# My 10g planted newbie tank



## graciegrapes (Aug 6, 2008)

I would be cautious about putting a betta with the honey gouramis. Generally betta fish don't do well with gouramis; i think it has something to do with the coloration. But I know some people are able to pull it off; just depends on the temperment of the betta really.

I would suggest some sort of foreground plant. Dwarf sags are pretty easy.


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## CFlux (Aug 31, 2009)

sometimes betas think the gouramis are other betas because of their shape and size. So just keep an eye on them and have a backup plan if they start fighting. otherwise I like where your tank is going. Another caution is having 3 gouramis in there could turn bad if two of them decide to spawn as the parents will get very territorial. so I guess I would suggest either going with the beta or 2 gouramis. Three would be fine if your sure you can get all the same sex.

Just some suggestions. Happy Growing!


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## april_tanks (Jul 21, 2009)

As for the bettas and barbs together, I wouldn't do it because barbs are nippy. 

And as for the bettas and gouramis together, people suggest not to put them together because they are bother related because of the way they breath oxygen from the surface and the way they breed. I myself, I have a betta and an opline gourami together, but they are in a 37 gallon together so they got space... But the betta has chased the opline before even though he is smaller xD 

So unless you have an extra tank for the betta to go in if they don't get along, I wouldn't suggest it.


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

Ok, thanks for all the replies.
I guess i'll stick with just 2 honey gouramis and keep my betta in his 2g tank. My other question is, besides the 4 cories, the oto and the 2 honey gouramis, can i put a small school of 6 neon tetras or cherry barbs or harlequin rasboras?

thanks


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

I agree with graciegrapes, try adding forground plants, mabey somthing on the drift wood???


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

It's hard to see if your anubias is planted. The big stem with the roots coming off of it needs to be out of the substrate. If not it will rot. It would love to be tied onto your drift wood! 

I think it's great that you have begun with a lot of stem plants. It will help your tank cycle quickly.


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

The anubias is planted in the substrate, and i'm pretty sure the rhizome is above the substrate, i'll consider attaching it to the driftwood.

It's difficult to acquire good quality plants in my area, and most of them are stem plants, the best foreground plants i could get where the anubias and the moss ball, sagittaria or other carpeting plants are difficult to find.

As for the fauna i think i'll settle for 6 corys, 6 neons, 2 honey gouramis, and 1 oto.


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## mynameisjonah (Jan 22, 2008)

what you're settling for could be slightly overstocked. the six cories alone leads to a lot of waste. If I were you, I would look into more of the nano cory cats (pandas for example), a group of 3 would be sufficient. Otos are unnecessary at first, unless you are going to provide them with plenty of food, since your tank is bare of any algae. So maybe 3 dwarf panda corys, a pair of gouramis and school of micro rasboras. Lastly, definitely adjust your filter to its lowest setting, thats a lot of flow for your gouramis.


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

Hi! Sorry for the lack of updates

I've just added 2 red honey gouramis, and, according to a friend at my LFS, are 1 male and 1 female. Current stock: 4 schwartz corys, 2 honey gouramis, and 1 oto, and due to the 50/50 light, there's a lot of algae for him, i still give sinking algae wafers for all the bottomfeeders.

I've just pruned my plants this week, but i have had conflicting advice about this. Some say thay i should discard the tops, others to replant the tops, while others say to discard the bases, but why the bases? it's a PITA to keep the plants anchored while waiting for them to grow roots again. How should I prune the plants and still make them look nice and uncluttered?

Thanks in advance


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Your cories will appreciate meat-based sinking wafers. They're not really algae eaters, so algae tablets won't provide them with all the nutrition they need. If they're eating flake or normal pellets too, though, they'll be fine.

Here's my usual methodology after setting up a new tank or scape: Since you still have some room in your tank, I would cut off the tops and then plant them in your tank near the bases, which I would leave in the tank also. The bases will form new shoots and start branching out, and the tops will root at the bottom and continue to grow. Then, next time you trim, Id give away or sell the tops. Third time you trim (probably in 6 weeks or so, depends on your growth), you might consider throwing away some of the old "bottoms" because they'll be tired-looking and old. That's where you substitute the tops where the old bottoms used to be. That make any sense?

The "bottoms" start to look really ugly after a while in most tanks. That's why people replant the fresh, pretty new tops instead.

