# 10 gallon tank..



## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

i have a new ten gallon.i have 30 watts.i have a marimo ball thats torn(it was free  ),1 melon sword,1 water sprite,and 1 mando grass.regular river pebbles and smaller pebbles.
Right now i have 3 fancy guppys(moving to a different tank)3 cories,1 male endler,2 algae eating shrimp and 1 bamboo shrimp.
i want a thick lush jungle like tank is this possible??  
also what other kind of plants can i add???
thanks.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

30 watts... _Is this fluorescent, incandescents or power compacts?_

Mondo grass is a *non-aquatic* plant. Remove it from your tank before it decays and fouls up the water.

Add more fast growing plants like: Hornwort, Wisteria, Anacharis. In the beginning this helps soak up nutrients that the algae feeds on. Then later on when your tank matures you can remove these and add plants that you want to keep.

The gravels should be between 2-3mm in diameter and the depth should be between 2-3". You may want to consider replacing the gravel you have now with a plant substrate.

_What are your plans for fertilizing and C02?_


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

flourescent.im 99% sure thats it.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

If you have flourescents that is good, it should say on the bulb. Also make sure that they are for growing plants (5500k-10000k).


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

my mom threw away the boxes.i do know that they are for growing plants though.what fish can i put in this tank and how can i make it look like a jungle??(plants,decorations)thanks for your time.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

what can i do with the mondo grass???


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

cemc said:


> what can i do with the mondo grass???


Put it in your yard. It makes a great edge around natural areas, just don't let it loose in your lawn.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

would 30 watts keep my melon sword happy??30 watts in a 10 gallon is low light??watt is co2 injections and do i need it and if i do is it hard to make diy???


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

i also put a small piece of driftwood in.thats ok right.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Driftwood makes a nice hardscape for a planted tank, so it is ok.

Your Melon Sword should be OK with the lighting you have.

Here is a link to help you out with DIY C02... http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

how much would i need???


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I assume your talking about C02... Use the link I gave you and just make it on a smaller scale. Use a 20oz pop bottle instead of a 2 liter, then add 1/4 cup sugar an 1/8 teaspoon of yeast. To dispense the C02 you can use a Hagan ladder or a Coralife stubby stone. You will want to keep around 20ppm of C02 saturation in the water. Even better if you can get 30ppm, but I doubt it with DIY.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

is there anything else i can do.the co2 looks pretty hard to do.im nervous.i have really nice fish in that tank and they can be poisened right????can i use tablets instead???


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

could i use a bubble diffuser??its white and about this long-------------.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

If you are nervous about using C02, then you can use a product called Excel made by Seachem. It is a carbon source and will help, but not like the real thing. 

You can over saturate the water with C02, causing a PH drop & depleting the water of oxygen and causing fish deaths. The main thing to do to keep this from happening is to start with a KH of 3 or better and use a air stone at night.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

For a tank as small as 10 gallons Excel is probably the easiest effective way to supply carbon to the plants. Just follow the package directions. It isn't a "pill", but it almost is, and lots of people have success with it. You do also need the other basic plant nutrients, K (potassium), NO3 (nitrate) and PO4 (phosphate), plus a bit of trace elements - see Greg Watson's ad on this site for all of these. Growing plants in water on in the ground always requires the basic nutrients above, as well as adequate light, which you seem to have.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

ok i went to the petstore just now and a co2 already made is 33.99.i also bought 4 very suprisingly healthy banana plant.two have babies coming out of it!!!the other two have a whole second one coming out.one has really a really long leaf coming out and tons of other leaves.i took off a baby banana plant off the big one.is that ok??


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## Osteomata (Jan 11, 2005)

Hi, welcome to the world of aquatic plants. To answer some of your questions, and give you some advice:
1) The answer to most of your questions is available in the sticky thread called "The Basics" at the top of the this forum.
2) Read the forum posts, do searches. There is a tremendous amount of information already out there.
2) Your lighting: it will be fine, 30 watts is plenty of light in a 10 gallon tank.
3) Substrate: You mentioned gravel: it will work, but your plants will grow better with a substrate designed for plants like Eco-Complete or Flourite.
4) CO2: You have two basic options: 
- Inject CO2 in gas form (either compressed gas or "Do It Yourself" CO2 made from yeast in a bottle) OR
- Use SeaChem's Flourish Excel: This is the easiest option. It is a liquid, you put it in with an eye dropper according to the instructions, but do it every day instead of twice a week. Easy. I recommend it for your situation.
5) Dangers to your fish: Planted tanks are healthier for fish. Don't accidentally pour in too much Excel, and you will have no problems.
6) Fertilizer: 3 comments:
- Fertilizer is not absolutely necessary to grow some basic plants, but it helps a lot. I have a 15 gallon that looks great right now, and I have NOT fertilized in two months. Plant growth is slow, but the fish poop is giving enough fertilizer. 
- Your plants will grow better and faster with fertilizer. ONLY use fertilizer specifically made for aquatic plants. There are several different brands. Doesn't matter too much which one you choose, just make sure it has the three macro ingredients (Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorous) and some Micro/Trace elements. I use Seachem's line on my nano-tank, but they are kind of expensive. 
- Watch out for algae blooms: when you start adding CO2, light, and fertilizer, you risk feeding the algae as well as the plants. Go slow: follow the directions.

Hope that helps.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

i have two algea eating shrimp and an oto for algea.i am going to get seachem flourish as soon as possible.is it ok to break off a baby banana plant of an adult.thanks!!!!!!!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

The baby Bannana plants can be cut from the mother plant with no problems.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

trenac said:


> The baby Bannana plants can be cut from the mother plant with no problems.


i have a stow away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its a small purple plant it came with the shrimp.what do you think it can be??it looks like a purple java fern and its small.do you think it could be a java fern??
thanks


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Wow, Cemc... I don't know. If you can take a pic and post it in the plant ID forum, I'm sure that someone will be able to ID it for you.


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## cemc (Sep 18, 2005)

sorry i cant my dad wont let me but the plants are doing great.there really bright green and growing pretty fast for no co2.thanks for the advice ill update soon.


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