Yes, it's ugly. ^_^

[Cybercyde]

Here's a month + old free 10 Gallon with 2x40 6500k shop light.

Java Ferns are struggling through hair algea (I'm pulling it off daily or better) Even broken off leaves are sprouting new growth. Anacharis just got chopped into 2-3" sections and replanted.

Long Fin Danios, Oticinculus, and Corydoras.

Tank is ~1" high % humus top soil capped with 1"-2" gravel. Currently has a sponge filter + Penguin 150 with a trimmed down media holder from another filter. It's holding layered felt and feeding a sponge tied to the output to dissapate flow. It gets a mix of 1-2 day old room temp water and fresh tap w/ dechlor.

The Danios obviously won't stop for a picture, so finger bait was mandatory. (Yes, they'll now attack a fingertip in the tank.) Send me your shy nonagressive fish.

I have some low rent video of the anacharis pearling - supposedly impossible low tech (room temp with a sponge filter / shop light ) but it seemed happy to prior to cutting/replanting.

I suppose disclaimers matter. All cords are drip looped. Everything is on a well supported wet bar countertop and GFCI powered. ^_^ The cut water bottle you see is the water change medium. It fits nicely in the gap between the light and tank rail. Hands are soap free and well rinsed before playing in the tank.

I have a second 10 gallon that might wind up holding shrimp/tetras and sharing space under the shop light.

I realize it's ugly, but it's my first venture into the land of planted aquaria. More a matter of proving it works before making it pretty.

I figure it's worth an update in a few days/week to see if the anacharis cuttings take and block out the background. ^_^

 

[m1ste2tea]

thats a lot of light for that small tank... bulb color is good, but you have to balance it out with a lot more plants. there is just more nutrients in that tank than your plants can consume, and that gives your algae the opportunity to rise.

I'd try to get some amazon swords, they are a good starter plant as they grow faster than the plants that you have now and will also consume more nutrients/light thats available in your tank...

good luck and dont give up. Planted tanks are tough but are very rewarding.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Yeah for that amount of light you need alot more plants or else you will be growing a tank of algae.

 

[SIMKWANA OdDbALLs]

y such a big light??so close??!!

 

[Cybercyde]

y such a big light??so close??!!

It's a remnant from hydroponic hot peppers. Aware it's massive overkill for a low tech, but it's free, it's here, and it sits nicely on top of the tank. (assuming this one holds up well for another few months, there's a matching 10gal sitting empty that'll take up the unused half of the shop light)



Suprisingly, minimal algea growth on the gravel and glass. I do have some very chubby otocinclus though .

I'll go through once a week or so and pull any hair algea I find off of the java ferns, the anacharis doesn't seem to be bothered (it tends to catch the strands, but they're not adhering). Honestly not getting much growth on the glass, either.

I know conventional wisdom says it shouldn't work, but no complaints atm. If I wind up with an opaque green tank overnight I'll happily post pics and sit in the corner while the world dances about chanting "told you so".

I'll snag some pics in a minute to show off my hair algea foreground.

 

[Cybercyde]

A few quick shots. The algea on the gravel is about 1/4" tall or so for reference. It usually gets knocked around/turned over a bit during water changes.

The cpvc tube coming off the sponge filter is approximately 3-4" away from a bulb and will grow a small streamer about 3-4" long in around a week and a half that's very easy to pinch off. For reference, the tube is a yellowish tint, the tile behind the tank bright white.

Smaller swords are a definite possibility, but the anacharis and fern were all that were available and healthy. The anacharis was pearling a bit before I clipped and spread it out.

I rotate wringing out the sponges every week or so in aged tap, and the felt in the filter gets a heavy scrubbing/wringing about 2-3x weekly (or after I scrub a bit of glass. I tend to only do the front to keep the oto buffet well stocked.)

 

[thebestincali2000]

i think an amazon sword yould get toooooooo big for that tiny tank, i currently have one in my 75 and it literally takes up half the tank....my fish love it though

 

[Cybercyde]

i think an amazon sword yould get toooooooo big for that tiny tank, i currently have one in my 75 and it literally takes up half the tank....my fish love it though

Agreed. Although it'd be entertaining to use the leaves to weave a thatch roof ala Tiki Bar over the shop light while the plant's still growing below it.

With only ~10" or so of water over the substrate, I'll be trimming back almost anything that goes in anyhow. The anacharis is growing like a weed as it is - a few inches a week.

The hair algea on the pea gravel is nearing the 1" mark at best in 1-2 spots, and the corys seem to enjoy resting on it, so no complaints there. I'm considering just letting it be - it's almost trying to grow a carpet. Not HC or glosso, but it's here, free, and working.

Added Corkscrew Val and Pennywort to see if either feels like taking root.

I can vouch for the Val. It's the Oto's favorite new toy. They're now out in the middle of the tank sitting on the blades between trips to the salad bar.

Still only scrubbing the glass around once a week (and all ~3 square feet of it isn't really too big a chore... ).

I'll try and snap some photos tomorrow of how things are coming along.

 

[Cybercyde]

As promised, photos abound. ^_^

First 2 photos - Pre-cleaning / 50% wc.

Next 3, hazy attempts at catching a Danio searching for vittles. Color is washed out pretty badly.

Next 2, front glass lightly scrubbed with a clean toothbrush / removed any strand algea bothering plants within easy reach.

Next 2, Corys resting happily in plain sight. Again, washed out.

Final pic - Shot of the hob rigged with filter sponge to cut down on splashing. Simple bit of fishing line. ^_^ Otos spend a chunk of time there grazing/resting in the higher current.

Pulled the Java Fern to give it a shot in a shaded setup. Seems like it's growing too slowly to keep the algea from getting well established on it - it'll drag and hook around the anacharis, but anchors hard to the Java.

Sorry if I'm driving anyone up the wall with walls of text or photos.

 

[Cybercyde]

Well then, fell off quite a bit on updates, but here we go anyhow.

The anacharis above took about 3-4 weeks to utterly forest the tank. (Wall to wall green, pulling out enough to fill a 1 quart mixing bowl every other week.) It's currently heavily thinned out, to about 1/6 of the left side of the tank to keep growing out additions to the convict tank.

Corkscrew Val is now very well anchored, and sending out tons of runners. I've thinned it out (By about 7-8 plantlets around a foot long) and it's already replaced the runners. Tough plant, so far the best at fighting off algea once the root systems hit the soil under the gravel. The tetras seem to appreciate the open space over the anacharis as well.

Growing out around a dozen convict fry, mainly albinos. Corys are fat and happy.

Last photo shows a happy resident defending her(?) newfound patch of corkscrew. Next to impossible to catch the dempseys in good light with a cell phone. Stress bars showing badly - I'd just been in the tank, and the dempseys fade fast.