[Mikey319]

Hello! Sorry if this is in the wrong spot!

I have a betta, 4 baby apple snails (Magenta, blue, albino, and purple), and 2 neritre snails. 2 of the apple snails are going to be going into my 55 when they are big enough to not be eaten by my goldfish.

I want a carpet of some sort. What would you all recommend? I will have an aqeuon full spectrum 8,00k daylight bulb on it on CaribSea TMS. I want some swords, and other cool plants as well. Can you all help me plan this out? The filter will be an Aquaclear 20 with an AC spionge, blue/white marineland padding, and ceramic bio-nodules.

 

[Aquat]

Don't be discourage, some people want to lurk and take in info rather.

Aqueon full spectrum 8k? I'm guessing it's a T8 bulb then? Being a 10g is short tank; 12". You'll have a decent variety to choose from.

Sagittaria subulata
Cryptocoryne parva
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Marsilea quadrifolia
Mariselia minuta
Echinodorus tenellus/Helanthium tenellum

These are the plants that I've personally grown under low-light and tend to fair well.
Also even with low-light plants, you'll need some form of plant substrate with a decent cation-exchange capacity (CEC). layman terms: amount of nutrients a soil is capable of storing. If you want something low-tech, I'd recommend doing some research on the Walstad Method.

 

[Raymond S.]

There are a couple of smaller sword plants but most get huge.
You might get a couple of easy plants like Petco Crypts and look for Rotala especially indica and try to grow them so you can learn about ferts and such.

 

[Mikey319]

Don't be discourage, some people want to lurk and take in info rather.

Aqueon full spectrum 8k? I'm guessing it's a T8 bulb then? Being a 10g is short tank; 12". You'll have a decent variety to choose from.

Sagittaria subulata
Cryptocoryne parva
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Marsilea quadrifolia
Mariselia minuta
Echinodorus tenellus/Helanthium tenellum

These are the plants that I've personally grown under low-light and tend to fair well.
Also even with low-light plants, you'll need some form of plant substrate with a decent cation-exchange capacity (CEC). layman terms: amount of nutrients a soil is capable of storing. If you want something low-tech, I'd recommend doing some research on the Walstad Method.

Hello the bulb is a 15 watt 18" long T8

I was planning on using root tabs. Should I go with a different substrate instead?

How is the dwarf hair grass?

I read up on the Walstad Method. Seems interesting. My only problem is the "no algae" part. I don't want to have to feed my snails algae wafers every day. I want them to also be able to graze naturally on algae as well as wafers as a treat.

I was going to do some amazons, java fern, and anubias. And then the carpet plant.

 

[Whjdm069]

My only advice would be to use Eco complete substrate. I use it in my high tech tanks. I know it has good cec but no real nutritional value for plants but what you put in it. I just started using root tabs. So hopefully that helps. As far as lighting it should work for low light plants but not sure about carpet plants. Do you plan to use excel for the plants once you add a carpet?

 

[Mikey319]

My only advice would be to use Eco complete substrate. I use it in my high tech tanks. I know it has good cec but no real nutritional value for plants but what you put in it. I just started using root tabs. So hopefully that helps. As far as lighting it should work for low light plants but not sure about carpet plants. Do you plan to use excel for the plants once you add a carpet?

I can take a look at it

I have excel. I would use it in my 55, but my goldfish are sensitive to it and bottom sit. :/

 

[yafashelli]

How about some pennywort, crypts, chain swords, vals (may grow too tall for your 10g tank, but can be trimmed), rotala indica, or cabomba?


You may need to supplement the snail diet anyway. Having too much algae, in the planted aquarium, can be a sign of imbalance between light, ferts, and co2.

I recommend looking through the forum galleries, and see what you like. There are lots of pictures here!

 

[Aquat]

Hello the bulb is a 15 watt 18" long T8

I was planning on using root tabs. Should I go with a different substrate instead?

How is the dwarf hair grass?

I read up on the Walstad Method. Seems interesting. My only problem is the "no algae" part. I don't want to have to feed my snails algae wafers every day. I want them to also be able to graze naturally on algae as well as wafers as a treat.

I was going to do some amazons, java fern, and anubias. And then the carpet plant.

Root tabs are good supplements for heavy root feeders such as Echinodorus, and Cryptocoryne. You can distinguish this by their root structure. Even though most substrate have the ability to pull in nutrients from the water column for later usage. Sand is mainly inert (simply means the soil contains nothing of any value to plants by itself) So investing in a substrate designed for plants upfront would be best

DaFishMan. TFHMagazine; Wed Dec 30, 2009


There's several variant of "dwarf" hairgrass; acicularis, parvula, belem, etc. All of them usually need at least 2 watts per gallon. Keep in mind, while light intensity is measured in output rather than watts, it is often difficult to determine the output of a particular light source (unless you have a par- meter), and watts are sometimes a useful secondary measure.

I wouldn't worry about the "no algae", since you'll most likely get it either way. There's natural bio-film always forming on glass, wood, rocks, etc. Plenty of organics to graze on. Not to mention the wafer supplements you spoke of.

 

[Mikey319]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I will definitely look at tanks I like here !

Maybe I will do the watstad method. What is a good soil? Could you like it please? If I do use this method for my tank and have the 8,000k bulb on it, I think I would go with the dwarf hair grass you find at Petsmart. I think amazon swords wouldndondecent as well as java fern and anubias in that tank too I will be seeding this tank with media from my 55, so it should cycle through pretty quickly.

 

[Careful]

You might want to get a more powerful light - a single bulb even on a 10g isn't very bright. You'll probably have trouble growing the majority of plants. I have a dual bulb T8 fixture on a 10g and can only grow low light stuff. But your experience may differ!

 

[Mikey319]

I like this carpet ! And then with the java fern, amazon sword, and
Anubias, I think I can make this work . I have a piece of driftwood that could be a nice "tree" if I get some moss
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pGallery.php?do=view&rdo=homepage&id=7346&cat=7&order=None&page=3

 

[Mikey319]

I forgot to mention that it will be in front of a window! It will definitely get natural light as well as artificial.

 

[Mikey319]

Tank is up! No sand or anything in it but water, Prime, baking soda, and unlit mate gH booster. I have an aqeuon full spectrum daylight bulb on the tank. It's supposedly 8,000k, but less purple/blue then the previous bulbs. My favorite were the blue/purple colored ones