# 10 gallon tank scaping



## guppyman7476 (Jan 1, 2005)

I have a 10 gallon tank freshwater. I have fancytail guppies in it. For plants I have 3 small crypts dont know the names. Also have dwarf hair grass, and mircosword, Florida Crypt and yesterday I got a plant from Petco that was very intestesting. It was in a self contained plastic packing with cardboard back with gel where the roots were. They had many other types of plants packed like this and were in great condition. I forgot the name of the plant cause of threw the info away by accident. Those 2 plants are kinda in the background if you look. I I have a larger crypt to put in yet and I have a bunch of stems of cabomba that are not in yet either (I think that's what they are). I would like to put a piece of driftwood in yet and java moss. The gravel is estes red, Seachem Flourite, and Dekoline. Do you all have any suggestions on how to make it look any better than what it is etc? I have to put my pump in the tank for my uv sterilizer yet. That will be next to the intake tube of the filter.

Ken


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Looks like you need more plants! Thats the best piece of advice I have ever gotten. Plant densly from the start and you wont have to worry so much about algae getting a foothold and taking over. Are you using any fertilizers or co2?


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## guppyman7476 (Jan 1, 2005)

I've already got DIY CO2 going. But I have not put any kind of fertilizer sticks in the gravel yet. Because when I do want to ad more plants I dont want to disturb the nutrients from the sticks and get it into the water column so the nutrients can cause algae.

Ken


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

* I don't like the red gravel, very distracting and unnatural looking. I would remove it if possible.

* Remove the printed background and replace with a solid color.

* The plants in the back left & back right do not look like true aquatic plants. Keep a eye on them, they may begin to rot and foul up your water.

* The dwarf hairgrass needs to be pulled apart and spread out more.

* If you want to use driftwood it is best to put that in first then aquascape around the wood.

* You need to add several bunches of stem plants in the background. It's best to add fast growers in the beginning.

_How much light and what type do you have?_


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

Same as Trenac and a few more things. Bring up the water level and add more substrate and the most important thing before you start working give your self some time to read as many information as possible so things will make more sense and your work will be a lot easier.
Ask all the questions have! we are here to help you!
Regards,
Navarro


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

I looked into those plants from petco once before, the ones sold in the plastic tube and gel for soil...they're for terraniums, and should only last for about a month or two completely submerged. Don't worry, you'll make it look really good before too long. I started out the same way.


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## pineapple (May 4, 2004)

I thought Trenac was a "Moderator" not an "Instigator" ;-)

Changes can be made a little at a time for a more natural appearance. The good thing about a 10g aquarium is that re-doing it partially or in whole is not as burdensome as, say, doing the same to a 50g plus size.

Flora-Base would give you a nice warm brown substrate colour and is good for growing plants. It has a nice texture. The substrate is the foundation on which all other aspects are built. It's probably worth getting it right to start with.

Andrew Cribb


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

Don't worry about your decoration or substrate. IMO, the first step to improving appearance is learning to grow those plants well. There is nothing about your substrate mix that will stop you from growing nice plants. You have other things to learn first.

As Luis mentioned, your water level is low and I will add, that your filter seems overpowered. This combination is creating excessive agitation in your tank that will negate any efforts towards supplementing co2. Foaming water is also an indicator of rotting plants and it does not portend a great future for your tank. I assume your UV unit will add even more water movement and this might be detrimental to your plants and is perhaps less than optimum for guppies. I suggest that you reconsider your water circulation/filtration.

Getting some stem plants in your background area will help but you will nevertheless need to get them to grow well. This requires learning the basics of planted tank husbandry. Aquatic plants need water, light, several macro nutrients, and many micro nutrients in order to grow well. You will need to learn how to provide for and balance these plant needs so that your tank can thrive.

If you haven't done so already, I suggest a timer for your light which is set to provide 9 hours of light each day.

Is that blue airstone your co2 diffusor?

I don't see a heater, are you doing a room temp tank? I think your UV sterilizer might warm your water quite a bit.


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## Jeff Kropp (Apr 25, 2004)

trenac said:


> * The dwarf hairgrass needs to be pulled apart and spread out more.


Here is amano planting hairgrass. http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/gallery/album05/Amano_Demo_015 
...see how he has small clumps of hairgrass lined up for planting on his foam palette? It is typically planted about 1 inch apart in "hair club for men" pattern.


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## guppyman7476 (Jan 1, 2005)

The blue air ston is the diffuser for the CO2. I had to tear down this tank 2 times in the past month because of stupid [email protected]# cats knocking my 2 liter bottle over and injecting the co2 solution into the tank. As for the 2 light green plants it said on the package they were for aquariums. They also had other ones at Petco including some sort of fern. My filter is a tetratec pf150 I have it set at max flow rate. It also has the built in heater. It is set at about 74-75 degrees. The bulb is a 15 watt Triton. I know I have to bring up the water level but I havent done so yet till I get the plants situated. I have added Seachem Flourish to the tank so far. Also when I get done planting all the plants I want I was going to put Jobes in the gravel. When I get my tax refund I was going to get some stuff for the tank. Such as more Seachem plant food, driftwood, more plants. I have a bunch of Cabomba's to go in the back of the tank. Any suggestions on other plants to put in? Aslo I have a 30 gallon sitting in my basement to get setup, I have to pickup a 20 gallon tank that has an Angel, Barb, and 2 snails from a person off of Freecyle.

Ken


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Your aquarium is in desperate need of a lighting upgrade. I would not spend money on more plants, more decorations, etc when this critical aspect of the planted aquarium is lacking in your tank.

Also, some of your plants do not look like they will grow underwater -- they are terrarium plants and should be taken out. They'll make great house plants.

Carlos


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