# Starting a 10 gallon, need advice



## ldk59 (Jan 30, 2009)

If you don't want to add C02, avoid the NOVA fixture...the 28 watt fixture is a much better choice for a low tech tank.

I use ADA (original) Aquasoil in all of my tanks, and recommend it highly 

HTH

Larry


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks Larry. I was thinking the same thing about the light, I've read a lot of threads about higher light requiring CO2. How many hours for the photoperiod with a 28 W? I guess it will depend on the plants and their necessities. But on average maybe 10 hours?


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

For anyone with experience with 10 gallon tanks, would the 3 or the 9 liter bag of ADA soil work the best to make a proper level of soil in the aquarium?


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Of course no thread is complete without some photos. I don't have the light or the soil yet, but I did collect some plants from a local river here in Texas. I'm not sure what some of them are, but hopefully they'll survive until the light and soil gets here. Currently the tank is under a 65 watt grow lamp to sustain it for now.
FTS








Closer look at the plants








Some moss??








These are a nice red/crimson color. Not sure what they are








Some baby tears I bought


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Gig'em said:


> Some moss??
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The first picture is Riccia, and the next picture is Ludwigia Repens.

As for your lighting, I would go with the 2x14 watt if you're not going to be injecting any CO2. The light should be on for 8-12 hours.

For my 10 gallon, I bought 2 bags of 3 liters of Aquasoil. So you can either do that, or get the 9 liter If you get the 9 liter, you'll have a bit extra left over and you can maybe start a smaller tank with it.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks for the info. If I decide to do a DIY CO2 system having lower light won't be detrimental will it?


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

That shouldn't be a problem, considering that the CO2 produced from DIY systems isn't much. Just make sure that you're also dosing some ferts a bit.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Awesome, thanks for the advice. I bought a piece of branch driftwood from a LFS in Austin and collected some more from the same river I collected the plants from. Here's a picture of those. Not sure how I am going to arrange them in the tank or how short I will cut them. If anyone has pictures of branch wood in their nano to give me some ideas/inspiration I would also appreciate that.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

What species do people usually use in the foreground of their tanks to make a nice plant mat, the baby tears or the dwarf baby tears? And what's the exact difference between the two?


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

A 23W CFL or two would work fine, and there won't be extra space on the edges.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Gig'em said:


> What species do people usually use in the foreground of their tanks to make a nice plant mat, the baby tears or the dwarf baby tears? And what's the exact difference between the two?


Baby tears' leaves are bigger than Dwarf Baby Tears, and it will grow bigger. Dwarf Baby Tears will stay low to the carpet, if they have enough CO2 and ferts.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

what are your personal preferences between the 2?


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I replaced the gravel with ADA soil today (Amazonia II) and added some driftwood and planted the baby tears. Right now they are growing emersed but I'm wondering if I should just fill it up and make it immersed. Any opinions from people who have had experience with immersed/emersed?


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Does anyone know where to buy Utricularia graminifolia? I can't even find it for sale on Google search


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Gig'em said:


> Does anyone know where to buy Utricularia graminifolia? I can't even find it for sale on Google search


There's some for sale in the SnS here, although they might be gone by now.

And as for the HC question, it grows quickly emersed, but some of the growth may die off (and then re-grow) when converting to submerged growth.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I'm starting to look for possible algae eating fish for when I'm ready to add livestock to the tank. I've been running reef aquariums for the past 7 years so I'm not as familiar with freshwater animals. I'm going to have red cherry shrimp and I'm looking for a good algae eater for a 10 gallon. Right now I'm looking at an Otocinclus catfish. Will this work in a 10 gallon? Also debating what fish to put in there. Thinking about some German bred fancy guppies. Any other suggestions?


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Otos will work fine. Just make sure you get about 3-4 of them and be prepared to provide another source of food for them.

As for nano fishes, celestial pearl danios are awesome if you can find them. Another is green neon tetras.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Any other ideas about fun live stock to add? I guess there isn't as much color and variety as there is in the saltwater hobby, but I'm still looking for something fun and exotic


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I guess there aren't that many fish available in the freshwater trade?


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Well I ordered some more plants and filled up the tank all the way. Right now I have a red tiger lotus bulb coming, dwarf hair grass, some HC, Taiwan moss, and some java moss. I also ordered a few red cherry shrimp so hopefully they will survive. I'll post pics when everything gets here


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

You might want to look into some types of killifish. I think a lot of them stay fairly small and they have beautiful coloration!

I think the Otocinclus and RCS are a great start to your tank. I have them both in my 55. I just got my RCS today!


