# First planted tank!



## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

I have a 10 G tank that has been up and running for a while.
(Fully planted, cycled and populated about 2 months now)

_*Substrate*_- Thin layer of gravel; covered with black petco sand.
*Plants* - Anubias on my driftwood and rock, moneywort, Swords, Moss Balls (a wee bit obsessed with them :wink, banana plants and some others that came in an assortment. *identification of the plants would be appreciated! *
*Inhabitants*- 10 Neon tetra, 7 Ghost Shrimp, 3 very small bronze cory (newest members of the tank less than a week ive had them, had 4 but one mysteriously disappeared over night last night, tore apart the tank searching for him, anyone got an idea about that, i googled it and many said they die and snails will bury them? creepy little undertakers if that is true, one of them was very lethargic and not as playful as the other three) & some snails that i hope to eventually weed out. (aqadvisor says im 117% stocked, but besides one cory going missing everyone seems happy.)
*Filter*- Tetra Whisper 10-30i
*Lighting* - Two 13w CFLS @6500k (i think, ill have to double check with my BF bc he's the electrical guru) that are on a timer as of yesterday 9 am - 9 pm.
*Temp *- stays roughly between 74-76 F with heater i have.
*Ferts*- api root tabs when first planted, and dose weekly with 5 ml leaf zone.
*pH*- around 7.4-7.6, those colors on the results sheet are too similar to each other lol
*Ammonia *- 0
*Nitrites*- 0
*Nitrates*- 10

Every Sunday i do a 15-20% water change and clean the best i can without disrupting the environment too much and add my ferts.

Mainly i'm just looking for constructive criticism and helpful words of wisdom to help me get an idea of how i'm doing. I have some Algae growing on my filter spout, my anubias and some of my moneywort, tried rubbing it off, doesn't help much. has a gritty texture almost. it doesn't hinder the visual beauty of the tank in my opinion but i worry about a take over. :help:

I hope this is the right topic to post under, since it was general low tech area i just went for it :flick:​


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## rcs0926 (Jun 14, 2013)

You should probably cut your photo period down to 6-8 hours.


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## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

permanently or temporary just to help stop algae growth?


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## dubels (Jun 14, 2012)

Perm. 12 hours of light is too much. Aim for 8. You can even split it so the tank is on during the morning and on again when you are home.

Nice start though. I wish my first planted tank looked half as good as yours.


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## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

dubels said:


> Perm. 12 hours of light is too much. Aim for 8. You can even split it so the tank is on during the morning and on again when you are home.
> 
> Nice start though. I wish my first planted tank looked half as good as yours.


thanks for clearing that up, i've read recently about splitting up the time so i might give that ago! i don't know where i got 12 hours from! too much contradicting info online! 

i am very proud of my progress and outcome, so it's nice to hear it looks good and i'm semi on the right track! so thank you x 10! :thumbsup:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Yes your off to a great start! I like that pic of the ghost shrimp on the moss ball.:icon_mrgr


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## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

annyann said:


> Yes your off to a great start! I like that pic of the ghost shrimp on the moss ball.:icon_mrgr


yay, thank you so much! :thumbsup:


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## ForensicFish (May 19, 2013)

I would advise you remove those moss balls asap! Soon you will find your plants with tufts of cladophora algae release by the moss balls. Cladophora is very tough to remove on plant leaves once it gets a hold. I know your shrimp love them (great for food) but its not worth the hassle.

I have a bunch of moss balls in my sump so my fry and shrimp can feed off them. They also help reduce other forms of algae as well as nutrient uptake. So they are not all bad, but they will shed algae on to your other plants.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

ForensicFish said:


> I would advise you remove those moss balls asap! Soon you will find your plants with tufts of cladophora algae release by the moss balls. Cladophora is very tough to remove on plant leaves once it gets a hold. I know your shrimp love them (great for food) but its not worth the hassle.
> 
> I have a bunch of moss balls in my sump so my fry and shrimp can feed off them. They also help reduce other forms of algae as well as nutrient uptake. So they are not all bad, but they will shed algae on to your other plants.


is that that string form of algae????!!!

ihad my moss ball in my 20 l and inotced this green string algae growing on my plants iwas like WTH


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## ForensicFish (May 19, 2013)

MERSF559 said:


> is that that string form of algae????!!!
> 
> ihad my moss ball in my 20 l and inotced this green string algae growing on my plants iwas like WTH


Most likely.


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## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

ForensicFish said:


> Most likely.


i did a quick search about moss balls/outbreaks of cladophora on plants and it seemed like it was evenly divided between yay and nay for having them in your tank... I will sit on the idea of removing them for a little longer and do a little more research. 

did you have this happen to one of your tanks? if so, how long after introducing them to your tank did you see it take off?


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## ForensicFish (May 19, 2013)

It has happened to every single tank I had them. However, I did not have any shrimp in those tanks so having shrimp might help quell that. 

Moss balls are also great snacks for cichlids. So some people who have cichlids may be on the "nay" side. 

I mostly found the cladophora on my anubias. Granted the anubias were right next to the moss balls. Second, if you do not have adequate flow around your tank, you will notice the moss balls accumulating mulm, detritus, uneaten food and plenty of poo. They can be come unsightly due to the accumulation of such. However, depending on the size of your shrimp colony, they may be able to keep them clean and prevent the algae from attaching to other plants.

As for time frame when it started I do not know. But once it starts, it doesn't stop.

You are free to do whatever you want, I was just sharing my experiences. So if you end up seeing the cladophora attaching to your plants you will understand why.

Cheers.


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## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

*changed it up a bit*

I snuck in a pic of one of my tinier shrimpies that isn't a blurry mess 
added a new peice of driftwood and did some rearranging of big stones.
clipped and replanted some of my crazy tall moneyworts
gave my moms new betta a moss ball and some snails from my tank(_i convinced her she needed some snails bc i had too many creeping in here and didn't want to just toss them out_) 
i removed the two mystery plants that turned out to be terrarium plants or whatever! thank you *Plantedtank.net* i figured out what they were while researching red tailed sharks on here! 

:help::help::help:*Can anyone name that algae on my anubias? (SECOND PIC DOWN with another ghost shrimp chilling under it) it's cleared up a little bit now that i've shortened my lighting period, but i'd still like to know what it is. my snails like it.*:help::help::help:


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## kwangtzu (Jan 28, 2011)

I don't know what kind of algae that is, but I found that turning my light period down and feeding less so my shrimp were hungrier cleared up a similar algae I had.


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## headflowers (Aug 30, 2013)

kwangtzu said:


> I don't know what kind of algae that is, but I found that turning my light period down and feeding less so my shrimp were hungrier cleared up a similar algae I had.


that's what i'm doing, hopefully i'll see some improvement soon! thank you : )


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