# Planted 10g Betta Bunks



## lotsalotls (Jun 18, 2014)

Imo, the cheapest (while still being effective) way to light a tank is with 6500k cfls. On a 10 gallon I would use two 13 watt bulbs. You could put them in those brooder/clamp lights they have at walmart for around $8 or a desk lamp if you have any laying around.


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## xpix3lx (Jan 26, 2016)

I second the cfl/brooder combination. I have a 5.5g betta tank with one that's doing pretty well so far and I'll be setting up a 40b with 3 eventually.

I don't know what your final stocking plan is but something to keep in mind, corys like to be in groups. Once cycled, you may want to consider adding a few more, or if you're looking to add some other fish as well the dwarf cory might be an option.
From what i have read:
C. habrosus acts much like a normal cory, spending a lot of time on the bottom
C. pygmaeus and C. hastatus are more active in the mid level 

As to the driftwood, I never did experience any Ph changes when adding mine, but just keep an eye on it, and eventually it should stabilize.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Thanks, @lotsalotls! I will look into that. That sounds much more economical than the things I was looking at. They're the spiral type, yes?

@xpix3lx I'll definitely be getting more corys once the tank's cycled. Have no fear. 

I just cheated and checked the pH of the water the driftwood's been sitting in for ~12 hours. 6.2. ...I think I'll keep soaking it a few days. Hopefully I'll get a chance to boil it for hours on end, but I keep getting called in to work on my days off. I won't have a day off until next Thursday. Ergh.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Annnd my heater died last night. Everything and everyone's still miraculously alive, but temp's way down. I'll be getting a new heater today. 

So far, my tank has been up for three weeks and I'm on my third filter, second heater (getting today), second stand (owned, just needs spray paint), and I need a second light system... while planning an expensive third on down the road. This is silly. 

The new stand is because my first filter leached water out for 18 hours onto the wooden (sturdy) bedside table it's currently on. The next filter literally and randomly cracked open while running, so I no longer trust the table. I have had many adventures with this new tank already!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

No new heater today. Things happened, and the store I managed to get to didn't have a heater with adjustable settings. I'll drive further out after work tomorrow to a bigger place. 

Plants are pretty static. Fish are doing fine. Still no upgraded lights. Ammonia is down even further. Nitrites/Nitrates are both still up. We'll get there!


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## xpix3lx (Jan 26, 2016)

Talk about a string of bad luck... Hopefully you get it all out the way early and things can proceed smoothly. 


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

New light and new heater!

Long story short, I got a different light than you guys suggested. Using the cfls would have required me either driving to a different town or ordering them online. I stumbled across a Floramax 18" for $11 and went with that, since it fits my hood. It looks WAY brighter!

I also snagged an adjustable heater, which I'm slowly warming the tank back up with. Poor corys!

The tank is so much brighter. I'll still probably be upgrading to a Finnex in a few months, but man, this is lovely for now. My struggling plants needed it badly.

I bought a couple of the 6500k cfls with an intermediate base that were on sale. If I find a cheap intermediate-based lamp at some point, I may add that on to my 5g and toss some plants in there. 

Hang in there, sad brown dwarf hairgrass!


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

It always starts with a Betta and then you have MTS (multiple rank syndrome). Be careful. Starting a new tank means that you have an old tank that... Looks really sad without a Betta in it. Yup. Vicious cycle. :wink2:


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

trufax

trufax

...And I keep looking at the bettas every time I enter a pet store. 

Bad. XD


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Altheora said:


> trufax
> 
> trufax
> 
> ...


I know what day new ones come into the LFS. Very, very bad.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

My LFS has a pretty sad collection of bettas, so I'm really just stuck with Petco... though one of the Petcos in my area has really nice bettas. 

I also have a really, REALLY bad habit of checking Aquabid.

Help me.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

The tank's pH is down to 6.5 without driftwood, but then, the bucket housing the driftwood is 6.5, too. I'm still nervous, but I'll went ahead and added one piece. My plants are, overall, on the downswing. Hopefully yesterday's light will help rescue them.

I'll knock down that "gravestone" rock in the center of the tank when I'm in there next. I must've flipped him up while I was rearranging. Whoops! Otherwise, slight improvement from my starting picture, I think.