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I was looking into Killifish, but I didn't know how difficult they were to take care of


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Killies are jumpers. Lids are must-haves for these fishes. Just something to keep in mind.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I thought I would give a little update. I got a couple of CO2 diffusers from Aquaticmagic (Aquabid) and I am currently setting up the DIY CO2 system. I am setting up two identical bottles connected with a T-Valve to connect to just one CO2 diffuser to give it more pressure and more output. I am going to let the glue dry over night since it is taking forever to solidify. I've also attached a FTS from today. I'm not sure how much the plants have grown since I see them everyday. Granted it is a little boring now but I ordered some plants and hopefully they will be shipped out this week so I can get them in there and growing. 

DIY CO2 system with nano diffuser in front









FTS (Sorry my camera sucks and has a broken screen so getting good color is just chance)


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I planted my red tiger lotus bulb today and got half of the CO2 system going. My camera decided to crap out on me though so I only got a picture of the first set of bubbles coming out of the diffuser.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

i would recommend putting the heater up at the top of the tank on one of the sides... make sure the entire thing is submerged, but then if you want to take pictures, you can just take the heater out and the tank will look great immediately. 

great job so far! you are definitely on your way to having a great planted tank


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

yeah the heater is a bit hideous... I probably will when I plant dwarf hair grass in the background. I wish I could find some cool rocks, but the ones at the LFS aren't worth spending $2 a pound on


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## SamandAnne (Feb 24, 2010)

Not sure if you got fish for your tank yet, but we just got _Fundulopanchax Gardneri_ killifish a couple months ago (3 pair + 1 single fish for a 30 gallon) and are happy with them. They like a planted tank and are hardy and colorful. You may need a more specialized LFS or get them online (we got ours on AquaBid) as they are not as commonly sold as some other fish. They should be fine in a planted 10 gallon.

Some helpful info on the species is here, and a good amount of websites have info if you google it:
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-exclusives/aquarium-fish-international/Fundulopanchax-gardneri.aspx

I like the driftwood!

Amano shrimp are also good algae eaters and fun to watch...adds a little diversity to the fish tank.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Do you have any pictures of your killifish SamandAnne?


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

Gig'em said:


> yeah the heater is a bit hideous... I probably will when I plant dwarf hair grass in the background. I wish I could find some cool rocks, but the ones at the LFS aren't worth spending $2 a pound on


i have a number of rocks that i could easily flat-rate-ship to you that would go with the rocks you already have. some of them are pretty interesting looking IMO. check out the sales thread, i can send you more pics if you want.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I connected the other CO2 bottle to the T-valve and the diffuser and the output is much, MUCH more. It's a miniature snow storm of CO2.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Does that look like too much CO2 to anyone?


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## mgdmirage (Mar 30, 2009)

it looks beautiful!


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Gig'em said:


> Does that look like too much CO2 to anyone?


You'll need a drop checker to properly know that. You can buy an inexpensive one on eBay or DIY one.

Don't make the same mistake like I did and assume that you can't overdose on DIY CO2.


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## alang (Nov 25, 2007)

Gig'em said:


> I replaced the gravel with ADA soil today (Amazonia II) and added some driftwood and planted the baby tears. Right now they are growing emersed but I'm wondering if I should just fill it up and make it immersed. Any opinions from people who have had experience with immersed/emersed?


Growing HC (baby tears) emersed gives it a chance to put down roots. The access to air by the leaves gives it lots of CO2 (way more than can be injected in water). An established root system gives it a better chance to compete with the other plants once immersed. Judging by your pics, your HC for the most part is already immersed. you need to have the soil wet, but the leaves of the plant in the air to really get the benefit. So either lower your water level and do a true DSM, or just go straight to immersed.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I'll probably be buying a new CO2 diffuser as mine broke today when I was trying to trim the hose, so I'll probably get a drop checker then. Good thing I bought an extra CO2 diffuser though, so I've got that hooked up now. I ordered some amano shrimp and anubias petite which will get here on Friday with the other plants and cherry shrimp I ordered. I will post pictures when I get everything set up


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

I got my plants and shrimp today from Arizona Aquatic. I was very impressed with the quality of the plants, but many of the shrimp arrived dead  I spent a few hours planting everything and the soil in the water is settling down now. I'll post pictures later.


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Here is a picture of the aquarium now. Sorry I forgot to take out the garish heater for the picture :icon_roll The shrimp are in there, some where... Hopefully the ones that survived the trip will survive in the tank. Anyways, Enjoy!








Side tank shot


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## Gig'em (Apr 8, 2010)

Does anyone own blue tetras in a nano? I'm trying to decide between them and neon tetras and want to compare how they look and act in a nano tank


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