# New 10 Gallon Setup



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

Hello everyone, I've learned so much from this forum thanks guys.

I'm setting up a new 10 gallon tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 16) and would like any suggestions you might have for my setup.

I'm using Miracle Grow Organic Choice and Safe T Sorb in a ruffly 50/50 mix for the dirt layer. I got some small gravel from the LFS 2-4mm for my cap.

I have soaked the miracle grow over night twice and strained out as much of the floating debri and soil that won't sink well. Its now sitting in a 1/2 layer on a plastic container top in the sun in the backyard. Tommorow before using it i'll get out as much of wood chips as i can find and then mix it with my Safe T Sorb (I have throughly rinsed the STS).

Here is a picture of my dirt drying in sun.









I'll create a 1" layer then cap with another 1" or so of gravel.

I have a couple pieces of drift wood i'll be using here is a picture:









I ordered plants from aquariumplants.com here is a list of what i got:

Tissue Cultured:
Sagitaria subullata
Rotala Rotundifolia
Staurogyne repens
Echinodorus qudricostatus
Limnophila Sessilifora

Other:
Anacharis (Egeria densa)
Water Sprite
Echinodorus bleheri "compacta"
Duckweed, Lemna Minor
Java Fern, Microsorum petroptus

Here's a picture i made of the plants i'm adding (not my plants just pictures from internet)









My lighting will be one GE 23-Watt 6500k CFL, there is a southern facing window close by that could let some natural sun in with, and the room has a fixture with 3 20-watt 6500k cfl's in it as well that could supplement some if need be. I have a timer set to do the Siesta method with 5 hours in the morning, a 4 hour break and 5 more in the evening.

So my soil will ready tomorrow and my plants are coming in the mail.

I have an Aqueon Quietflow 10 that i'll just running some poly filter pads in and i'll be using Seachem Prime to treat water. I have some pure ammonia available to cycle if need be but i'm guessing my soil will provide enough ammonia maybe? I don't have any testings supplies but I do have a Seachem Ammonia Alert that will give me some intel. I'm not in any hurry to add fish, planning on fishless cycling for now. Later I'm planning to add dwarf cory(habrosus) and glow light tetras. I don't have a heater, my house stays around 70-72 year round, but i'll try and keep it more towards 72 once i get this going. If you think i need one let me know, I was considering the Jager 25 watt if i do get one.

Sorry I know that was a wall of text and pictures, but do you guys have any tips or suggestions to help me for tomorrow when i'm setting up and for the coming weeks? Thanks so much look forward to hearing what you have to say


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC!

Your plans sound good. I doubt that you will need the ammonia; the soil will probably provide enough.

With just one 23w CFL over the tank you are likely to get a too-bright spot directly under it. This may create algae growth under the light, and poor plant growth elsewhere. If you can, use two 13w CFLs spaced evenly over the top of the tank.

Good luck and let us know how the tank turns out.


----------



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

Ok, Thanks for the reply.

I might grab some clamp lights and do 2, the cfl is in a standup lamp that will hold it a few inches above the tank (there is a glass cover on it). It is really easy to move, could I just shift it around from day to day to be above different parts of the tank? or would that cause problems?


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

If you are really consistent about moving it around, that would work. I've tried that myself, and always forget to move the light often enough, LOL.


----------



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

Got the pre-plant setup finished and tank running:










I might have too much gravel.

The dirt layer is about 1", maybe a little less. The gravel ranges from 1.375" - 2"(front to back) above the dirt. Should I remove some or do you think this is ok?

The dirt doesn't go all the way to the outer edges either, there is about 1/2" of gravel surrounding it on all sides.


----------



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

Ok, I have finished planting, here is a short video (1:30) showing the tank.




A couple questions:

1) Can i cut the leaves off the Java Fern that is attached to the drift wood, they don't seem to be appropriate for the tank right now and it might be better to grow better ones. If I do should I leave at least 1 leave on ?

2) I put about 1/8th of the duckweed i got into the tank, the filter is spinning it around all over which i don't guess is a problem but should i put some more in or would that be too much? I've got one Anacharis stem floating that they can gather around and a couple small stems of Water Sprite in floating as well.


----------



## bluethunder261 (Sep 23, 2015)

Like what you have done with the 10 gal. I'm thinking of doing a quarantine 10 gal but wanted to jazz it up with some planting. Curious as to where you purchased the Miracle Grow Organic Choice and the Safe T Sorb. Are you using any other nutrients for the plants ? BTW I couldn't view the video.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

1. Don't cut any healthy leaves from the Java fern, it needs them to make new growth.

2. Don't worry about the duckweed, it will be driving you crazy soon enough.

3. Since you are using Miracle Grow, you are likely to have high ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. You need more fast growing stem plants to stabilize the tank.


