10 gal on no budget (Algae Free!!!! 4/29/09)

[frogmanjared]

Well, I decided to take a pic of the tank during it's cycling stage today. I've been squeezing the filter material from my other 2 tanks into this one to speed up the process.

The slope doesn't really show, since all black has no depth. But I collected a small piece of wood to attach java fern toward the back this morning, and after that goes in, well it will still look boring. What are some tall, low maintenance plants that would look good in the background? There's only going to be 15w of light.

[CL]

Cant wait to see it planted
Maybe some vals or rotundifolia would work for the background

[frogmanjared]

Because the wife hurried me through the store... I bought the powerhead with more power, but it doesn't have a flow control valve and now I'm screwed! I need some plants that will stay stiff enough but maybe bend a little with the current to place in the front left corner area. I've tried aiming the output in every direction, except for straight across (I'll try it tomorrow, too frustrated today!). I've even stuffed the prefilter full of more sponge, and put pantyhose around the outer sponge and still too much flow? Anyone have any ideas on how to reduce the flow on this sucker?

Here's a pic from today... after my fumbling around with the filter. There's some Java fern and moss(collected from a pond this summer) on the wood, and a tiny piece of suesswassertang to the left.

[CL]

The flow will slow down in time. The hose will clog somewhat.

[frogmanjared]

I got the flow reduced A LOT! It's still strong, but with plants it should be perfect. In thinking of what plants to get, would Cryptocoryne spiralis and Downoi work in this tank? I might get R. rotundifolia for the back left, the spiralis would be just left of the filter and trail on the surface, and the downoi would be mid/foreground somewhere. Any suggestions/comments are welcome!

[CL]

How did you wind up reducing the flow? I think downoi needs at least a little more light to work, plus mine love root tabs Crypts should work fine

[frogmanjared]

I bunched up some filter floss and shoved it in the top of the slotted tube that goes into the sponge... it seemed to have worked well!

Really, downoi won't do well in 1.5 wpg? I love the way it looks.

[frozenbarb]

Downoi would not work in a low light.

But you can try Crypts and Java ferns and Dwarf Saggs and moss. Java fern looks really nice in a dark tank.

I think shrimps would look cool in this tank.

[frogmanjared]

Well, that sucks... forget about the downoi Maybe I'll just have a carpet of suesswassertang eventually. What species of dwarf sag stays the shortest in low light (I've heard many contradictory things)?

[lauraleellbp]

Go for E. tenellus 'narrow' or 'micro,' or Marselia minuta

This was my 10gal with E. tenellus 'narrow':

[PROLINKer]

That's a nice start, Anubias in driftwoods will be ok with your current.

[Karackle]

Crypts should grow well, I have crypts in all of my tanks, 2 of which are less than 1wpg, 2 of them are regular aquarium gravel substrate and they grow faster than some of my stems, ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but only a slight one. Spiralis grows quite well for me in my .75wpg 20g tall tank with aquarium gravel substrate. Any of the carpetting plants Lauralee suggested should do well too. And they should all hold up to the current. Good luck, I can't wait to see it planted!

[frogmanjared]

So... I woke up today, and boom! Baceterial bloom. This sucks, I've never had one this cloudy, I rinsed the substrate really well, must be too many nutrients from too few plants and squeezing dirty filter media in there for a few days. Should I just ride it out, wait till I get new plants (E. tennulus, C. retrospiralis prob next week)? Would opening the air valve on the filter work? I thought I remember reading somewhere that high oxygen levels will kill off most of the bacteria, if so, how long could I do this without harming the plants?

Thanks for all your help

[eyebeatbadgers]

High O2 levels won't kill plants. Low Co2 won't help, but you can add Excel in the time being, or just leave the bacterial bloom be.

Bacterial bloom is a normal thing, but I'd get more fast growing plants in there whenever possible. You don't want the bacterial bloom to turn into a green water outbreak.

Also, as you add plant mass in the tank, you will need to increase the flow of the filter. It's probably best you started off with one that was a little overkill.

[frogmanjared]

Originally Posted by eyebeatbadgers

Also, as you add plant mass in the tank, you will need to increase the flow of the filter. It's probably best you started off with one that was a little overkill.

Thanks for the response. I added a bit of pennywort floating to help suck out nutrients. I'll probably have to increase the flow a tiny bit as more plants get in, but we'll see.

* "a little overkill" is quite the understatement LOL! I had trouble putting one tiny piece of suesswassertang into the substrate, it kept getting swept away.