Your 10g is nicely aquascaped, well done.

If both tubes are in the light, you have too much over a 10g and will have algae problems if you don't lower the light. One 15 watt tube would be plenty for this tank.

Your plants will grow out in time. Anubias is very slow growing. As for the onion plant, leave the leaves, they create a nice effect floating.

You really must reduce the light. Except for that, nice work.

Byron.

MoneyMitch · Sep 22, 2009

in the very first picture what are those plants that you have?

teddyzaper · Sep 22, 2009

those are dwarf onion plants.

ok so update , it was y birthday the 20 and some friends gave me some aqua plants (bulbs) and i planted them so im gonna see how that goes. i also got 2 new rummy noes tetras today so they are swimming around. i also bought some new food called brine shrimp by hikari. they seem to like it and it adds more veriety to their menu of foods. the plants are all groing well but i took out the 4 leaf clover because they didnt make it

also for christmass i am asking my parents for a turtle and a setup. i figured turtle setup is around 300-$500 so my whole family (aunts, uncles, grandma, grandpa) will pitch in. i will probably have that next to my 30gal tank. ok so nothing really new.

MoneyMitch · Sep 22, 2009

are they heavy feeders? do they require insane light?

graciegrapes · Sep 23, 2009

Nice start for your tank. I really like the rock/slope you have on the right side!
As for your light it is a bit much, esp. if you're not planning on doing CO2. CO2 will only make your plants grow better, the baby dwarf tears will really do well with CO2.
However, one 15W bulb (as suggested previously) is not going to cut it for the baby dwarf tears. As I believe is needs at least 2-3 watts per gallon to really grow successfully.
I believe you could get away with your light, but just be wary of algae; could be prevents by a shorter photoperiod (you didn't mention how long you keep the light on)

I would suggest getting some smaller plants for the foreground.

Also, what substrate are you using?

teddyzaper · Sep 23, 2009

thanks for the info, i keep my lights from 7:30 to 9:00 a bit much i think im gonna have the lights turn on at 9 and off at 8. i think i will try it with the bulb i have right now but if stuff start dieing i will change it. i am trying to find a place that sells some ground cover that will grow less then 1 in tall like baby tears. i am using this planted soil that has nutrience already in it and its also "pre cycled" but it really wasnt that cycled. i let it cycle and cleaned the gravel even though it said not to. its pretty much some peices of crushed coral some fine sand and some tiny peices of lava rock. if this tank doesnt succed i will add Co2 to it.

teddyzaper · Sep 25, 2009

ok so today i took the convict cichlid female out of my big tank because she was being eaten alive by the male (they had babies)

teddyzaper · Oct 10, 2009

ok so long time no post. schools been busy. well UPDATE TIME!
so fist, my 3 corys died cause the dady convict ate them...

so first off my plan for the near future. the piece of driftwood will soon be covered in moss and my petite nana. i just trimmed so it looks all short, i trimmed it all of so my micro sxords might live cause they were suffering at petco. i ordered flame moss. oh and that big plant in the middle is from this thing that they sell in petco called "Aqua Plants (bulbs) Assorted" that i got from my neighbor for my b-day. it grew huge within a week and im hoping it has some sprouts so i can plant them im the new tank im makng. im making a tank inspired from someone here (idk who it was). it has a slate wall in the back siliconed together with some plants growing from and around it. there has been many runners from the contortion vals which are thriving and a couple runners from the onion plants.the petite nana hasnt done anything but shed 1 leaf, im kinda worried bout it, thats why im moving it. someone told me their roots shold not touch the soil so i will place it on top of the wood. i got 6 rummy nose tetras and a few snails and 5 (now 4) ghost shrimp. they are all doing good and i think 1 had babies. im using flourish tabs and aquariumplants tabs, the flourish seems to work better for the tall ones and the aquariumplants seems to do good for the ground plants. for some odd reason i cant post pics right now. the attachment paper clip thing wont load. oh well ill post pics soon!

my planted tank post

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