10 gallon planted tank questions

[sproett]

I'm wanting to make a spare ten gallon into a planted tank.  I'd love some suggestions of plants that would work well in that small of a tank (please nothing that will break the bank!).  Right now I have a 15 watt light bulb but if having only 1.5 watts/gallon will limit my plant growth please let me know, I'll get another strip to put on it to make it 3 watts/gallon if that is the case.  As of now I will not have a CO2 injector.  I want a lush tank like I keep seeing at all the lfs with the grass at the front and tall at the back.  The tank has no inhabitants and I'll decide what to put in there afterwards (I'll take suggestions for that too!).  My current substrate is neon pink and purple gravel (don't laugh-it's in my daughter's room!) but I'll be replacing it with a proper substrate.  
Thanks,
Shannon

[eklikewhoa]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Actually with smaller tanks like the 10g the "wpg rule" goes out the window....the wpg is just a rough estimate of what you would need to reach a certain par of lighting.

With a 10g you need much more light...I would go with around 3x of those light fixtures you are wanting to use cause after you factor in the poor/non-existent reflector you are getting much less light to the bottom of the tank. Look into AHsupply.com they offer diy lighting kits that are reasonable and GOOD! But honestly you are going to have a hard time trying to grow nice dense "grass" without high lighting....I have a friend that has a 10g setup and he runs 36w of compact fluorescent lighting and his "grass" doesn't stay low as one would like and he's injecting co2... He actually has a 2x36w fixture and I personally think that the whole 72w would be much better on the 10g and allow for superb growth!

To have the lush "grassy" type foreground you will need good lighting to penetrate to the floor to keep the foreground low and dense. Another thing with high lighting is that the plants use lighting as part of growing but at the same time they need to soak up nutrients as well and if there isn't enough nutrients available everything will suffer....all about the balance. This is where ferts and rich substrate come in.

With co2 there are other ways around pressurized like liquid/organic carbon like Seachem excel which would probably be best since your tank is small.

As for substrate I HIGHLY recommend ADA Aquasoil cause it's priced competitively with all the other commercial plant substrates but the end result blows the competition away!! Everyone likes to knock it due to it's price but when compared weight to weight with the others it's pretty much the same and actually cheaper then some of the others.


Some easy "grass" or easier ones are lilaeopsis brasiliensis, eleocharis parvulus, marsiela minuta or dwarf sag but it gets quite tall and with a bit more light to keep it low but more bush/shrub like.....hemanthius micranthemoides.

[Mzungu]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Well said, ek! Can't really think of anything else to add...I have sagittaria subulata in a high light / CO2 injected tank (dwarf sag) and it looks really great, stays low to the ground, but with less light it will grow pretty tall.

[sproett]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Wow, thanks for the advice!!!  I'll be sitting on that for a few days!  
I'm so glad this forum is here, I could have wasted so much time and money since I thought it'd be so simple to have a small planted tank.  I will be looking at AHsupply.com, thanks for the tip.  Also, thanks for the recommendation on the aquasoil.  Again, I'm so glad I haven't spend any money yet!
Let me ask this, is the dwarf grass worth all the extra effort or is there any other short plants that look nice.  Every time I see a tank with dwarf grass I tell myself that I'll have one of those someday!  I'm wondering if I should wait until I can afford a larger planted tank (I probably have the smallest budget on here!).  
Thanks again you two!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Depends on what you are going for.

Check out this link and the different years of entries for lots of nice pictures.

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2006.cgi?&op=showpage&name=view-showcase

I had planned to enter this years but I got screwed by someone on another forum that sold me the wrong moss and I couldn't tell till it finally grew in.... :evil:

[sproett]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Wow, thanks!  Looks like I'll be busy today!  :)

Sorry to hear about your tank, although I still think it is beautiful.

[Mzungu]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

By dwarf grass do you mean dwarf sagittaria, or kind of all short-grass-like plants in general?

Not that it matters, I think they're definitely worth it! It's very satisfying to have a carpet of green in your tank. With the AquaSoil and the right power compact lights (ahsupply is great for that) you should be able to grow a number of these plants. Some take a bit more effort than others, some need CO2 to really do well, some need a lot of fertilization, but a lot will be fine without all that.

You can also check out Echinodorus tenellus and Glossostigma as foreground plants. From my experience, though, the E. tenellus, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis (sold as 'micro sword' in many places) and Marsilea do well without too much effort.

[sproett]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Where can I find aquasoil?  I've looked online but haven't found any sources yet.  If I can't find it is there any alternatives that will give me similar results?

[Mzungu]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Fish Gallery sells AquaSoil. So does Aquarium Design Group.  www.aquariumdesigngroup.com
I think City Pets does, as well.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

ADG and City pets sell it for what online goes for but for some reason Fish Gallery is much more then the other two.....It all comes from the same place though.

[sproett]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Thanks again!  You two are fantastic!

[Mzungu]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

 Let us know what you end up doing! Post pictures if you can.  :)

[eklikewhoa]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

Pictures are a must!

[sproett]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

I will definitely post pictures!  I'm so excited!

[sproett]

Re: 10 gallon planted tank questions

I set up my tank!  I put in 6 new plants and took all the plants from my 60 gallon and put them in there.  I never could afford lights for the 60 gallon so one was surviving and the others were pretty sad looking.  I'm hoping those will bounce back.  I just bought plants that were labeled easy/low light so I can get things growing.  Once it's a bit established I'll start buying specific plants.  I'll post pictures soon.  I'm charging my camera batteries as we speak.