10 Gallon Options

[JArtiles305]

I currently have a 10 gallon tank. I'm looking to convert it to a planted tank but the current cover I have is giving me problems. It's a cover I got at Walmart, and uses two bulbs. These bulbs get pretty hot and after a while really raise my tempature. Also I'm not sure if this light is suitable for plants. I got the bulbs also at Walmart and they said something about being for plants. I'm only planning on planting Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubia, and Amazon swords all low tech plants.

My questions are what options do I have with covers? Is there another cover I can get that will hold a strip bulb that will supply my tank with 1.5-2 watts per gallon?

Is there a custom option. Such as putting an acrylic cover and placing another light source above?

I'm also planning on having a stock of 3 Corys, 1 Betta, 1 Platy, a shrimp or two and a small school of something that schools some sort of terta? Currently have a betta with 3 corys and a platy.

Any help would be appreciated. I want to get the light issue sorted out in order to stock the aquarium with low light, hardy plants. Any suggestions on plants would also be appreciated.

 

[lljdma06]

I have a glass cover on mine, and then I have a Coralife 28W T5 fixture with a 6500 or 6700, I never remember which color temperature. The cover is about $8 US and the fixture is $35 US. That will give you 2.8 WPG, which is a really nice number. Purchase one of those Nutrafin CO2 units for like $22 US and use your own yeast/sugar mix and you've got the fundamentals for a very nice planted tank.

EDIT: Sorry you wanted low-light plants, though they will appreciate the higher wattage. My anubias grow like little weeds, at least as far as anubias can grow like weeds. If you just put a standard 15W strip, which is super cheap and a good bulb with a color temp of around 6500K, you can grow your anubias, and hardy plants with ease and no CO2 injection and minimal fertilizers. But I gave you the other option incase you eventually wanted to grow more challenging species. The hardy plants will still grow well with the first lighting option I gave you, even better, and I think you're only spending like $20-35 more.

 

[JArtiles305]

Lemme guess, you got the Aqua Culture Starter 10 aquarium kit?
Got the same one too! I upgraded the lighting simply by buying compact daylight flourescent lights in their lights/home furnishing section. I now have 3 WPG

Since you're aiming for at most 2 WPG, I suggest getting these instead: (this would be in the pet section)

Check the bulbs you bought if they're the same thing. The key here is that it should be 6500K to simulate daylight.

No, it was a basic inherited 10 gallon tank not the kit. I bought a cover for it at WalMart with two incandescent bulbs but they are producing tons of heat. The cover is made by All Glass Aquariums. I'm going to see if I can find those bulbs at PetsMart.

Also to reply to lljdma06, I've thought about the acrylic cover. Though isn't the T5 longer than the tank?

Also for now I'm trying to keep this tank as simple as possible. Maybe my next tank if I ever figure out a way to fit a 55 in my room will have a CO2 unit. My question on those units. I saw the Hagen Plant Grow Natural System with CO2 in PetsMart. How often do you have to by replacement activators for them? Are they a money drain?

 

[lljdma06]

Also to reply to lljdma06, I've thought about the acrylic cover. Though isn't the T5 longer than the tank?

Also for now I'm trying to keep this tank as simple as possible. Maybe my next tank if I ever figure out a way to fit a 55 in my room will have a CO2 unit. My question on those units. I saw the Hagen Plant Grow Natural System with CO2 in PetsMart. How often do you have to by replacement activators for them? Are they a money drain?

It's not acrylic, it's glass. The T5 is slighly longer than the tank but only about an inch in both sides, it actually provides better light coverage. It ensures that the entire tank is lit.

My advice on the CO2 system. Buy the system and don't use the replacement activator packets that it comes with, instead do a DIY mix of yeast, baking soda, sugar, and lukewarm water. My water's not too soft, so I use 1/2 tsp of yeast to 1/2 cup sugar, pour this into the canister, fill with lukewarm water until about 2 cm below the top notch, and then stir. This recipe is from Jimbooo over at planted tanks, except I don't need to add bicarbonate because my water is harder.

 

[JArtiles305]

Also to reply to lljdma06, I've thought about the acrylic cover. Though isn't the T5 longer than the tank?

Also for now I'm trying to keep this tank as simple as possible. Maybe my next tank if I ever figure out a way to fit a 55 in my room will have a CO2 unit. My question on those units. I saw the Hagen Plant Grow Natural System with CO2 in PetsMart. How often do you have to by replacement activators for them? Are they a money drain?

It's not acrylic, it's glass. The T5 is slighly longer than the tank but only about an inch in both sides, it actually provides better light coverage. It ensures that the entire tank is lit.

My advice on the CO2 system. Buy the system and don't use the replacement activator packets that it comes with, instead do a DIY mix of yeast, baking soda, sugar, and lukewarm water. My water's not too soft, so I use 1/2 tsp of yeast to 1/2 cup sugar, pour this into the canister, fill with lukewarm water until about 2 cm below the top notch, and then stir. This recipe is from Jimbooo over at planted tanks, except I don't need to add bicarbonate because my water is harder.

Do you have any more information on that system? How it works and the exact DIY mixture? I'm interested in the product. Any link I can read about it on?

Do you have a picture of a tank with a T5 on it? Something I can use to get an idea how it will look and how to set it up.

 

[Torrean]

didn't read the thread...I know I'm lazy. here's a link to an acrylic cover

http/www.gcca.net/howto/tank_covers.htm

 

[Alex_]

for a 10 gallon you can not fit a

full grow amzon sword it will get way

to tall and just as wide as your tank,

Another thing to add is i think you should also

re-think your stocking, planted tanks like

the one your planning will not have enough

room for your platy's to swimm as freely as they would like.

-Alex

 

[lljdma06]

It's not acrylic, it's glass. The T5 is slighly longer than the tank but only about an inch in both sides, it actually provides better light coverage. It ensures that the entire tank is lit.

My advice on the CO2 system. Buy the system and don't use the replacement activator packets that it comes with, instead do a DIY mix of yeast, baking soda, sugar, and lukewarm water. My water's not too soft, so I use 1/2 tsp of yeast to 1/2 cup sugar, pour this into the canister, fill with lukewarm water until about 2 cm below the top notch, and then stir. This recipe is from Jimbooo over at planted tanks, except I don't need to add bicarbonate because my water is harder.

Do you have any more information on that system? How it works and the exact DIY mixture? I'm interested in the product. Any link I can read about it on?

Do you have a picture of a tank with a T5 on it? Something I can use to get an idea how it will look and how to set it up.
[/quote]

I gave you the exact DIY mix. The CO2 injection works on basically fermentation. A biproduct of this is CO2 gas. The mixture ferments in the canister releasing C)2 through a small hole in the top. Then the gas travels through C)2 resistant tubing to and a bubble is released into a item called a bubble ladder. CO2 bubbles aren't absorbed right away, they need time, so the bubbles travel up the ladder and get smaller as CO2 is absorbed into the water.

Here is a picture of my 10g aquarium. It has anubias, crypts, various hygrophilias and some glosso, which doesn't carpet but is really a nice foreground plant.

As you can see, you can bairly see the light. The T5s are really unobtrusive and very nice to work with.