Kyle 10 Gallon Journal (56K warning)

[KyleT]

Well the time has finally come and I tore down my 10 gallon nano reef. :? I am happy and sad at the same time. It definately was a new learning experience for me as well as a royal pain in the rear. It just had to go.

The good news: I"m turning it into a 10 gallon planted tank. Hopefully a very beautiful one. I have some great plans for this one.

It has been up and running for just under a week now (05/04/03) and has pretty much finished cycling since half of the water is from my 55 gallon and so is part of the gravel. It cycled pretty fast. Right now it has on top of it a 50/50 Power compact because my 6700K bulb is still on it's way here. It is a 28 watt bulb pushing out just under 2000 lumens.

The substrate consists of 2" onyx and 1" of plain old gravel. My fish plans are 2-3 ottos and 5-6 neon tetras. Af for the plants .... well thats gonna be a suprise.

Here are some pictures I just took tonite after adding the first plants to get things situated before I do any major planting.

[KyleT]

The Bulb finally arrived today so I went ahead and did some more planting. Hopefully in a couple weeks it will grow in and I can cut back and keep replanting until it fills in.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Looking good, Kyle. I'm growing tired of my 20g reef as well. I'll miss it, but I've decided that unless I can afford to set up a full swing Calcium Reactor, pH/ORP controller, Metal Halides, etc. I'm not going to try the reef thing again. It's just too much of a headache to try it the economical way.

Like you said, it's bittersweet, though. I now have the space to start another planted tank! I'm planning on a 30g breeder in an Amano aquascape. Probably only glosso with some slate focal points. First I need to sell off all this Marine equipment, though.

The 10g is looking freat, though! The substrate looks a lot like Gareth's new 90g with the river rock substrate.

[KyleT]

Thanx Sam! Right now all of the plants are just small clipping that I took from my 55 Gallon, so it looks pretty bare. Hopefully it will grow into what I want it to. Believe it or not but I have an idea of what I want it to be like (unlike on my 55).

Kyle

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Clippings off your 55g. Now that sounds familiar. That's how my 15g got started and now it actually looks better than the 55! I've got some major plans that might change all that for the 55, though.

I've got to sell this 20g reef, though.

[GDominy]

Thats how I started my 22 gallon originally! I took cuttings from all of my tanks. Eventually I added some unique plants to the gallon and now it looks better then all of my other tanks.

Looking good Kyle! You're making me want to start a 7.5 gallon planted tank now...

[KyleT]

Time for an update..... Unfortunately it isn't a good update.....

Algae has gotten the best of the tank but luckily it isn't that bad. Hopefully it is just a stage and will pass.

I added 5 neon tetras and 1 otocinclus (only 1 store had any and they only had 1). They have all been doing great as of now.

This tank has to be one of the hardest tanks to photograph. I can never get the lighting right and being next to a window probably doesn't help either.

So here it is:

[KyleT]

Update Time!

I just took these pictures tonight because I have finally been able to get everything under control (algae) and get my dosing regime all worked out. Everything has been in balance for a month now so here some pictures. I know the aquascaping isn't the greatest but I didn't want to disturb any of the roots while I was getting things situated.

[Pooky125]

Wow, those are huge crypts! No matter what I do, I just can not get growth like that. Bravo, it loosk great. Personally, I think it could use another species of plants or 2, but thats just me. Looks great!

[2la]

No! No! It's all about composition, not the variety of colors you use! I've slowly come to realize that less is more in terms of species when it comes to aquascapes. I think the current plants just need a little rearrangement to add depth, and a well placed rock would finish it off nicely. JMOs.

[Phil Edwards]

I agree wholeheartedly with 2la.

If it's possible, try moving some of the crypts in the front of the bunch back behind the H. polysperma. That large dark mass really draws the eye forward. In a tank that small they would do much better as a background plant with brigher greens in front.

You've got some great growth there, all this tank's going to need is some fine tuning over time and you'll have a A++ aquascape.

Best,
Phil

[Wasserpest]

Funny, I just came back from the LFS and couldn't resist... they had a 10 gal tank with hood for $19.95... Finally want to get my Amano-esque mountain-scape... And now I just read this thread... And so allow me to ask you... what is your dosing regimen? I got used to dumping tsp's into my 100 gal, I guess this won't work with the 10 gal too well...
What was causing your algae problems, and how did you overcome them?

[Guttboy]

Kyle,

What are you running for a reactor on the DIY CO2 here on your 10 gallon? Reactor? Or is it just running into your intake of the filter?

Mike

[KyleT]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

Funny, I just came back from the LFS and couldn't resist... they had a 10 gal tank with hood for $19.95... Finally want to get my Amano-esque mountain-scape... And now I just read this thread... And so allow me to ask you... what is your dosing regimen? I got used to dumping tsp's into my 100 gal, I guess this won't work with the 10 gal too well...
What was causing your algae problems, and how did you overcome them?

For my 10 gallon I dose every half week, or 4 days after my water change. On that day I dose nitrates (enough to bring it back up to 5 ppm, normally 1.5 - 2 ppm) and trace elements (I just dose what was recommended on the bottle, it has worked well soo far). Right after my water change (15-20%) I then dose Potassium via K20 (about a 1/3 of a teaspoon).

The reason I had a pretty bad algae outbreak was because of not enough nitrates. At the time I only had 6 neons and only fed them every 3 days. So the amount of waste was minimal. With my lighting being pretty intense the algae was able to outcompete the plants. I started dosing nitrates slowly, and the algae slowly started disappearing.

Originally Posted by Guttboy

What are you running for a reactor on the DIY CO2 here on your 10 gallon? Reactor? Or is it just running into your intake of the filter?

Mike I am simply running the Co2 into the intake of my aquaclear mini. It has been doing great so far.

Kyle

[Guttboy]

Wow I might try that so you have no problems with it off gassing prior to reaching the water? I assume from the setup the aquaclear returns to the surface of the water.

Mike