Help me plant my 10g?

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xEchOx

Fire Eel
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Mar 2, 2006
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I have a 10 gallon tank with 5 tex fry at about 1/4 inch. The tank has an amazon sword and some java moss in it, but the java moss is slowly dying, and the sword has shown improvement, but very little. If I have to restart completely, I am fine with that, since it is just a 10g. Lights are nothing special, sub. is silica sand. Please help me set up my tank with plants. I will take any suggestions as I am a complete noob when it comes to plants. Help! :D
 
believe the moss prefers to be on something like bogwood and not planted as such. i like the "carpet clovers" to cover the floor, and have some bigger taller plants with it too
 
Well, it is kinda snaked around a shorter fake plant in the tank now... it's just never really grown, and is now changing colors. Any suggestions as far as what kind of plants I should try? Something easy. Do I need better lights?
 
Few things. One how much lighting? Two any ferts used?

On to plants. Amazon swords get WAY to big for a 10, and won't be able to get enough nutrients from just the plants in there. I would begin adding a fert, but in half amount if you use seachem flourish. The java moss looks brown, but is it the plant or detritus? Java moss is a magnet for detritus, and will quickly clog up and will look brown but it just needs to be blown off. For a ten gallon tank there needs to be more intense lighting than the standard 1-2 wpg, for a 10 the lighting needs to be more intense in order to maintain the same growth you would see in a large tank. If you went with anubias that would help with not needing as high a wattage, as this plant can stand lower light intensity then other plants. An 18W flourescent tube will work fine for anubias. Anubias are normally a slow growing plant. Under high wattage it will grow faster, but will still grow well under low lighting. The stay relatively small, and are easier to frag, then other plants. Many say recommend using wood with anubias to keep the rhizome out of the substrate, however, as long as the rhizome (large root that grows horizontal) is not in the substrate the plant will grow fine. Many of my anubias are in the substrate.
 
Ok, so... I will ditch the amazon (or maybe throw it in my 29g? 55g?) and get some better lighting. (18W you say?) When you say ferts, I assume you mean fertilizers? Right now all I supplement is an Iron additive. Are any recommended? What do you mean anubias will 'frag' easier? Does this mean split? or multiply? (like I said, I know nothing about plants) The next time at the lfs, I'll look for some Anubias. Any others recommended?
 
The sword will be fine in a 29 or 55. Sorry for the slang, but you got it, fertilizers. I would use Seachems flourish, trace and iron. By frag I mean that the rhizome just can be cut when you want to have multiple anubias. Good ones for your tank would be either the anubia barteri, or anubia nana. Both of these are very common. I wouldn't do too much more in the way of plants for a tank that small, as most will out grow it, but you could do java fern and some of the dwarf swords will work, BUT none that are a red or bronze variety.

You may consider a small diy co2, which just consist of some silicone or co2 tubing a small container, commonly for larger tanks a 2 liter is used, but a 20 oz would be fine for your tank. Then just attach one end to a ceramic bubble wand, or power head, and the other to the top of the container. Sugar water and yeast in the container, and let it go. That is the easy way.
 
Cool, so... is this seachem flourish a liquid? like in a bottle? I'll stop by the lfs after work today, and take a peek. Anubia bartera/nana, what do these look like? I know that they will be labeled at the lfs, but I have learned that those labels are not always right. And should I just buy a couple, and 'frag' them? or buy what I want?
 
Anubia nana and barteri are round leaves that are ~2" in diameter. I would only get the one for now.
 
Btw, I just read those quotes in your sig., and pretty much spit my coffee all over my comp. F-ing hilarious.
 
Ewurm is a funny guy. There is one more type of anubia that is rarely seen at LFS in my area, but if you can find it, I personally like them more than the barteri or nana. They are called A. afzelii, a. gracilis, and a. gigantea. The gigantea would be too big, but the other two will look good in a small tank. Google the name for pictures.
 
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