Also, cory cameo!


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Altheora said:


> The tank's pH is down to 6.5 without driftwood, but then, the bucket housing the driftwood is 6.5, too. I'm still nervous, but I'll went ahead and added one piece. My plants are, overall, on the downswing. Hopefully yesterday's light will help rescue them.
> 
> I'll knock down that "gravestone" rock in the center of the tank when I'm in there next. I must've flipped him up while I was rearranging. Whoops! Otherwise, slight improvement from my starting picture, I think.
> 
> Also, cory cameo!


I love the wood. It makes a natural cave. Halfmoon Bettas love caves.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Hmm. So this is awkward. My nitrate levels are dropping. 

Ammonia is nearly done--hanging out at 0.10.
Nitrites are staying peaked at 5.0+

Nitrates: 
8/10: 5
8/12: 10
8/14: 7.5
8/15: 5.0

I did get the new light on 8/13. Could the plants have just taken off and started using up the nitrates that swiftly?


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Nitrates were back up to 10ppm today. I noticed that my filter was just kind of... dripping into the tank. I removed a good bit of debris by hand from the filter intake, and it's flowing nicely again. I wonder if that had been slowing the process down.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Three days after the new light, all of my wisteria has new growth, and my frogbit is starting to grow daughter plants and new leaves. Yay! The dwarf hairgrass is showing some small signs of improvement, as well, which is pretty sweet. 

I have a tinnny little piece of hornwort left that's I'm just letting float. We'll see how it does.

Everything's finally looking vibrant and green. 

No algae yet, but I totally sense a bloom coming on. Good things do not last very long in this tank so far.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

-squints at tank- Nitrites suddenly dropped today (hooray!) but ammonia is rising again? NH3/4 @ 0.50. I just did a 30% WC yesterday. At least it's trying to cycle!

My tank is weird. Fish are fine. Daily Prime doses still in play.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Annd the tank is cycled! (Knock on wood. Knock on laminate. Knock on anything.)

Added two more corys. They are flippin' adorable, and they're all getting along great.

Java fern is making babies on its leaves and the wisteria is growing. Floaters are partying. Still twiddling my thumbs on the dwarf hairgrass. Maybe it's a little greener in places? Overall, it's still mottled melt-and-green.

I'm starting to suspect the bacopa is made of rubber. It has not changed a bit despite fluctuating levels, new lighting, etc. This thing was born out of gel. It ought to be doing something. Anything. -squints at it-


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Nice tank journal. In another thread I have been doing a lot of research on beneficial bacteria - curious about the specifics on your current filter?


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

I'm apparently having a bit of a bacteria bloom? Or algae. My water's getting a bit cloudy. Mayyybe a slight green tint, so hopefully algae. I went looking for Excel after work today and failed. I'll have to snag some at a LFS the next time I can get to one when it's open. It could be a couple days. (Light is currently on for around 6-7 hours/day with a very long siesta in the middle so that I can see the tank in the morning and again in the evening when I get home.)

Any tips on where to find inexpensive timers, lurkers?

One of my corys laid eggs. They were eaten. This is ok with me.

@Immortal1 It's a Marina S10 HOB filter. No customization, I'm just using the filters it came with. Currently set to max flow. I have had a few minor issues with it clogging already, which is a little annoying, but I think I finally found the cause--somehow, an entire stem got inside. I have no idea how. I have an airpump on 24/7 (with about 25% of the available airflow going out into the air) to break up some dead space.


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## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

Tank looks good! Also just wanna make sure for your sake--you say "peppered" cory, I know those as C. paleatus (Corydoras paleatus (Pepper Cory) ? Seriously Fish), which are gonna get waaay too big for a 10 gallon. However there's also C. habrosus which is apparently sometimes labeled as such (I'm used to "salt and pepper" - Corydoras habrosus ? Salt and Pepper Cory ? Seriously Fish) that'll be fine in your tank. Hopefully you have the latter, not the former!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Aye. I realized that they were paleatus a bit belatedly. They had them mislabeled where I purchased the first two, and I believed them. Live and learn! I love them way too much to ditch them, though, so I'm sticking with 4 corys and the betta. That appears to be right at the maximum capacity for the tank, so I'll have to watch it like a hawk. I researched so much before buying the second two, and I'm good with it for now. It was buy two more or euthanize the first two. I'm also lacking the proper substrate for corys, which is kind of impossible to fix in a dirted tank. They'll be getting a little pot of sand soon.

