# noob 10 gallon tank.



## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

I hope you don't mind if I give you some constructive comments....

As far as tying plants to wood -- you would really only do this for anubias, java ferns, bolbitis, and mosses, off the top of my head. Stem plants, vals, swords, bulb plants, etc, need a substrate to root in.

The Acros plant you bought is a bog plant, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure it'll survive in your tank.

Pull your swords up out of the gravel a little. Swordplants don't like their crown buried in the substrate.

I'd definitely go with two bulbs if you're using spiral CFs. Because of the shape of the bulb and "restrike", you're losing a lot of the light that the bulb produces. And wow, the 5100k looks MUCH better in the tank. 10watts is really really low for your tank, though.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

i could take comments all day haha.

oh alright ill keep that in mind when tying a plant to the drift wood.

oh well if the acros dont make it then oh well. the guy at petland hooked me up so its all good.

and the sword plant is being pulled up a little as we speak.

yeah thats why in the near future i plan on building a bigger light fixture, that will run 2 bulbs. and i also wanna try and stay away from co2 if at all possible. ha

thanks for the comment :thumbsup: anymore?


----------



## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Going low light can keep you from going into the CO2 of it all. Stay under 2wpg and you may not need it. For a list of plants that grow in lowlight(cause you will definitely want more plants ) look here. Read the critique on certain plants for the best info. The very last list is the most recent.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

haha yeah of course ima want more plants. Ill be honest here. i think my plants hardscape looks bad.....and my plant placement as well. but i did pick up some little river rocks that i plan on putting in there.

but it always depends on what the lfs has. mostly its this junk that ive never heard of. but how does everyone like buying plants online? do the plants look good and everything?

thanks for the comments :thumbsup:


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

I'd go with the 5100K bulb. If a bulb gives off a yellowish color, then it's low in Kelvin rating (~3000K) and therefore not good for plants:thumbsup:

Great tank!


----------



## fendergat (Jan 22, 2008)

I did a low light 10g for my daughters room and there is a nice little two bulb economy hood that you can put in spiral CFs and end up with roughly 2watts/gal for about 20-25$ total with bulbs. I have a wide variety of plants in there in the low-moderate light requirements range and they're all doing very well with that lighting set up.

The biggest problem I've had with that tank is space for everything since 10gal is limited for area. I actually bought the wal-mart cheapo set up that included the filter, tank, hood, and a few minor extras for like 25-30 bucks...added 2x 5$ full specturm CFs and we were off and running.

2$ for a 40lb bag of topsoil 
3$ for a 50lb bag of Med grit sand (home depot)

and I did substrate for both the 10g and 29g that I replanted.

that hood is avail on a site like Dr. Fosters or whatever for like 14bucks i think. With the cost of lumber and parts its just something to think about.


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Most of the swords in there are going to get wayyyyy too big for that tank. It wouldn't be such a huge problem except that their root systems will also end up taking over all your substrate?

You might want to stick with crypts and some of the smaller swords, I've actually become quite taken with E. parviflorus 'tropica' it's a beautiful little swor that doesn't get much bigger than the ones you have right now?

www.AquaBotanic.com has a good selection of plants and a good reputation.

The S&S here on the forum is also a great place to get plants and all kinds of other goodies


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster
Thank you. Good to know. I not only think thats good fish tank information just good information in general ha.

fendergat
Yeah im def gonna be building a new light fixture in the near future. Quite possibly tomorrow. I'm either going to do something like this http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/59726-20-extremely-easy-no-wiring-diy-2.html or since ive had reptiles i have an 18inch long flourecent (sp) fixture that i might use. Changing out the bulb for a different one of course.

lauraleellbp
Really? well i guess we'll just have to see. the only bad part is the roots taking over my substrate. Tomorrow im going to the lfs again and ill check and see what kinda plants they have there. And if its all garbage ill check out www.AquaBotanic.com

Also i plan on quite possibly buying another piece of driftwood. and putting in a kribensis or two.

keep the comments a flowin' haha :thumbsup:


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Alright remember that reptile light i told you i had? well i went down in to the basement and found it. this picture is with the one 13w 5100k light and the 18 inch tube light thats a 10w i believe. hows everyone likin that? sorry for the crappy cell fone picture










in my opinion i think it looks sooooooo much better. and 23w is a good amount for a 10 gal tank right?

comment it up :thumbsup:


----------



## allwet (Feb 18, 2008)

sure looks better than my tank ohyeah.my plants are dying off only after 3 days.hope you have better luck keeping yours aliveroud: allwet......


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

sooo an update!! i totally re did my tank. looks a bazillion times better. no joke. it might even make some of my fellow tankers proud. haha but ill post pictures tomorrow cause im lazy  buttt i have a question.

i bought this kribensis and im pretty sure its a female. am i right? cause i want to try and find a match so i can breed them. sorry for the bad picture haha










thanks :thumbsup: pictures tomorrow


----------



## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

Nice purchase, but the Kribs will get too big for your tank. 

Where are the pics of the rescape?


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

yeah i got a twenty gallon tank i can put them in. but you dont know if its a male or female? 

your gonna have to wait till tomorrow. it'll be worth it haha


----------



## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Definitely a female Krib. You can tell by the Purple/pink stomach area.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

nice. thought so. and males dont have the red stomach, and their fins are a little longer at the top right?

new pictures today!!