----------



## Karackle (Apr 14, 2009)

The tank looks great, I look forward to seeing how it grows in. As for the java ferns you think don't fit right, I am guessing they seem to tall? As Michael said, they look very healthy so you should leave them. Instead of cutting them, maybe you could try moving them to a lower part of the DW, maybe they would fit better that way? Alternatively, you could just leave them for a little while and see how they look once they've started growing toward the light instead of being sort of tipped backward as they are now. 

Michael also took the words right out of my mouth about the duckweed, it grows unbelievably fast.

It's not super necessary right now, but I would highly suggest that you do get yourself some test kits, especially for ammonia and nitrIte just so you can keep a close eye on those levels when you do add fish. I know you're doing a fishless cycle first, but I always like double checking. They're also good to have to give you an idea of how your cycle is progressing during the fishless cycle.


----------



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

bluethunder261 said:


> Like what you have done with the 10 gal. I'm thinking of doing a quarantine 10 gal but wanted to jazz it up with some planting. Curious as to where you purchased the Miracle Grow Organic Choice and the Safe T Sorb. Are you using any other nutrients for the plants ? BTW I couldn't view the video.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


The Miracle Grow Organic Choice came from Lowe's Home Improvement, and the Safe T Sorb came from Tractor Supply Company. I'm not using any other nutrients; I tried to pick plants that are easy to grow as I want a low tech, low maintenance tank. I'm not sure what your issue with the video is, maybe because of your mobile platform you are viewing on.


----------



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

Michael said:


> 1. Don't cut any healthy leaves from the Java fern, it needs them to make new growth.
> 
> 2. Don't worry about the duckweed, it will be driving you crazy soon enough.
> 
> 3. Since you are using Miracle Grow, you are likely to have high ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. You need more fast growing stem plants to stabilize the tank.


1.Unfortunately I already clipped all but 1 of the leaves off the Java Fern, defintely a mistake in hindsight but hopefully it will grow back ok. I think i should of just tied it to a rock and moved it, which i'm probably going to do anyway. It is already growing another leaf now so it should have at least 2 leafs for now though i'm sure the new one will take quite a while to grow in. I found some info on Java Fern maintenance that said if you cut a leave, to clip it as close to the rhizome as possible so I did.

2.Yeah, I put a bit more of my duckweed in just to not let it go to waste, i still have about half of it left sitting in the bag it came in in a bowl next to the tank. Its really annoying to deal with when i try to work on the tank. I pretty much just don't care about persevering any of it when i get it on my hands, I just wash it off in the sink as I'm sure it will probably just multiply faster than I can get rid of it.

3.I got the Anacharis and the Water Sprite for that very reason to help stabilize the tank when the other plants are growing in. Hopefully it will be enough till the Rotala rotundifolia and Limnophila Sessiliflora grow in. They are growing decently well right now. I plan to remove the Anacharis and Water Sprite later for the most part, maybe leave a bit to float.

I've been doing about 50% water changes every few days right now as the water does get a pretty strong yellow tent to it. Hopefully after a few more weeks it will stop that. My plan for right now is to just let the plants grow in a bit and get a little bigger, the tissue culture stuff is pretty delicate when first planting. I can see some layout mistakes i'd like to change but I think its best for now just to let things grow out a bit so they don't just fall apart if I move anything. Then I might move a few plants a little bit. The Staurogyne repens patch is looking pretty healthy, as well as the Echinodorus qudricostatus.

I'll post another video next week to show the 2 week progress. Thanks for your feedback and replys.

P.S. Almost forgot to mention I took your lighting advice and have 2 13-Watt CFL's above the tank now. I did make what I think was a mistake and got one clamp light with a 5 1/2" reflector instead of the 8 1/2" I have on the other one. I'll try and take it back later and exchange it so I have them both in 8 1/2" reflectors. They are sitting with the bottom of the reflector 5" from the top of the tank, which puts the bulb about 8" from the top of the water. Since i don't have anyway to measure PAR its just my best guess at getting "low-med" lighting. This post on plantedtank http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/85667-par-data-spiral-power-saver-bulbs-lighting-question-2.html was very informative. He shows a 14 watt cfl that is 8.25" from the water getting upper end low level lighting so I think i'm probably fairly close but its all still a guess. I'd guess at worst i'm in the low end of medium level lighting.


----------



## LittleTinGod (Sep 15, 2015)

Here's my 2 week update:










Added 1 Amano Shrimp today. Also, I said in the video the reflectors are 10.5" but they are 8.5" just incase someone cared


----------