I may be setting up a 20G for a teacher friend. If so, they might get moved there once they grow, though I'm loathe to lose these little guys. They have such excellent personality.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Algae is definitely taking over the walls of my tank. I added Excel and Flourish this morning, but unfortunately this week I'll be working long hours, so... lights will be on for 12 hours. Or I could just leave the lights off this week. 

Hmm.


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## xpix3lx (Jan 26, 2016)

Look for a simple 24 hour mechanical timer, they can be found at most any hardware store, target/walmart etc

If you can't get the timer, you may want to leave the lights off and turn them on when you get home.
You would be almost doubling your current photo period and if you think your tank is looking green now, just wait.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Thanks, xpix3lx!

I had my lights turned off all day today. I got home and flipped them on. I saw a detritus worm on the side and... baby (snails)? Tiny things that I can't tell if they're snails or... what, really. That's definitely what the "cory eggs" that I saw the other day were. They move, and they all did a mass exodus (a very slow one) back down to the substrate once the light was turned on.

I have no idea how I got snails into my tank. The only thing I've added was the driftwood, which I'd had sitting in different water for two and a half weeks. None of my plants have changed. 

Blargh.

Edit: ...Or could they have ridden in on the new fish? I slowly acclimated them to the water, then scooped them out with the net and into the tank. No dumping store water. It's the same store I got the first two corys from.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

The day with lights off really seemed to help the algae problem. It's still there, but it's gone down a notch already. 

I've invested in a $6 timer, which I wish I'd purchased earlier! Oh well, live and learn.  I currently have it on for 6 hours a day with a three hour break in the middle. 

I may try "baiting" the snails with a bit of lettuce in a tiny jar/cup/something that the corys can't get into. I know nothing about snails except for what I learned in parasitology class, which was more than enough! I'll work on those after I deal with the algae. May as well put them to work while I have them.

I wish you could borrow fish. "Hey, can I borrow a couple loaches for a week to take care of these snails? I'll give them right back." <3


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Updated the title/specs to be a bit more updated on the first post. 

The algae is mostly gone! Hooray! 

I'm a total idiot and ordered some live plants from a user on this forum, asked him to wait to send until this week... and then promptly accepted a 12-hour shift on the day the plants are supposed to come in. Whoops. |D; I'm running some logistics to see how I can keep them cool in this heat. I'm thinking of asking the mailman to put them in a cooler out front (in a bucket in the cooler, to prevent them from getting wet). My family is, of course, all on vacation, and my friends are silly people with jobs. I'll figure something out! <3

PS: Increased light to 7 hours, since plant growth has slowed.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Exciting update!










Christmas in August in my tanks! @foster sold me some AMAZING plants, and they made it here safely, hooray! Let's see how many of these I can keep alive.

Just arrived:
Java fern (needle leaf), Lobelia cardinalis (small form), Polygonum kawagoneum, Ludwigia marila + atlantis, Staurogyne repens + sp. purple, Cuphea anagalloidea, Limnophila Belen + repens + aromatica mini + unk sp, Hygrophila kannur, Rotala sp, and my favorite, Alternanthera reinekii mini.

I didn't finish planting them all. I eventually got tired and just tossed the rest in to float and threw some in the second tank. Tomorrow will complete the planting!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Small update, my ammonia has popped back up again. 0.25 for the past two days. I'm not totally surprised, since I did a lot of digging in the dirt. It is a bit annoying, though. 

My Alternantera is doing poorly, alas! We'll see if it perks back up, but... I have low hopes for it, which is a shame, because it's definitely a gorgeous plant. Some other plants are doing poorly, some are doing alright. We'll see who can survive me! ;D

Ironically, the plants that I'm just floating in the betta's tank seem to be doing better than the dirted tank ones. Go figure.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

May as well ask in case anyone's lurking: 

I feel like my circulation in the big tank is mainly what's causing me troubles. My circulation is rather poor.

