# My First NPT - Walstad-Style



## kcoving (Feb 5, 2010)

10 G aquarium (the one from wal-mart with the hood you can use cfl's in place of the lights that come with it) and an AquaTech filter in it - I won't be using the cartridge with carbon on it in the filter, but I will (at least initially) stuff some polyfiber in there to grab some of the bigger particles in the beginning. I may leave it in there to offer an additional place for some of the bacteria to grow, but I know that's not necessary - thoughts/concerns anyone? Would it be best to plan on leaving it in there for a month or so and then pull it out regardless? I'm going to have the water level up high enough that we don't have a spillway happening since I'm pretty sure that the Betta and the plants won't be a huge fan of that.

I have laid down an inch or so of plain topsoil (from Lowe's). It seems to have a nice texture to it when I moistened it and squished it in my hand - it clumbs but does have some sponginess to it as well.

On top of that, I acutally put Eco Complete. I hope this doesn't mean I end up with too much iron in the water column, but I really like the look and texture of it. Since it is smaller in size, I made sure to put an inch or maybe slightly less so that I don't cut off the soil layer from 'breathing' a bit - at least that is how I think of it. Does anyone know what signs to look for in case the Eco Complete ends up causing problems? And what I'd do to help balance that out?


For now, I have three stems of something that looks like Green cabomba - I can't remember what the LFS guy called it but all the plants I selected are considered low light plants.

I also got a Nevill's crypt or something of the like and a nice little 'pasture' of val started. I will be going today to get a big bunch of hornwort to throw in the top for the time being in case I end up with rocketing ammonia levels so it can sop all of that up. I'll probably try some betta bulbs as well since I think that the water is soft enough for those to flourish.

Set the tank up last night and planted it then added about 4-5 inches of water until the plants were covered and let it sit overnight. I tested the water this morning and things look good. I also had lots and lots of bubbles on the sides of the tank and the val was absolutely covered in them. I suppose that's a good sign that things are getting off to a good start.

As far as livestock, if things go well the rest of the day, I'll be adding in 3 Amano shrimp and a couple of freshwater snails to be prepared for any algae growth that starts right away and then on Monday I'll add in our CAE. Tuesday, the plan is to add in our Betta and some zebras. (3 Amano, a couple of ramshorns, one betta, one CAE, and five zebra danios total.) Is that a pretty good bioload for the tank - I have seen people put a lot more fish in tanks than that but I'm not sure what the ideal is. I suppose maybe adding some more shrimp would help with an algae bloom if we end up having one? 

Oh, and the tank will be near a north-facing window, but won't be getting any direct light, so that's something to consider as well and I'm going to start out with a 12 hour light period.


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## kcoving (Feb 5, 2010)

Oh, and I forgot to mention the two big wads of java moss and the java fern too (I was also going to ask, I planted the java fern but I've heard that they do better rooted under a rock or onto a piece of wood .... any suggestions here?). I'm going to try and grab a few pics of it to post later - that way we can watch a nice progression of this!


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

You should be fine with the filter floss in your filter. NPT don't need the filters on there, but they are nice for a little water movement.


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## kcoving (Feb 5, 2010)

Thanks - I figured it was the cheapest way to get some water movement, but I'm not against getting a water pump if that proves to be a better option. I may try it this way and see how it goes and if it looks like it would be better off with a water pump than a HOB for circulation, I'll probably switch over to that.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Your plan sounds well-thought out and pretty reasonable.

Eco-Complete should be fine as a gravel cover. Fluorite is the one that I would avoid mixing with soil.

You can fasten the roots/rhizomes of the Java Fern to wood or a rock with sewing thread. Just wrap the thread around and around. Don't bury their rhizomes; they'll rot.

What wattage and how many CFLs are you using? Does it have a decent reflector? 

I'm just curious as to what quality lighting Wal-Mart is offering in their 10 gal package. In the past, I've been unable to get decent lighting for a 10 gal tank. All that was available was a 15 watt fluorescent strip light with a white plastic housing that decomposed after a few years.


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I have the same type of light on my 5.5 gallon with the same type of white reflector. I did I DIY upgrade to the hood since I am pretty handy with electrical items. I added a second light fixture to the other side of hood since I couldn't find a double bulb fixture. I used a piece of extension cord to link the power over to the second outlet and added 2X10 watt CFL bulbs. On one half I had the white reflector and the other side I had used aluminum foil, which actually was brighter and filled the tank tank better. After a few days, I removed the white reflector and put the foil on the other side of the hood. I know I am probably not getting anywhere near 20 watts of light, but I'm a whole lot closer than I was with just the white reflector.


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## kcoving (Feb 5, 2010)

Thanks for the advice on the Java Fern - in the store it was rooted to driftwood but they didn't say anything about not burying the roots ... so I'm lucky to find out that's a no-no. I'll try the string method and I do have a small rock in there that would make a nice anchor for it anyway. It's a nice fern so there is no point in killing it right off the bat 

As far as the light fixture, the guy at the LFS told me that the current tank sold at walmart was one of the only ones you could just pull the lights out and put CFL's in without having to actually modify the hood. Sounded good to me so that's what I did. I'm not sure what wattage the light is that I have in now, but this weekend I'm going to go and get something that is a little more powerful for it - anyone have recommendations? It has a place for two bulbs and it does have reflectors as well that are foil. I'll get a picture of it and post it here when I put up the ones I just took of the tank setup. It's actually a pretty nice little hood and the whole package (tank, filter, hood, stock bulbs - which I replaced, and a little starter packet with conditioner, fishfood, etc.) was only $35.00. 

I didn't mention heater because all of my fish can handle temps that run a little lower (in so far as I understand) and all of our tanks stay above 70 degrees, which seems to work fine. The only event that might cause trouble would be a major power outage, but a heater isn't going to save them then anyway so it seems like something I can skip this time around.

I'm also glad to hear that my plan sounds like it is a good start - it's so hard to know until you try and I was hoping my plan wasn't in left field or anything. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.


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## kcoving (Feb 5, 2010)

I was just looking around at CFL options online - would two 42 watt (150w equivalent) cfl's be as much light as it seems like they would be? (I'm terrible at math / conversions) - it sounds like folks get away with 16-20 watt bulbs so 42X2 would be quite a lot, right?


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I would say that would be a lot of light. I would start with 2X20 watts, maybe even less than that. I would also plan on getting a lot more plants to out compete the algae. I'm not an expert, so maybe someone else could help out.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

kcoving said:


> I was just looking around at CFL options online - would two 42 watt (150w equivalent) cfl's be as much light as it seems like they would be? (I'm terrible at math / conversions) - it sounds like folks get away with 16-20 watt bulbs so 42X2 would be quite a lot, right?


For a 10 gal tank, I would recommend two 13 or 14 watt CFLs. That's more than enough light considering the power of CFLs and the "shade nature" of submerged aquatic plants. Two 42 watts would blow those plants out of the water!

The CFLs I use are available from Home Depot. For example, I use GE's "Bright White".


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## medicTHREE (Feb 5, 2010)

Walmart has a nice bulb that is 6500k that would work well. I would get 2 x13 watt, and watch your photo period closely.


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## kcoving (Feb 5, 2010)

Thanks for the advice on the lights -- that is probably the area I have done the least research so it was going to be hit and miss. I'll try out those GE's since I'll probably be running by the Home Depot this weekend anyway. I took some pics and as soon as I get them uploaded, I'll post so you can see.


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