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

i think its about time for an UPDATE. Ok so yesteday was pretty much an intense fish day. with spending most of it driving around to different fish places. But to sum it all up, i got more plants (hornworts, cork screw vals, and whatever that grass stuff is in one of the pictures where its covered by a pile or rocks.) first i got about 8 ghost shrimp and i was like hey these are cool. then the next place we went to had a buttload so i was like why not, so i now have about 30 ghost shrimp in my tank. (but im pretty sure my krib is gonna eat them right? cause when i was taking the pictures i saw one dead that looked like he coulda been eaten. or else the shrimp just pissed off the krib and so she killed the shrimp. ha.) and in the tank with the ghost shrimp at petsmart, there were baby guppies and the lady grabbed like 4 of those too.

ok lets recap all the newness.
hornwort, corkscrew val, some grass thing, kribensis, 30 ghost shrimp, 4 baby guppies.





































comments :thumbsup:


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I'm pretty sure that's Mondo grass in the 2nd to last pic- why don't you replace it with some Echinodorus angustifolius if you like the grassy look?


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

yeahh that sounds familiar. well keep in mind that i only pretty much buy whatever the lfs has. haha and to be honest i bought all the cheapest stuff. so if it grows good but if not no real loss ya know. but thank you for the suggestion


----------



## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Check the S&S for some deals. Say your on a budget and would be willing to pay shipping for some clippings of stem plants and other lower light plants. Im sure that people wouldnt mind sharing with you.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

im hearing nothing but good things about S&S so ill have to check it out.

ok so i bought another krib, hoping that its a male. the lady at the pet store said it was too young to tell. but i bought it anyways. so i put it in and right away the female i had in there starts chasing it. it starts chasing it to no end. the only way it stops is if the one i just got hides. so my question is will the female stop attacking the new one? or am i just outta luck?

thanks


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

There's a good chance that she's decided the whole tank is her territory ATM. Do you have another tank that you could move her to for just a day or two to let the little guy get established, and then maybe try re-introducing her, so that then she will be the "new kid OTB"?

The more plants and other decorations in a cichlid tank (like caves, driftwood, etc) the better; if they can stay out of each other's sight more there will be much less aggression.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

Whats ATM and OTB? 
yeah ill take her out if i can catch her ha. but the tank i got her out of she was the only fish in there, so i think your right. but there is a rosey in my tank that she doesnt give a hoot about. but ill take her out for a bit and hope that'll help. thanks lauraleellbp


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

sorry- At The Moment and On The Block

GL (good luck ) and keep us posted!


----------



## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Try rearranging the tank and breaking up the territories. This will make it look like a "new" enviroment


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

thanks for the luck lauraleellbp!

update. ok lots of ghost shrimp have been kickin the bucket. not sure why but i dont really mind haha. the female krib that was attacking the new one has calmed down. as long as the new one is in its "safe zone" its fine. im just not sure if its always going to be like that or if there gonna warm up to eachother or what. sometimes tho ive seen them close for a little bit, but then the female starts again.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

ok an update. so i noticed that the new krib ive introduced has no tailfins what so ever. so i was gonna take him out and put him in my other tank. but then i knew he was gonna get eaten (bichir and a knife) so thats out. so i decided to get a 2 liter bottle, cut out the top and put him in there, inside the tank. is this a good idea? or is it bad for the fish? comments?

haha and i thought planted tanks were a good stress reliver, too bad this one has caused alot of stress ha


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Well you might want to punch some holes in the 2-liter bottle so it gets some circulation...


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

haha just got done doing that. no joke haha


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

how long should the krib be in isolation? hes been in there for about 2 days.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

ok so an update.

i really dont want these kribs anymore. all the bigger one does is mess with the smaller one. i think its because when i got the bigger one it was in a tank all by its self in the store when i bought it. so when i buy more drift wood i think im going to get rid of the kribs. whats the best way to do that, aside from killing them?
thankss


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

See if an LFS will take them back for store credit, or check with a local club to see if there are any hobbyists who'd take them.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

alright will do. i think im going to do a java fern and java moss tank haha. cause i plan on getting more drift wood and ill tie the moss to the wood and let it grow....ha maybe thats all ill have. and would it be ok to put a couple yo yo loaches or zebra loaches in here after i get rid of the krib?


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

No, they need to be kept in groups and will get too large for a 10gal tank. Sid-the-monkey loaches are the only ones I can think of offhand that wouldn't get too big?


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

ok update. 
turns out the kribs were not working for me. so i put them in the big tank with a 6-7 inch bichir, 5 inch african knife, and 4 giant dainos. if they live cool if they dont, its whatever. so right now in the planted tank is a guppy, and like 3 shrimp.

picked up some wood, along with some java moss. tied the moss to the wood and hopefully it grows. wood is making the tank a little swamp like, so im doing water changes to try and get it clearer. thinking about just having an easy community tank with community fish in it.


----------



## ohyeahcrx (Mar 21, 2008)

its been awhile so its time for an update. i put the kribs in the big tank, and there fine in there, so there staying in there. you know how i said i got sticks and boiled them and stuff? yeah well i didnt boil them enough. so after a while it was a swamp in there. i got rid of those sticks, and used the old drift wood i had. i now have 6 zebra danios, and one white cloud, i think its called. 











oh yeah and theres about a BAZILLION SNAILS in it too. thank gosh i dont mind snails haha


----------