What's a good circulation pump for a 10g?


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## Redneck tenner (Aug 21, 2016)

I like a rio 50. Cheap small and adjustable up to 69gph. Has lots of included attachents. 

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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

You are the best. Thanks, ******* tenner!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Mrrr. I got a circulation pump, but it's way too strong, even on minimum. It's throwing my corys around--and I'm just imagining what it would do to my poor betta, who I still plan on adding to the tank. 

*Hmm. So. How to decrease its flow? Or just ditch the idea and either split the air pump I have or...?* 

Minimum for this particular pump is 40gph (I went with a Syncra Nano, since my LFS had that, and it seemed comparable to the Rio50). 

I also invested in some Purigen, since the tannins are driving me nuts. ...And changed the lighting to the two 6500 CFLs as previously suggested, because I can't just change one thing at a time.


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## Dr. Acula (Oct 14, 2009)

Try and aim the pump as much towards the surface as you can. You can lose a lot of force behind the stream and get some good surface agitation. Though I imagine it'll still be rough on the beta if you do eventually add one.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Both bettas and corys breathe air at times, so a lot of surface agitation is just as bad as excessive force below the water. Good idea for most other species, though.  I may play with it--carefully--on Monday and return it if I can't get it to run a little more quietly. I found another pump that's apparently loud, but at least it can go very low flow for very small tanks.

Photo update.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

I added a small piece of plastic to reduce the amount of water entering the pump. Man, that cut down on the pump's flow tremendously! It still looks too strong for the betta, but at least it's better for my corys.

Also, Purigen rocks for removing tannins. Whew!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Alright, so I finally added the betta in on Wednesday. 

He hates it in there. :| He paces back and forth along the front and just glares at me, like "get me outta here". He's fine with the corydoras--just flared at them for the first hour, no attacks. He mostly ignores them (and wants to eat their food), now. I removed the airline last night to reduce the flow. That may have helped a tiny touch, but he's still pacing a large portion of the time. 

Another thing, *my substrate is bubbling like crazy.* I've been poking it with my tweezers or a long chopstick every few days, and I swear I could poke it literally all day long. Stinky bubbles keep coming out. The plants where the bubbles are most frequent (AR Mini, a couple others) aren't doing great, but they aren't dead yet, either. I assume this is anaerobic bacteria. *Any thoughts?*


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Bumping. Any thoughts? MTS? Is that a really stupid idea with a dirted tank with gravel on top? =P Or just keep poking it periodically?


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Well, I came back from vacation (I left Monday morning)... and had a huge algae bloom in my tank, plus many of the plants had unrooted a significant amount (or entirely), plus my circulation pump was clogged. 

Thumbs up for beach trips. 

Tons of bubbles under the substrate. I aerated it as best I could, did a 50% WC, and cleaned the sides of the tank. Circulation pump was unclogged in about two seconds. I pushed the plants back in after aerating stuff. I assume the massive quantities of bubbles just pushed them all out. 

Fish are still alive. They've been fed, but nothing's been dosed for 5 days. I've only had one light on (still on a timer) rather than the normal two, so I had hoped that would prevent an algae bloom. Nope. Alas. 

Starting a strict daily aeration protocol as of today, and I'll be dosing Excel daily until I get the algae under control.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

I don't have any dirted tanks, but I do have Walstad's book. She recommended poking the substrate and oxygenating the water. You are doing what she rcommends.

I had a tank with eco complete with your exact problem. I added mature MTS snails. Problem solved. They spend a lot of time turning over the substrate. I'm not sure what would happen to your cap. They could cause a mess. Might be worth trying though....

I want to caution you about killing the algae with Excel. The same tank I already mentioned got so covered in algae when it was anaerobially bubbling that felt I had to go the Excel route. The algae died. It Started decomposing, made a mess and then caused ammonia to spike. My Betta got hurt by the ammonia. If you use Excel, make sure you pull as much dead algae out as you can!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

I will definitely do that. Thank you, @Varmint ! I appreciate the tip!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

I'm seriously considering/planning a second 10g. My 5g is just too much of a hassle. I want to ditch it and move the stuff in it to a second 10g. I have a double-decker 10g stand, sooo! Excuses. I'll probably wind up buying most of the stuff while it's on sale and set up the tank in a couple months.

