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Well I have spent about as many hours as I care to think about trying to find plants that will "fit" a 10 gallon tank. Needless to say I am here to gather a list of those plants for everyone. I thought that my Crypt Red Wendtii might get big enough to fill one corner of my 10 gallon tank. It is now on the verge of taking over 1/2 the tank and more. If it was in the middle of the tank it would be the only plant that would fit.
The plants you list need to fit a 20 gallon LONG or smaller tank. If they will fit but will need 1/2 the tank, make sure to list that. When you list the plant, say where it should look best. Please keep your posts to plants you have experience with as I can go online and get a list of plants but most of them will not fit a smaller tank if growing well and the sizes they give are terrible and seem to be rather inaccurate. Experience is what I want here and I think it will best serve others to hear from those who have actually used these plants in this sized tanks.
Please remeber, this is actual success with plants, not speculation. Hopefully this will become a list of plants for other to look at so they don't "have" to make the same mistakes we did if they don't "want" to. Me, give me the plant and I will see if it works.
Here are the plants that I have specific experience with or would absolutely recommend for a 10 gallon tank.
10 Gallon tanks with ~33 watts of normal output flourescents from a standard 48" shoplight split over 2 tanks.
Elatine Triandra: (not my experience but from friends tanks)
-foreground
-short with runners
-plant spaced out to get full effect and fill in faster
Crypt Lucens:
-Corner front to middle back
-3-5 inches tall and can be thick in mass
-Does not like to be crowded nor shaded
-Grows well in my tank if it is not crowded and get a root tab about every 3 months. Growth stunted when crowded but Crypt Becketti
Ludwigia repens (Primrose):
-Background only
-Tall plant but can be trimmed and will start to bush out
-Spacing not an issue and depends on what you are looking for
-Very slow to acclimate and grow for me but once it got a good root system growth exploded
Anubias Barterii var. Nana:
-Middle ground in central location
-Will fill out to be a very dense plant in medium+ light
-Best if left in place so roots can feed the plant for faster growth
-Under my lighting I do have a staghjorn algae problem but it is minimul and the plant grows quickly and densely making many rhizome splits without any assistance
Cryt Red Wendtii:
-Centerpiece plant with few others in 10 gallon tank
-Will fill in both length and width of tank when healthily growing
-Not a plant to get if you don't know for sure it is one you want as it will get very large
-With my Light levels I am getting good fast growth and brilliant colors
Pearlweed:
-Foreground or midground
-With my lighting I am getting a carpet effect
Plants to avoid in a 10 gallon:
Wisteria
Elodea/anacharis
hygrophyla polysperma
All swords
Cabomba
EDIT: Let's make this a little more detailed, crazie.eddie made a point and I think that specific light levels, dosing, substrate and anything else relevant needs to be added so there is less confusion.
The plants you list need to fit a 20 gallon LONG or smaller tank. If they will fit but will need 1/2 the tank, make sure to list that. When you list the plant, say where it should look best. Please keep your posts to plants you have experience with as I can go online and get a list of plants but most of them will not fit a smaller tank if growing well and the sizes they give are terrible and seem to be rather inaccurate. Experience is what I want here and I think it will best serve others to hear from those who have actually used these plants in this sized tanks.
Please remeber, this is actual success with plants, not speculation. Hopefully this will become a list of plants for other to look at so they don't "have" to make the same mistakes we did if they don't "want" to. Me, give me the plant and I will see if it works.
Here are the plants that I have specific experience with or would absolutely recommend for a 10 gallon tank.
10 Gallon tanks with ~33 watts of normal output flourescents from a standard 48" shoplight split over 2 tanks.
Elatine Triandra: (not my experience but from friends tanks)
-foreground
-short with runners
-plant spaced out to get full effect and fill in faster
Crypt Lucens:
-Corner front to middle back
-3-5 inches tall and can be thick in mass
-Does not like to be crowded nor shaded
-Grows well in my tank if it is not crowded and get a root tab about every 3 months. Growth stunted when crowded but Crypt Becketti
Ludwigia repens (Primrose):
-Background only
-Tall plant but can be trimmed and will start to bush out
-Spacing not an issue and depends on what you are looking for
-Very slow to acclimate and grow for me but once it got a good root system growth exploded
Anubias Barterii var. Nana:
-Middle ground in central location
-Will fill out to be a very dense plant in medium+ light
-Best if left in place so roots can feed the plant for faster growth
-Under my lighting I do have a staghjorn algae problem but it is minimul and the plant grows quickly and densely making many rhizome splits without any assistance
Cryt Red Wendtii:
-Centerpiece plant with few others in 10 gallon tank
-Will fill in both length and width of tank when healthily growing
-Not a plant to get if you don't know for sure it is one you want as it will get very large
-With my Light levels I am getting good fast growth and brilliant colors
Pearlweed:
-Foreground or midground
-With my lighting I am getting a carpet effect
Plants to avoid in a 10 gallon:
Wisteria
Elodea/anacharis
hygrophyla polysperma
All swords
Cabomba
EDIT: Let's make this a little more detailed, crazie.eddie made a point and I think that specific light levels, dosing, substrate and anything else relevant needs to be added so there is less confusion.