# New Tank: 10g, low-tech planted



## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

What size tank? Its nice to see the Metaframe tank in use.


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## sammermpc (Mar 16, 2013)

Yeah, I love the metaframes. This one is 10g. I have a 2.5g. 

Plants are still growing well, but I've still got the pea-soup look going on...going to try and dial the light down further, perhaps look into doing a blackout to clear things out some. 

I also have no circulation in the tank (no filter, no bubbler), so that may contribute as well.


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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

Cool! I have a few of the Metaframe tanks from 2 gallon to 29 gallon. I have two set up now, a 15 and a 29.


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## RCB (Jul 5, 2018)

Another MetaFrame fan here. Ive saved the original incandescent hoods and filler strips and now use LED lights.


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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

I have at least one of the lights, for a 10 I believe.


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## xjasminex (Jul 26, 2011)

Hey! Metaframe fan here too! I have a two, dismantled ten and a 15 gallon. None in use though. I have hopes of eventually fixing up the ten gallon. 


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## xjasminex (Jul 26, 2011)

reddhawkk said:


> Cool! I have a few of the Metaframe tanks from 2 gallon to 29 gallon. I have two set up now, a 15 and a 29.




Do you have threads for those? 


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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

Sorry, no.


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## sammermpc (Mar 16, 2013)

It's a 10 gallon. Yeah, I love the metaframes and found this cheap somewhere. The old tar sealing has held up perfectly well. I also have a 2.5 gallon metaframe that I just leave in the window and it's a kinda soupy mix of swamp juice. 

Some tank updates — this is at 4 months. I resolved the algae issue by blacking out the tank for a couple of days and then dialing down the duration to about 6 hours a day. That had the unfortunate side-effect of killing all of my styrogens, which I haven't managed to get to recover. 

I've since dialed the light back up to about 12 hours a day and the plants have been responding w/o much algae growth, so I'm happy.

I did some re-configuration and added some...well, I don't know what it is, but something from another tank in the back right corner. The mini-swords (or whatever they are?) are also starting to spread out and carpet a bit, which I like. 

Over the weekend, I added a piece of driftwood I found in a local lake. I'd be curious if anyone has any good suggestions about what to tie down to it.

The duckweed is doing well up-top and I added some clear lids for the light to get through.


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## CluelessAquarist (Apr 5, 2014)

Did you do anything to sanitize that driftwood? I would be concerned about unwanted parasites/nematodes and algae. 


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## sammermpc (Mar 16, 2013)

> Did you do anything to sanitize that driftwood? I would be concerned about unwanted parasites/nematodes and algae.


No, but I let it bake-out in the sun for a couple of months before I put it in. It actually dried out so much it floated, so I had to soak it in a bucket to get it to sink again. 

Since I last posted, the tank has finally stabilized, and I've added a handful of cherry shrimp as well as 7 ember tetras. Things are starting to look really good!


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## xjasminex (Jul 26, 2011)

Looking great!


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## CluelessAquarist (Apr 5, 2014)

Dang that’s a big difference! It looks great! 


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## sammermpc (Mar 16, 2013)

Thought I'd post an update, as the tank has been stable for some time. I think I'll need to deal with the foreground soon, but this is after a good trimming. The white pipe in the back is just the outlet tube for a $5 Ebay circulating pump. Should tuck that away a little better...


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## Crazylegs78 (Aug 12, 2020)

Very nice!


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## sammermpc (Mar 16, 2013)

Thought I'd just post some updates — I wasn't able to maintain the tank for a number of months, and this is how things looked. The fish, by and large, survived, but the cherry shrimp seem to have disappeared. I believe that they never established a successful colony as the (hungry) ember tetras would pick-off any babies










I trimmed things up quite aggressively. I've also added a sponge filter and some leaves. Currently have a half-dozen ember tetras; a stray guppy that was included as a fry from my LFS, and a handful of velvet blue shrimp. Looking to see if I can establish a much larger shrimp colony eventually.


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## Nature Freak (Sep 30, 2019)

Nice job! Where'd you come by that compost? 

I love the way you took the time to balance the tank without freaking out over everything, such as the algea. Lotsa patience  

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