# My 10 gal NPT aquarium



## Pendulum (Oct 13, 2014)

Hello users of APC,

I would like to introduce my tank that I started about 2-3 months ago.
It fits almost all "Walstad Rules", except one: The water change. To prevent yellowish water, i change 20% in every 1-2 weeks. This is because I do not like yellow water, I prefer crystal clear.

So, the technical informations:
Size: 10 gal, standard(no opti) glass
"Filter": The pure water pump from a atman hf0100 hang-on filter, there is a small sponge in it, to prevent killing any animal by pump.
Light: DIY, 11w + 15W 6500K compact bulbs.
Soil: standard potting soil 1,5 -2 inch, 1,5-2 inch gravel. No artifical fertilizers
Plants: ludwigia repens, echninodorus quadricostatus, hydroctoyle tripartita, alternanthera reineckii mini, hygrophila difformis, hottonia palustris, hydrocotyle leucocephala, pogostemon helferi, lobelia cardinalis "small form".
Fish: Now only 3 pseudomugil gertrudae, I will change them to Endler guppies, 6-8 male.

Pictures:

2-3 weeks after the tank's start.










Nowadays:


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## qwe123 (Jun 15, 2011)

Beautiful! It's encouraging to see you can get a carpet of Hydrocotyle tripartita like that in a Walstad.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Very nice tank--it looks larger than 10 gallon.


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## alvinongbt.ao (Apr 11, 2015)

Nice tank. Keep it up.

Sent from my SM-G901F using Tapatalk


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## galdadi (Mar 25, 2015)

Cool, if you'll put active charcoal for short period the yellowish water will disappear, and you could stop the water changes.


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## key5000 (Apr 24, 2015)

Very nice.
Regarding the soil, are you using regular potting soil from Home Depot? 
Did you lay 2" soil on the bottom and 2" gravel on the top?
Do you have pictures of your DIY LED light?


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## Pendulum (Oct 13, 2014)

galdadi said:


> Cool, if you'll put active charcoal for short period the yellowish water will disappear, and you could stop the water changes.


Thank you for the tip, but the weekly 10-15% water change is not a big deal, cheaper than buying charcoal.


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## Pendulum (Oct 13, 2014)

key5000 said:


> Very nice.
> Regarding the soil, are you using regular potting soil from Home Depot?
> Did you lay 2" soil on the bottom and 2" gravel on the top?
> Do you have pictures of your DIY LED light?


Yes, I did not use any special one.
Yes, I layed down the soil and gravel like you wrote.
I do not use LED light, as I wrote, I use compact bulbs.


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## Eutexian (Mar 29, 2015)

galdadi said:


> Cool, if you'll put active charcoal for short period the yellowish water will disappear, and you could stop the water changes.


I would suggest a pouch of purigen.. does the same job, but lasts much longer and can be recharged.

my own tank had a yellow water problem as well as a slight haze.. but its now like glass. the clarity jumps out at me because of how black the rear plate looks. its jet black because the water is so clear.










contrast that with how the tank looked.. i think 4 weeks ago, the slight yellow cast and the haze, both clearly visible.


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## Pendulum (Oct 13, 2014)

Eutexian said:


> I would suggest a pouch of purigen.. does the same job, but lasts much longer and can be recharged.
> 
> my own tank had a yellow water problem as well as a slight haze.. but its now like glass. the clarity jumps out at me because of how black the rear plate looks. its jet black because the water is so clear.
> 
> ...


Nice tank congratulation. And thanks for the tip, but i do not like use any of these materials, there is not easier, cheaper than 10% weekly water change.


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## Pendulum (Oct 13, 2014)

My tank goes well, I added 10 ember tetra to it.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Beautiful! There is a lot of value in keeping things simple.


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## Guck (Nov 27, 2014)

I like you approach. Difference with me is I don't do water changes.
Any reason to use a combination of 11 and 15 watts bulb? 
Do you use any other fertilizer other than fish food?


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## Pendulum (Oct 13, 2014)

Guck said:


> I like you approach. Difference with me is I don't do water changes.
> Any reason to use a combination of 11 and 15 watts bulb?
> Do you use any other fertilizer other than fish food?


There is not any special reason I use these bulbs. I do not use artificial fertilizers, only potting soil.


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