# beginner 10 gallon tank.. need advice.



## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

hello everyone.

im wondering if the hemianthus will grow and cover the entire floor of my tank if i just use a 15w flora grow bulb and add CO2 from sugarr yeast combo.. i plan to add some tennellus plants around the base of the root. im on a budget (a very small budget ;]) and want to know if i should maybe add a little more light.. i also put the rock diffuser near my filter intake to try and get that CO2 to diffuse into the water better.

im open to all suggestions/recommendations from everyone.


oh and i have 1 small chinese algae eater, and 2 mollys. these are just what i used to cycle the tank and im looking in to getting some school fish.


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## hamsterman (Sep 19, 2006)

You may find the hc will grow upwards rather than laterally and won't create the carpet look you want with only 1.5 watts per gallon. Generally hc likes high light. How about some moss on that wood?


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

i agree with moss on wood. and i would also say get more light. then go for the hc


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

would this be sufficient?

http://www.marineandreef.com/Freshwater_Aqualight_1X65_Watt_24_inch_Coralife_p/res53014.htm


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## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

That light should do the job. Just watch out for weird algae. 
And the people are right. You should put moss or ricca on the wood.
This could be an idea; the wood looks like a willow tree and the is some moss that look like the branches of a weeping willow. So I feel like that could be interesting. The moss could dance in the water current just like the branches would dance in the wind. I never did it myself so I don't know if it will work. The floor cover that would be under it would not get much light tho but that is what happens in nature. 
Still it’s just a thought. It’s your aquarium and it looks like your are on your way to some good things.


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

ok so i just bought a new light from someone on craigslist and it is an odyssea light with x2 65 PC bulbs.. one is a daylight bulb and one is a blue bulb (actinic?).. im wondering as to how i should run the time cycle. and if i even need the blue bulb...


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## Shad0w (Nov 13, 2006)

what substrate are you using?


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

gravel.. :-|


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## aquatic_clay (Aug 17, 2009)

Hey! looks like you're off to a pretty good start! Like others have said some moss on the wood would be really cool. The light that you got should be fine but I would switch out that actinic bulb with a daylight bulb before putting it on the tank.. With that much light you should be able to grow most foreground plants. I see you're usuing gravel as substrate. I recommend getting some better substrate ASAP. Seachem's substrate is cheap and work pretty well for the low price..

Have you given any thought about what you're going to do about nutrient dosing?


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

i've thought about nutrients but dont really have any knowledge as what to use.. im heading over to the aquairium store today and plan to pick up some more plants. any thought on what kind of nutrients i need to be using? also, since i have these plants in the gravel already... how would i change the substrate? would i need to pull everything out.. take out all the gravel and use something else?


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## maestrale (Dec 17, 2009)

About the schooling fish I found that a group of neon tetras are pretty impressive in a 10g tank


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

i like the neon tetras, but im still not sure what school im going to end up buying. for now im going to wait and see how well the hc covers the floor. anyone have any idea as what to use for nutes?


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## maestrale (Dec 17, 2009)

tomasu said:


> i like the neon tetras, but im still not sure what school im going to end up buying. for now im going to wait and see how well the hc covers the floor. anyone have any idea as what to use for nutes?


Makes sense to wait. You can only put few fish in the tank, so the right choice is critical. My first tank was a 10 gallon as well and it took me a couple of months before deciding about the fish


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

im getting bummed out. my HC is just melting away. im not sure if its my mollys or cae that are messing with them (just about had it and about to see them to the toilet), or my gravel, or what. i think im going to redo the whole scape with new substrate.


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## Tausendblatt (Sep 16, 2009)

Don't be too dismayed.

Most of my initial failures were because of fishes eating plants... 

But also, I killed a lot of non "easy" plants. It is best to start out with easy ones. EVEN if you have CO2 and all the nutrients, bells, whistles... etc. I even killed some of the easiest plants of all time. ALL TIME!


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

ive been having some problems with my hc because my molly fish kept on uprooting them so i finally decided to take them out of my tank. i want to get some rummy nose tetras but i read they were omnivores.. does that mean they tend to pick at plants also?


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

so i just bought some java fern moss for my trunk and i also bought some mondo grass that i shortly found out wont grow submersed!?! shortly after i figured that little fact out.. i put them in my money tree pot..


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## endgin33 (Jun 10, 2008)

Tomasu, it seems like you are "into it" big time and you are making moves in the right direction. Couple of questions- Are you running those 2x 65watt pc's over the top of that ten? If you are, that is some serious light- I run the same amount over the top of my 29G that is much deeper... When both tubes light up your are looking at some insane watts per gallon 4WPG is a lot 13 WPG... That much light is like balancing on a knife edge- the odds of teetering off into algae hell is pretty high. You need to provide near prefect nutrition to the plants to keep from getting green water or some other algae love fest... You will probably be fine with just one of the 2 tubes going and even that will mean a pretty short photoperiod.
I would also second the advice on the substrate- starting good plants means starting with good "dirt". Have you looked into the "el natural" method yet? It can be extremely cheap to start and produce wonderful results. Mineralized soil is alos an option. But for what its worth ADA Amazonia is the substrate of choice for a lot experienced plant people. 

Good luck!


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

hey endgin, yeah i only have 1 of the bulbs running right now.. i thought that both would be a little extreme.. it really eats at me that i use gravel as the substrate but i really really dont want to go into changing everything out once i have plants settling in it. so my question is.. what can i do about ferts? thanks for your advice


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

haha so i've found planaria worms in my tank. i read that the way to get rid of them is to vacuum the substrate.. but how do i go about doing this if i have my hc there? im wondering if i grow more plants in the tank that the plants will use up the uneaten food and mulm as nutrients..


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

i bought a couple new plants.. but have no names. does anyone know any of these plants?


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

can anyone tell me if my java moss is dead? its been brown like that for 2-3 weeks now..


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## tomasu (Jan 9, 2010)

so i guess my tank has come along. its been awhile since i posted an update.


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