[MEandYouPhoto]

Greetings TPT!

So I have been here on the site for a few months and I have gotten such great advice and feedback from folks. I think its time for me to finally post my build.

Ok so first let me start out with how I began and I would like so show where I am at now.

Here is what I began with:

Equipment
10 gallon kit tank (with LED lights in the hood)
Whisper Power Filter - PF10 (came with the kit)
100W Fluval M Series Heater

Substrate
Seachem Florite and mixed it with a 5 lb bag of black aquarium sand

Hardscape
Mopani Wood
A MASSIVE boulder in the tank (well for a 10 gallon it was huge)

Flora
Java Moss
Water Wisteria

Fauna
2 GloFish Zebra Danios



All in all it looked pretty sad

Phase 2.... Evilbay

Ok so after I got some great feedback from folks I got rid of the huge rock and filled in the tank with some plants I got from an online vendor. He was offering a "10 gallon beginners package" for a reasonable price so i picked it up.

Flora Additions
2 Amazon Swords (Echinodorus cordifolius), 8-10 inches long,
1 Java Fern (Microsorium pteropus) - 2-3 inches long,
1 Anubias barteri "Broad Leaf" - 5-7 inches long,
2 Bunches of Java Moss (Vesicularia)
2 Crypt Wendtii "Green"(Cryptocoryne wendtii) - young plants 2-3 inches long,
4 stems of Limnophila aquatica - 7-8 inches long,
4 stems of Ludwigia "Cuba" - 7-8 inches long,
5 stems of Rotala rotundifolia - 7-8 inches long,
5 stems of Ludwigia inclinata - 7-8 inches long,
5 stems of Didiplis diandra - 6-7 inches long
5 stems of Water Wisteria (Hygrophilia Difformis) 2-3 inches long
1 Marimo moss ball

Equipment Additions
Aquaclear 20 (running along with the Whisper filter)
Marineland Hidden LED Lighting System that I stole from my Red Eared Slider's 75 gallon tank (it was his night light)

After getting it all planted here is what I ended up with:



Started to look a little better


Phase 3.... Laziness = BBA = RESCAPE!!!

So I got some advice on ferts and CO2 and lights and made some improvements.

Got rid of the LED hood and created DIY sliding glass top lids.

Lighting:
Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus for my lights (love these!)

Flora added:
Anubias barteri 'Nana' that was already on some driftwood from a LFS
Anacharis (treats for my Turtle)

Fauna:
5 Neon Tetras
5 Glo-Fish (added 3)
6-7 Ghost Shrimp
2 Assassin Snails

Ferts
1 ml of Seachem Flouish every other day
DIY Osmocote Root Tabs

CO2
1 ml of Seachem Excel every day

Plants started to fill in quite nicely, The Water Wisteria was going WILD and I had to keep cutting back on it.




Ok after getting lazy on my dosing schedule I ended up with a bad outbreak of BBA and had to do a 4 day blackout to get it killed, lost some plants along the way but all in all it looks like the tank is doing much better.



Phase 3.5.... The Aftermath

After getting rid of the Water Wisteria because it was taking over the tank and after speaking with Dustin of "Dustin's Fishtanks" I got some Staurogyne Repens because I wanted to get some kind of foreground plant going and I split up the Anubias barteri 'Nana' into smaller sections.




And that is where we are at today.

My Anubias barteri 'Nana' and the Staurogyne Repens both have considerable GSA on them and I am playing around with my Photo Period to see if I can't minimize it.

Next up for me is going to be getting more plants to fill in the bare spots, replace the Amazon Sword with something a little smaller (would like a nice red plant) and get a second light to move me from Medium light to High Light (but not sure how I am going to do CO2 or my Photo Period yet)

I have to get a second light because my first one had 75% of the Red LED's go out and Current USA is having me ship it to them for warranty repair but it's gonna take 4 weeks to get my light back and I need something in the tank or the plants will die.

So feedback is what I am looking for. Plant suggestions. CO2 on a 10 gallon?? Other ideas!

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

So I ended up getting another bunch of S. Repens that I will be planting this weekend to help fill in the foreground some. But I am still looking for advice. Please feel free to comment

 

[Kramflowz]

If your interested in a nice red plant Id recommend AR ( Alternanthera reineckii ) I have some in my 40g breeder planted tank and the tips of the leaves are an Olivish maroon color while the underside is a hot pink. My type of AR is "cardinalis"

 

[theericafish]

Reminds me of the way my 10g was initially set up. Then the sword grew super huge and took over the tank

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

Reminds me of the way my 10g was initially set up. Then the sword grew super huge and took over the tank

Yea the sword is one I have to constantly cut back. I am actually looking to get rid of it now and replace it with something else. I am thinking of a Ludwigia of some kind.

Bump:

If your interested in a nice red plant Id recommend AR ( Alternanthera reineckii ) I have some in my 40g breeder planted tank and the tips of the leaves are an Olivish maroon color while the underside is a hot pink. My type of AR is "cardinalis"

That is actually one I was looking into. Do you have the regular one or the mini?

 

[Hilde]

Lighting:
Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus for my lights

CO2
1 ml of Seachem Excel every day

Ok after getting lazy on my dosing schedule I ended up with a bad outbreak of BBA .

My Anubias barteri 'Nana' and the Staurogyne Repens both have considerable GSA on them and I am playing around with my Photo Period to see if I can't minimize it.

