# Starting my first tank :)



## Bkztrini465 (Feb 22, 2006)

First post on the board, with hopes of having a nice little set up. I'm trying to stay really small with the tank. I'm going to be converting a 10g tank I already have set up. 

For lighting I was going to mod 2 spiral bulbs into a standard 10g hood. 

Other than that, I'm looking for tips on how to get started on the right foot. I had a planted tank before, but it looked nothing near as good as the tanks on the board. 

Is there any special way to layer the gravel? Or is something else used here,

On a tank this small with there be a need for Co2? Planning to have a moderately stocked tank(plant wise).
Thanks,
Kris


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## dukydaf (Aug 31, 2004)

CO2 is welcomed everywhere.On a 10g you could use one bottle of DIY CO2.
What substrate,filtration, plants and fish are you going to use?


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## Bkztrini465 (Feb 22, 2006)

How would I go about making the DIY Co2? Any link to it, don't mind reading up on it.

Substrate, filtration, plants, and fish are all still grey areas. 

Lets start with substrate and filtration, what would be good choices for both?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Welcome to APC, Kris :smile:

You will only need C02 if you have over 2wpg, otherwise you can just use Seachem Excel for a carbon source.

For substrate I would go the easy route and use either Eco-complete or Fluorite. Both are good substrate and full of nutrients for the plants.

Here is some sites that will be helpful...

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/01_intro.html

http://www.aquariaplants.com/index.htm


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## Bkztrini465 (Feb 22, 2006)

Thanks for the welcome Trena.

Are there any gravels, that could be used as a substrate? Or should I stick to one of the two posted ?
Thanks,
Kris


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Substrate options:
Plain inert gravel, I have used Black Beauty blasting grit, medium size
Eco-Complete
Onyx sand
ADA soil with or without Powersand
Soilmaster select
Flourite

If you do a search at APC for any of those you will find tons of info. Personally, for your 10gallon I would use (in this order) Eco-Complete(2 bags), ADA(I think 1 bag does it, not sure), Onyx Sand(2 bags), Flourite(2 bags), Soil Master select, charcoal color, blasting grit. The last 2 you should be able to find through landscape supply places and they come in like 50-100 lbs bags. Very cheap though. ADA can be found through www.aquariumdesigngroup.com The others can be found at most good LFS or online retailer.

With lower light CO2 is not necessary although definately helpful. You will probably need to dose ferts either way. Search for and read up on EI/Tom Barr for that info.

Those screw in spiral PC's work ok for lower light tanks. You would want something like 2x7-10watters. Walmart has pretty descent ones in their fish section. Personally though I would get a 2x13 watt PC kit from www.ahsupply.com (though will definately want to add CO2 if you go that route) or DIY my own hood with 2x15 watt NO flourescents.

For filtration I would use either a Penguin 125 or Whisper 10 HOB filter. Many recommend the AquaClears but I find they cause too much CO2 loss because their outflow ramp is hard to keep under the water surface. If you really wanted to go all out an Eheim 2213 (or 2211 which they are supposedly bringing back) or a Fluval 104 are excellent choices. I prefer canister filters whenever possible but htey don't always work with a tanks location.

If you decide to go the DIY CO2 route, look up the Nyburg(I don't think I spelled that right)method. There are a couple good posts by gnome (search for posts by that user) regarding that method.

Good luck and welcome to APC!


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

As as far as the DIY spiral *lighting* - great idea and cost effective, but be VERY sure of your work and the socket(s) you install. The first time I installed spiral lighting I used a dual socket from the LFS specifically intended for what I was doing. I was quite sure of my work, lights looked great, and seemed sturdy enough. I came home to 2.5 boiling gallons of water. The socket fell apart into my tank. All of the work that I did to install the fixture was still the same as when I did it, but the socket's poor construction just fell apart.
*Substrate* - I've used Flourite, Soilmaster, and a regular sand/gravel.
Soilmaster is great looking and extremely cheap, but extremely light and doesn't hold plants too well IME. It would be great for a big tank, but I would do a bag of flourite if I were you, although I have not used Eco-Complete. There are tons of posts here on how to layer and get the most of of your substrate.
*CO2* - Excel or DIY CO2 will do the trick, but DIY CO2, while being more cost-effective, may be a little harder for you to tweak to perfection).
Here is a great link on DIY CO2: http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html
and one on CO2 in general: http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm
*Filtration* If you are a little handy, you can build your own canister filter for about $15. Feel free to PM me if you want to try that. If not, one of dennis' suggestions would be fine.

What are you planning as far as livestock?


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## Bkztrini465 (Feb 22, 2006)

acbaldwin said:


> As as far as the DIY spiral *lighting* - great idea and cost effective, but be VERY sure of your work and the socket(s) you install. The first time I installed spiral lighting I used a dual socket from the LFS specifically intended for what I was doing. I was quite sure of my work, lights looked great, and seemed sturdy enough. I came home to 2.5 boiling gallons of water. The socket fell apart into my tank. All of the work that I did to install the fixture was still the same as when I did it, but the socket's poor construction just fell apart.
> *Substrate* - I've used Flourite, Soilmaster, and a regular sand/gravel.
> Soilmaster is great looking and extremely cheap, but extremely light and doesn't hold plants too well IME. It would be great for a big tank, but I would do a bag of flourite if I were you, although I have not used Eco-Complete. There are tons of posts here on how to layer and get the most of of your substrate.
> *CO2* - Excel or DIY CO2 will do the trick, but DIY CO2, while being more cost-effective, may be a little harder for you to tweak to perfection).
> ...


For the Co2 I'm going to go with the excel.

Thanks for the tip on the lighting, I'll be extra careful when I'm installing it. I'll have my dad help me just in case.

As for the substrate, would regular pet shops sell this? Would flourite bought at Lowes or Home Depot work, if of course they have it in stock?

The DIY canister filter sounds nice, LMK what you have in mind

Thanks,
Kris


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## Bkztrini465 (Feb 22, 2006)

dennis said:


> Substrate options:
> Plain inert gravel, I have used Black Beauty blasting grit, medium size
> Eco-Complete
> Onyx sand
> ...


I think I'm going to go with flourite for the substrate.

I could probably do the AH supply lighting, lets see how it turns out. I have the materials for the spiral lighting lying around. If it doesn't turn out great, I'll go with the AH supply.

For filtration I have an Aquaclear running on the tank right now. I also have a HOT Magnum that I wouldnt mind using if it would do a better job. Which one would be your preference?

Thanks a million for the advice so far everyone, really appreciate it.
-Kris


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Whats the flow of the HOT magnum? Seems like it would be a bit to powerful but I have no experience with those. For a 10 gallon I personally liked 110-150 gph rated filter, but thats just me


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## Bkztrini465 (Feb 22, 2006)

I think the flow is somewhere around 200-250gph if my memory serves me right.

I could stick with the aquaclear, I'd just have to keep up with topping off to keep the water level above the drain for the aquaclear.

-Kris


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