# First timer



## knuggs (Mar 5, 2007)

Welcome. First of all you are going to need a good substrate to start out. It is a pain to change it. I don't know how big your tank is for the amount of lighting you have or what spectrum you have. You will need c02. Finally research, research, and then research.


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## KDahlin (Mar 12, 2007)

knuggs said:


> You will need c02.


You will need CO2? Only if you go over 2.5 watts per gallon in your lighting.

What is the size of the tank? 

A good primer to start you off is at http://rexgrigg.com/index.html


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## knuggs (Mar 5, 2007)

KDahlin said:


> You will need CO2? Only if you go over 2.5 watts per gallon in your lighting.


You may get by without c02, but your growth won't be as good. C02 will still make a difference in speed of growth. So I would still recommend it, even if it is DIY (Bottle, yeast, baking powder, sugar, and water).


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

I think the point on C02 is:

If he has a 55g tank with 60w of light--he won't need C02, because he really won't be able to grow much of anything....

However, if he has 60w of light over a 10g--then yes, he will need some C02....


Mr. Moe,

Use this Aquarium Volume Calculator to determine how many gallons Your tank is......With out that--its kind of hard to give You much guidance...

HTH


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

i think my tank is a standard 10gallon


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

60 watts of what kind of light?


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

i found out the 60watts light is too big for my tank so now i made a funny lookinh hood with a light built in it, but i have no idea how much watts the bulb is. There is no label on it.


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## metfan581 (Aug 19, 2005)

is it a screw in or a strip?


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

It's a single fluorescent light. Heres a pic to show how the tank looks for now. The sponge filter will be replaced as soon as a get a new filter.
I wanted to get some plants at the 'Swap n Shop' but seeing that i live in Canada i don't think people are willing to ship to me, and also the fact that i don't have paypal.
10gallon-


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I went look through my yard for some more rocks and changed the scape. The water actually isn't yellow, its more like the the one in the first pic.

New scape-


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## cavemanf16 (Jul 5, 2007)

Nice layout! My dad has a 20G with a similar setup (maybe even less lighting than you have) and he's able to grow plants relatively well without CO2 or any ferts. I would caution you to introduce fish VERY slowly... 1 at a time if possible, to see how they react to those rocks you put in the tank. My dad's fish haven't liked his tank so well (he added about 8 all at once, and lost most of them after the first 2 months), but the longer it's been running the better his tank has settled into a routine. Your plants may not grow extremely fast with that lighting or lack of CO2, but you can certainly achieve a lovely planted tank if you can keep the water clean and the algae contained to a very minimal amount of growth.


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I wanted to do a Iwagumi setup with this tank(so i might play aound with the rocks) and wanted to plant HC. Here where i live i don't think i can find any. is there an alternative way?


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

There's HC available pretty regularly in the swap n shop(SNS) forum here at PT....


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Light + CO2 + fertilizers are all in direct correlation with one another as far as plant uptake goes, basically a plants metabolism so to speak, and all must be balanced to achieve great results no matter how hi or low tech the situation is. Think of it as an equation you have to figure out, the first thing you must know is the exact wattage and color spectrum of the light. We might be able to guess at least half of that for you if you could measure the exact length of the bulb and include here any and all writing on the bulb, even if it's a weird code faintly stamped near the end cap (15" & 18" T8 fluorescent bulbs are usually around 14-15w). With light like that, you probably won't have to do much at all, a bit a ferts here and there won't hurt unless you over do it, CO2 will certainly help but you won't get the full advantage of it with only 1.5 watts per gallon. The reason for that is the 'equation' I mentioned, when one part is out of balance it can either cause problems are it's not able to be utilized because of the way plants take in nutrients. If light or ferts is higher than the rest of the equation it can cause the plants to put their uptake into overdrive, causing the lesser nutrients to diminish faster resulting in a deficiency. If CO2 is higher than the rest, some of it is waisted as the amount of light or ferts is not enough to allow the plants uptake to keep up with the amount of CO2 offered. This is why people say you need this or you don't need that, in any case a balance is preferred.

The next thing I would do with this tank is change out the substrate for something made up of porous clay or something with a good nutrient value. Gravel is not impossible to deal with, but later on it will be the hardest to change if you choose to switch it out, and that's not something that's particularly a joy to learn the hard way.


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I was planning to change the gravel to eco-complete because i can't get aquasoil around here(none that i can find). So the Swap n Shop the only problem is that i don't have paypal.


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

Just put up a post like:

*WTB: HC*

and explain in the post that You don't have paypal and need to pay by check, mo, etc. There's probably someone around that will work with You....

Or

Open a Paypal account. :tongue: 

HTH


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I would open a Paypal account but i don't have a credit card....I'm only 14 =D


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I went to my friends cottage resently and found some plants on shore and decided to take some back with me. Can anyone identify these for me?

Plant #1


Plant #2


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

Anyone????


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I'm not sure about your local plant species, but the first resembles our local immersed bacopa monnieri. The second resembles hair grass. I'd certainly love to see if they make it in the tank, I wish I could find local hair grass. I know someone here or at APC found some in their roof gutter, lol.


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

The plants aren't really local, the Cottage is 2hrs away.


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I was wondering if these plants would ge ok to use in my 10gallon after the substance change?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I personally don't see why they wouldn't be ok. If you are worried about parasites or algae, you could give them a potassium permanganate bath or a quick bleach dip. Don't be alarmed if they begin to die off in your tank, this will most likely happen as they acclimate to your tanks parameters, the leaves that were accustom to their prior environment will die off and make way for new growth. I see far too many people call their new plants dead a week after adding them, then rip them out and throw them in the trash.


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

ok thanks i'll post pics when i get substance change and i have added the plants.


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## Mr.Moe (Jul 2, 2007)

I'm making a new post on progress in the photo section.


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## MyMonkey (Jul 17, 2007)

Did you add the new substrate yet?


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