How about a new full tank shot?


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

I see what you're saying. I noticed some of the oldest bases of the ludwighia getting very ugly, i'll replace them with new shoots. The hygrophila ys growing very nice side shoots in every direction, even to the front of the tank. I'm having trouble for the cabomba to root, but i've read that it's a common problem, i'll try to replace the bases with new shoots from the cabomba too.

The sinking tablets i'm using for the corys is made from fish meal, algae, and some other stuff, brand Otto, chinese i think, the funny thing is, every fish loves it! even the gouramis and my betta, i'm having a hard time for the corys to eat that stuff because every other fish wants a piece of the tablets.

Here's a new shot, right after pruning. I overestimate the size of the tank, i don't think i'll be able to cram other species of plants in there, almost all LFS in my area who carry live plants are stem plants or big leaf plants, almost no foregrounders, so i'll leave it at that.

Thanks for your advice FrostyNYC.


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

You're welcome. I think the tank looks great.


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## roznalos (Aug 18, 2008)

The tank looks really nice! Keep up the good work!

John


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

Hello again

Another update, i discarded all the bases, and replaced them with the youngest side shoots i could find. I also added several neon tetras. I was thinking of removing the male gourami, it's very aggressive towards the female, chasing her all over the tank.

I'm having some trouble with the ludwighia, some stems are rotting from the base upwards, by sections, it happened on the oldest bases, but also some of the newer ones, any explanation for this?

Thanks in advance

PS. Last picture is King of the Hill! LOL; by the way, is that a Schwartz Cory? I think it is, but the guys at my LFS are surprisingly ignorant about fish species.


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## punchbuggy (Sep 11, 2009)

is that a honey gourami? it looks more of a dwarf gourami of the sunset variety..


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

It's a red honey gourami, up close it doesn't look like a dwarf gourami, much smaller


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

Hi all, update time

I was having a bit of trouble with the honey gouramis, so i traded the male for a male dwarf gourami, and returned the female to the LFS for store credit and got the SeaChem Plant Fundamentals Pack. I noticed that several of the hygrophila's leaves where turning brownish, i suppose it's due to lack of iron or trace elements, and the leaves of the ludwighia sometimes fall down. The Flourish Excel is a nice bonus.

I noticed that sometimes after feeding for a couple of days i get a spike of ammonia of 0.25 and nitrite of about 0.5-1 ppm, then after not feeding for a day or two ammonia and nitrite return to 0 ppm. All fish are behaving normally. I normally feed flakes before lights out for all fishes, and drop a couple of sinking discs before going to bed.

New pictures, some neon tetras and a dwarf gourami, i still haven't identified it as a Neon Blue or a Powder Blue dwarf gourami, still he's cool.

Also, I'm planning my next project: Changing the living quarters of my betta, i'm thinking of a 2.5g AGA, Amano-style aquarium, with HC and pogosterum helferi, with either rocks or driftwood, haven't decided yet; got the idea from a video in the Tropica website. For light i'm getting the mini-aqualight from coralife.

Cheers


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## el_heb (Sep 12, 2009)

Hi again

Some updates, trouble mainly

Most of the hygrophila's leaves are dying, rotting and falling away, dunno what's causing it, also de lugwighia and cabomba from the left side of the tank are not doing good. It started first with the stems bending forward, though there's not a very high current, i keep at minimum, then leaves just started rotting and falling off. Only the plants on the very right side of the tank are thriving, and also the anubias and the cladophora. I've been dosing Flourish 1ml twice a week and Flourish Iron and Flourish Excel 1ml every day, in addition to Co2. Tried to get some cuttings from the best looking hygrophilas to see if they'll recover, though people at my LFS told me that the plants already reached the end of their lifespan and need to be replaced.
By the way, i have tons of algae that just appeared in the span of just a few days, my driftwood is covered with the thing, it looks nice but i'm worried because it appeared over the past weekend, from zero.

The fishes are doing well, haven't had another spike of ammonia or nitrites and my nitrates are at 40ppm just before a water change. Current population: 6 neon tetras, 4 corys, 1 otocinclus, and 1 dwarf gourami

Any thoughts? Help will be appreciated.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Really nice looking Gourami! I dont know about your algae\plant problem, but good luck!


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