Questions about my 10 gallon setup.

jclyde13

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Jun 18, 2009
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Louisville, KY
This is will technically be my first planted tank (I've had about a dozen Aponogeton sp. hybrid plants from Walmart for several months, but never actually had a tank full of plants). So first of all, some general specs on the setup:

size-- 10 gallons
lighting-- 2 of these 10 watt fluorescent bulbs: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lights-of-America-10-Watt-Mini-Fluorescent-Aquarium-Bulb-1-ct/10448675
filtration-- AC20 (100gph HOB)
CO2 setup-- none
water change schedule-- about 50-75% every two weeks

temp-- 78F
pH-- neutral (around 7.4)

fish-- listed in my sig

plants-- so far, I have:
4 or 5x Pothos plants that are each about 14" (roots are in the aquarium; the rest of the plants come out of the top, next to the filter)
1x Anubias nana ~4" tall
4x java fern, each about 8-9" tall (which, from what I've read so far, is pretty tall for this species, although each plant only has two leaves...)
about a half dozen Anacharis which are floating right now, but will be planted once their roots start to grow out
1x ~4" Aponogeton sp. hybrid
1x amazon sword (which I'm hoping will grow large enough and be hardy enough to eventually be moved into my 225).



So, my questions:
Does my set up sound okay so far?
Do I need to remove the Pothos (they've been in the tank for months, but I was wondering if they might consume all of the nutrients in the water, or something)?
Is it necessary for me to set up a CO2 system?
Is my lighting appropriate for the plants I have, or should I buy some better lights?
What other plants could I add to the tank that have similar care requirements to what I have now? It is pretty empty right now, because I wanted to make sure I could take care of plants before investing too much money into them, but I will probably add more sometime.
 

orkimedes

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Oct 6, 2010
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With that lighting, the only challenge I see is with the sword, but it may work. I have no experience with the hybrids so won't comment.

For a 10 gal, I would recommend skipping a CO system and using Excel ( just follow the directions).
Reason being the tank is only 10 gallons and it won't take long for the plants to fill in. Using excel you will get moderate steady growth which will only need occasional pruning.

Many people recommend CO systems for lush growth, and they are correct, you get phenomenal growth, however, the maintenance goes up exponentially. For me, it turned into a chore analogous to mowing the lawn every week.

I have both 10 and 30 gal planted tanks and use Excel exclusively. Welcome to the club, a very enjoyable side to the aquarium hobby.



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jclyde13

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Jun 18, 2009
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Louisville, KY
With that lighting, the only challenge I see is with the sword, but it may work. I have no experience with the hybrids so won't comment.

For a 10 gal, I would recommend skipping a CO system and using Excel ( just follow the directions).
Reason being the tank is only 10 gallons and it won't take long for the plants to fill in. Using excel you will get moderate steady growth which will only need occasional pruning.

Many people recommend CO systems for lush growth, and they are correct, you get phenomenal growth, however, the maintenance goes up exponentially. For me, it turned into a chore analogous to mowing the lawn every week.

I have both 10 and 30 gal planted tanks and use Excel exclusively. Welcome to the club, a very enjoyable side to the aquarium hobby.



Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Okay, thanks for the advice; I'll see if they have that at my lfs the next time I'm there.
 

J0ker

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May 16, 2011
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All low light plants so you may be fine for lighting....what type of substrate are you using??

If the tank is set up already post pics!!
 

jclyde13

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All low light plants so you may be fine for lighting....what type of substrate are you using??

If the tank is set up already post pics!!
I'm using fluorite substrate. I'll get some pics up soon (the tank has been set up for quite a while, I just recently started adding plants to it).
 

jclyde13

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Louisville, KY
Here's a quick shot of the tank. The java ferns have a lot of brown and broken areas on the leaves; I'm hoping they will grow some healthier leaves soon. Also, I re-aquascaped the tank earlier this afternoon and somehow managed to lose the Aponogeton that was in there. Not sure how that happened (I didn't even notice it was gone until I took this pic), but I have a few large Aponogetons in the 36 gallon that are producing plenty of offspring, so I might plant some more of them in this tank. And also, I've moved the sword into the 225 so it will have more light (the lighting system on the tank itself is terrible, but the tank is in a sun room anyway, so it gets indirect sunlight from 3 sides all day, which I think might make up for it?), and I have put one strand of Anacharis in each of the other tanks, just to see how it would fare.

jc pics 003.JPG

jc pics 003.JPG
 

VIPER006962948

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Apr 5, 2012
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West Frankfort Il, 62896
I just got some pothos plants from walmart to add into my tank. From everything I've read it is a awesome plant to add to a setup for keeping nitrates and phosphates down.View attachment 776455View attachment 776456View attachment 776457

Tank Setup 135gal, fx5, mag350, korilla 4, 3 silver dollars, 3 Red blood parrots, 12" Green severum, 10 coreys (3 emerald & 7 swarts), 2 black spotted eels, 22" fire eel, 24" clown knife, sun catfish, and leopard plaeco
 
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