Recently I have started up a 10 gallon aquarium which is home to my Betta fish Sushi, as well as two nerite snails. It is bare bottom, with an aqueon quietflow 20. I also have two 10 watt fluorescent bulbs that are on approximately 10 hours a day. All I have is a piece of driftwood, some marimo balls, and some asian decor. I just went out to the pet store and saw that they had some plants on sale. An anubias, anacharis, bleheri, and a wisteria plant. I basically just stuck them into my aquarium. Now I have no substrate at all. Should I get some eco complete? Do I need fertilizers of any kind? Any advice would be great as I am new to this planted aquarium hobby

And yes it is heated to approximately 78 degrees. I also use water conditioner and stress coat with each water change which is 10% per week.

Hi Nazasaki,

Welcome to TPT!

Yes, you will need some sort of substrate. Here is a thread I did on a low tech 10 gallon with 2X10 watt CFL's You can do a nice planted tank with your equipment.

10 gallon; no co2; 2X10 watt CFL

Thank you! I will check out your thread

Does it matter what I use on top of the substrate? Gravel or sand or leave it as dirt? Or it is up to my personal preference?

Hi Nazasaki,

It is not necessary to use dirt in a planted tank, nor is it necessary to use layers. All of my tanks use just one substrate - it is easier to clean and re-use that way.

I found a very informative thread on Fishlore about low tech planted aquariums. This person said it is possible to just use gravel with plant tablets and the occasional ferts.

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/co...nted-tank.html

Does this plan seem like it would work? I know I don't want a very high maintenance/high tech planted aquarium. I want to keep it as simple as possible starting out.

For what you want to plant, yes it will work. Just make sure to rinse the gravel out thoroughly prior to use.

Thank you for all of your help and insight. Wish me luck