For substrate, I'm thinking Safe T Sorb with an area of sand, so that I can move my corys into that once it's cycled. It's still too small for them, but I just don't have a place for a 20g+ at home, and they still seem content for now.


On the current tank, I'm still fighting the algae/anaerobic bacteria problem. Light is down to 5 hours a day. Excel EOD. Poking the substrate--tons of bubbles, still, and I'm getting increasing amounts of clouding of the water due to increased soil movement, grr. I'll be manually removing a lot of the algae tomorrow. It's just being a bit of a pain. Plants are in a bit of a holding pattern with the exception of the sword, which is taking off. Corys seem fine. Betta is biting the snot out of his fins, which is depressing.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Conflippin' hoolies. This is... either the third or fourth time that MY TANK HAS OVERFLOWED. ...Yeah, I have lost track of how many times this has happened.

Not much, thank goodness. Just... like an inch and a half. -flail-

The purigen is suddenly no longer letting water wick through it, which made the filter overflow out the back. Unhappy. Thoughts?


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

New Purigen, working well. I'm watching it like a hawk, though. 

The substrate bubbles haven't smelled like sulfur for over a week now, but TONS of them still come up every time it's poked, and any plants that aren't able to get roots grown in quickly (I'm looking at you, AR-minis) get pushed out of the substrate by the air bubbles within a few days, unless I push them back down. This cannot be good for the plants. I'm still struggling with algae to some extent, but it's manageable. 

I'm moving the tank onto a metal stand tomorrow. The wooden table it was on before is in dire straights after being covered in water several times. We'll see how this goes.

Advice always appreciated if anyone has any insights! I still want MTS, but none of my LFS has them in stock. I've been hesitant to invest in them online. It's getting tempting.


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## Watercrayfish (Apr 21, 2016)

May I ask why are you using purigen?

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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Mainly because of my tank's overall slight cloudiness. The purigen clears it up immediately to make it crystal clear. With the amount of poking of the substrate I've had to do lately, I need it.


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## dalfan039 (Aug 4, 2016)

I had a aquaclear 70 overflow out the back. Issue was that I had filled my own carbon insert and used a bag that had way to fine a mesh compared to there inserts. Since like you I was messing around with layouts of plants i would kick up fine dirt which would get to my carbon insert. Next time check to make sure your inserts are clean, another solution could be a pre-filter sponge on the intake.


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## Watercrayfish (Apr 21, 2016)

dalfan039 said:


> I had a aquaclear 70 overflow out the back. Issue was that I had filled my own carbon insert and used a bag that had way to fine a mesh compared to there inserts. Since like you I was messing around with layouts of plants i would kick up fine dirt which would get to my carbon insert. Next time check to make sure your inserts are clean, another solution could be a pre-filter sponge on the intake.


AC70 on a 10 gallon?
I have a 10g dirted tank with AC20, went through this stage for the initial 2 months. Now its settled, just let it settle poking continuously is a mess. I was paranoid about the gas build ups, but its none to worry. Plant some heavily rooted plants which will take care of it for you. MTS is not a necessary, I would stay away unless you like snails. 

I would spend more energy on fertilizers and on new plants, than on some filter media for a planted tank(just saying).


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

I have a Marina S10 Power Filter. It comes with a sponge on the filter intake, and I'd just swished the filters in aquarium water the day before the overflow happened. 

Letting it settle would be nice, but my less-rooted plants keep getting pushed up out of the substrate. Any thoughts on that? Would you just put a rock on them or something until their root systems take hold?


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## Watercrayfish (Apr 21, 2016)

Altheora said:


> I have a Marina S10 Power Filter. It comes with a sponge on the filter intake, and I'd just swished the filters in aquarium water the day before the overflow happened.
> 
> Letting it settle would be nice, but my less-rooted plants keep getting pushed up out of the substrate. Any thoughts on that? Would you just put a rock on them or something until their root systems take hold?