Next up for me is going to be getting more plants to fill in the bare spots, replace the get a second light to move me from Medium light to High Light (but not sure how I am going to do CO2 or my Photo Period yet)

I occasionally have BBA. I have kept it under control most of the time having a 3hr siesta light period. Lights are on 4hrs/ off 3hrs/ on 4hrs. When I added another T5NO light strip for Alternanthera reineckii it started to come back. Thus started with DIY Co2 w citric acid, which can be bought on fleebay for $15 to 34. (201, 301, 501). Went with it for found that a new pressurized system is around $200. Since I started the Co2 it has started to die.

The Alternanthera reineckii only needs medium light so could just stick with the light you have.

Here some used excel and peroxide to get rid of algae

 

[philipraposo1982]

imo your lighting is too bright for a low tech tank with no co2.

I would raise the fixture up 2-3" and then keep doing everythig your doing for a period of 2-3 week and reassess at that point. Its the only wait I have been able to get rid of GSA.

You could double check your phosphate levels to ensure your have 1-5ppm just to rule that out. But I am almost certain its due to the intensity of the light and not the photoperiod.

In my case I can run 7-10 hours photoperiod and still have gsa if I don't raise my lights up. Once raised up I run 10 hours and no gsa on anubias or glass.

 

[Kramflowz]

I have the normal AR, but the variety is "cardinalis". I found it at petsmart in one of the gel packages. When I got it, the conditions of the plant weren't very good but it has bounced back. Just keep in mind that AR doesn't like to be moved around too much. Try and keep it in the same spot and only move it if you are positive the new spot will be its home for awhile.

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

imo your lighting is too bright for a low tech tank with no co2.

I would raise the fixture up 2-3" and then keep doing everythig your doing for a period of 2-3 week and reassess at that point. Its the only wait I have been able to get rid of GSA.

You could double check your phosphate levels to ensure your have 1-5ppm just to rule that out. But I am almost certain its due to the intensity of the light and not the photoperiod.

In my case I can run 7-10 hours photoperiod and still have gsa if I don't raise my lights up. Once raised up I run 10 hours and no gsa on anubias or glass.

I appreciate the feedback. I will see what I can rig up. My issue is that I do not have a lot of vertical space above the tank. (only about 5 inches) since it sits under a cabinet. I will make sure and double check my phosphate levels and post the results.

I would LOVE to have CO2 in the tank but I haven't found a feasible way to do it yet since its only a 10 gallon tank.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Why not try a diy co2 setup? Should be great for a small 10g

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

Why not try a diy co2 setup? Should be great for a small 10g

My two hurdles for that is lack of space and unless I could find a way to make it hidden or attractive my wife would throw a fit lol

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

I have the normal AR, but the variety is "cardinalis". I found it at petsmart in one of the gel packages. When I got it, the conditions of the plant weren't very good but it has bounced back. Just keep in mind that AR doesn't like to be moved around too much. Try and keep it in the same spot and only move it if you are positive the new spot will be its home for awhile.

Still learning all the abbreviations and technical terms.... AR? (I worked in optics for a long time. To me AR is Anti-Reflective) lol

 

[Hilde]

Still learning all the abbreviations and technical terms.... AR? (I worked in optics for a long time. To me AR is Anti-Reflective) lol

He is talking about the plant Alternanthera reineckii which is sold in gel packs at Petsmart. It is grow immersed thus will go through an adjustment period to a submerged setup.

Bump:

My two hurdles for that is lack of space and unless I could find a way to make it hidden or attractive my wife would throw a fit lol

You can't hide soda bottles behind the tank?

 

[andrewss]

good looking tank!

 

[reefcorgi]

Nice

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

He is talking about the plant Alternanthera reineckii which is sold in gel packs at Petsmart. It is grow immersed thus will go through an adjustment period to a submerged setup.

Bump:
You can't hide soda bottles behind the tank?

If you take a look at the picture of the tank imagine that its right up against the wall and has about 5 inches of clearance above it. It sits evenly with a cabinet above it.

Not to say that I won't consider DIY if I can find a way to make it work but honestly I would prefer the ease of a canister. Problem is that all solutions for a tank that small use the disposable 88g canisters and that would be like 10-20 bucks a week in refills. I plan to have CO2 when I go to my 40B but that wont be for another couple of years. (need to wait for my son to go off to college lol)

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

He is talking about the plant Alternanthera reineckii which is sold in gel packs at Petsmart. It is grow immersed thus will go through an adjustment period to a submerged setup.

Bump:
You can't hide soda bottles behind the tank?

I am also a little concerned about control with a DIY setup. Is there a way to make those setups and still regulate how much CO2 your tank is receiving?

 

[jrill]

I am also a little concerned about control with a DIY setup. Is there a way to make those setups and still regulate how much CO2 your tank is receiving?

Here is the link to my trying out diy co2 with citric acid. Every bit as controllable as a canister. If you want to hid the bottles just buy a cheap but nice looking basket of some kind to hid them in.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=815241

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

So I am considering adding a paintball CO2 setup to my 10 gallon. Does anyone have an suggestions on equipment for this application?

 

[MEandYouPhoto]

Started doing a more complete dosing regimen today. I got the complete line of Seachem Planted: Excel, Flourish, Iron, Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus, Trace. I was just doing Flourish and Excel.

Does anyone have any experience with dosing using these products?