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10 gallon, first real planted

8K views 100 replies 10 participants last post by  kcoscia 
#1 ·
It's been a week since I officially laid my eco complete and planted my 10 gallon. Its growth didn't really start because my BN cat was tearing up everything. Sadly I had to bring him to my LFS, where he will hopefully go into a nice big tank and find a mate.
So now I have a ten gallon low tech planted tank with anacharis, cabomba, java fern and a mystery fern that is probably java related.
For fish I have 5 serpae tetras (looking to increase to 7 once I feel ready to add) and one neon tetra who I rescued from my brothers tank. He thinks he is a serpae.
After one week, my anacharis has already started to grow new stems!
A question about lighting: I have two 15 watt bulbs. Does that mean I have 1.5 wpg, or 3 wpg?
 
#7 ·
i love my serpaes but they are kinda rude which is why i need to get the two more so their school can be as large as my tank will accommodate. I'm also going to get a few oto cats to fill the bottom feeder/sucker position. The bummer is, serpaes prefer dark water, amazon like and that's not really where i'm going. they're hardy fish that can thrive in many conditions though, and im working on getting them plenty of plant hiding places. my water wisteria is ordered. I'm planning on floating that for them to hide in.
 
#9 ·
boisterous is a perfect word for their behavior! i'm hoping the floating plants will help them with color. two are long finned and three are short. the two longer finned are not as bright and shiny as the others, so i'm hoping they'll feel better with more plants. my water parameters are good though
 
#18 ·
I think it all depends on the method behind your madness.. A fish tank that has nice plants.. Or an aquascape that has fish. That's where the difference is, there is no one correct way to do things, it's about finding a way that works for you and what you want. Just my 2 cents.
 
#19 ·
i'm a fish tank with nice plants definitely. i have the plants to make the aquarium healthier and more natural for my little guys, plus they look awesome when growing lush. i just like to see my living things happy too, whether they are fish or plants
 
#20 ·
If that's the case, I would get some rooted plants in there, anubis, amazon swords, certain varieties of crypts and go with them. Some stem plants like you have, will require a bit more lighting and you want to have a good balance of rooted and stemmed plants. Feed the rooted plants with seachem root tabs or similar every few months, and only need to dose liquid ferts occasionally. The stemmed plants will help prevent an algae outbreak while the rooted plants will grow more lush and fill out the tank. This is just my two cents, but the approach I take in low tech low light tanks. Just remember, low light no Co2 means plants grow slower and not quite as full in most cases, but that's ok for what you seem to want. You just can't base what your tank looks like compared to someone who uses high tech/high light.
 
#21 ·
Anubis and crypts. Will look into that. I'm not a fan of swords appearance wise, but i could definitely use some foreground plants. I have water wisteria coming to float, so my next purchase will be one of those! I like/appreciate your two cents :) Do java ferns count as rooted even though they feed mainly from the leaves?
 
#22 ·
Yeah not so much on the ferns. Lol there are many types of sword varieties to choose from, same thing with crypts and anubais. There are other plants as well, those are just the most common and easy to come by and are very forgiving for new planted tank keepers.
 
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