Rock will damage if the stems are delicate. I always like the lead weights, which works perfect.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Tank is on the new stand, now. Hooray! No issues in the move. 

How do you attach the lead weights? I assume like fishing weights? Do you tie them on with thread or something?


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## Watercrayfish (Apr 21, 2016)

Altheora said:


> Tank is on the new stand, now. Hooray! No issues in the move.
> 
> How do you attach the lead weights? I assume like fishing weights? Do you tie them on with thread or something?



No, I meant this one.


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## dalfan039 (Aug 4, 2016)

Watercrayfish said:


> AC70 on a 10 gallon?
> I have a 10g dirted tank with AC20, went through this stage for the initial 2 months. Now its settled, just let it settle poking continuously is a mess. I was paranoid about the gas build ups, but its none to worry. Plant some heavily rooted plants which will take care of it for you. MTS is not a necessary, I would stay away unless you like snails.
> 
> I would spend more energy on fertilizers and on new plants, than on some filter media for a planted tank(just saying).


My 70 was on a 40B, just pointing it out because it could be a reason why its over flowing...


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

@dalfan039 Someone else had the AC70, not me. ;3 I have a HOB filter made for a 10g. 

Thanks, Watercrayfish. I'll look into it. Kind of nervous about NOT poking after most other people are saying to poke it, though.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Progress shot!  It's looking glorious now that the otos are in there.


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Heya Altheora,

Do you work at the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte? If so, we're semi-neighbors and I'll be happy to help you out with local stuff.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Wow! I haven't updated this in a while. 

The tank is doing well! I now have a wonderful Finnex 24/7 Planted Plus. I love it. I also made a DYI lid with sliding glass. The AR mini is still pretty dull orange/tan rather than the vivid red it should be, but it's still alive. I consider that a plus. I just haven't been dosing the tank like I should. The rest of the plants have taken off and are doing tremendously well. 

I'm down to two corydoras in that tank now because.... it happened! I started a second 10g. Two of the corydoras moved upstairs with a second betta to finish up the cycling process. Unlike my first tank, the new tank has a name due to its interesting beginnings. Devil's Triangle has its own bizarre start-up board, but it's doing beautifully now and is packed full of plants that @foster sent me recently. The substrate is BDBS, and the two remaining corys will be joining their friends sometime this week. They love the sand, but the new betta bloated himself on their food recently. I'll have to figure out something with that. 

Plants in Devil's Triangle: 
Hygro. willow
Staurogyne sp. purple
Microsorum red
Blyxa Japonica
Giant baby tears aka Pearlgrass
Rotala rotundifolia unknown type
Limnophila sp. butterfly
Microsorum Thors hammer
Myrio mini (Myriophyllum mattogrossense)
Anubia gold
Microsorium needle leaf
Micro sword
Staurogyne Porto Velho
Rotala mini
Subwassrtang
Lobelia cardinalis
Pancuragi moss
Dwarf hairgrass (from petsmart)
One large purple silk plant as a distraction for the betta.









@PEdwards Howdy, semi-neighbor!


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Both tanks continue to thrive, though the lower/more mature tank is definitely having a bit of an algae outbreak. I've added in a couple more Otos and a few Rasboras, bringing its inhabitants up to: Betta, 5 Otos, and 3 Rasboras (getting more from my LFS tomorrow--those three have been sitting at Petsmart alone for a month).

The higher/newer tank currently is fighting off the typical brown algae from being a new tank. It has a Betta and the four Corydoras... who are outgrowing it.  I was afraid of that. They're adorable, happy, healthy fish, but I don't want to make them live in a 10g that they can explore in two seconds flat. 

Sooo my very sad plan is currently to trade in the four corydoras for five additional rasboras at my LFS tomorrow. I may move a couple of the older Otos into the top tank just to keep things even (and let them eat some of that brown algae). 

That said, the bottom tank is currently a jungle! The plants are thriving--all except the alternanthera, anyway, which remains stubbornly alive but definitely not thriving.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

I'm pushing the trade until next week. Work was insane today, and I had to stay late, followed by a "15 minute oil change" that took over an hour. I'll do it on my next day off. <3


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Update time, and I suspect that I'll get judged by the gurus for this. 

Newer tank: I rehomed the corys. Sad day! They'll be taken care of, though, so I am content. I moved in the 4 otos (one of the new ones passed away suddenly last week, as they do) and the 3 rasboras into this newer tank. The otos demolished the brown algae. Good job, guys. <3 I also got my Malasian Trumpet Snails in! I have 16, all thriving, and all currently in the newer tank.

Mature tank is now fishless. I moved the betta into a sad bowl with a large fake plant and some live floaters (and very frequent water changes) until he can move back in. 

So the mature tank has a severe green hair algae outbreak. Overdosing Excel didn't help. I am currently treating it with API AlgaeFix... which I don't trust with my fish, thus the move-out of everyone. I just added the first dose yesterday, so we'll see how it goes. I plan on doing a big scrape-out of everything tomorrow and probably Thursday, as well. Wish me luck!

I need to figure out a safe way to raise my Planted+ 24/7 on that tank an inch or two. Any ideas?


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

my understanding of the 24/7 is that if you take it off of 24/7 mode you can reduce light intensity and run it on a timer. just do that if you have too much light


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Yeah, but I love the 24/7 mode. That's why I got the light. ...And also my remote is on the fritz. I'd prefer to start off just trying to raise the light some--or maybe even using something to partially obscure the light. If that doesn't work, then I'll probably be forced to put it on a timer.


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## FishRFriendz (Dec 21, 2016)

Hair algae sounds like an opportunity to me. I'd be stocking more amano shrimp if I had more algae. Last night my amano shrimp swam up to the surface to steal some floating fish food. Oh I had a laugh, cuz I had dropped some sinking food for him too...


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Mwaha, I'm actually very allergic to shrimp, so no shrimp for me.  I don't even want to chance having them as pets, adorable though they are! They'd love this stuff, though. It's everywhere.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Are there any betta-approved fish that eat hair algae? That might be something to try, too. The AlgaeFix isn't doing much yet. x_x;


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

My cat just jumped onto the top tank and broke the glass. The cat is fine. The tanks and their equipment (and fish and plants) appear fine. The glass lid is not fine, but it held up pretty well and did not send shards everywhere, which was nice.

The cat still appears fearless of the tank, so I'm going to wait on a new lid. I'd rather the cat get soaked than cut up with glass shards.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Top tank is looking gorgeous after some hard work. Current fishy inhabitants: Betta, the 3 rescued harlequin rasboras, 4 otos, and 4 corydora habrosus... and about 8 Malaysian trumpet snails. I'm currently not dosing ANYTHING in that tank, and the plants are vivid green, slow-growing, and beautiful.

Bottom tank... really needs to be taken down. Algaefix killed off most of the hair algae, but as soon as I reduced the dose, it sprang back in places. I had to remove roughly 80% of the plants due to hair algae and decay. The driftwood is starting to rot. The dirt is mixing up with the gravel. It is a hot mess. Inhabitants are a betta and about 8 Malaysian trumpet snails (which never dig). The remaining plants are all crying. It is a sad tank. After gutting it, I didn't have the heart to scrub the algae off the glass. I just need to make the decision to pull the trigger on it.


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Heya!

The cories are doing great in their new home and are eating like pigs. Thank you!

Regarding the Tank From Algae Hell; if the wood's rotting try tossing some activated carbon in the filter for a while if you have the space. Since there are no fish in there now would be a good time to take the wood out, scrub the dickens out of it and clean the snot out of the substrate. From personal experience with larger grained substrate it tends to accumulate a ton of junk and needs to be cleaned more, and more often, than smaller stuff. Would adding a UGF tied into your filter be an option? 

Cheers,
Phil


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Hey @PEdwards

I'm glad the corys are doing so well! I'm glad they went to a great home. They were definitely cramped in my 10g, and I appreciate you taking them on. 

The nasty tank is a dirted tank, so to deep clean the substrate, I'd basically have to demolish the substrate. I should have more BDS around, and I love it in my top tank. If I redo the tank, I'd just use that. 


Honestly, I'd be good going down to one tank, but my stand is a double-decker that's a touch wobbly when there's only one tank on top, so I'm a bit nervous to. Irony! Enforced MTS!


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