10 Gallon Planted Tank Plan

[hakova]

I think I will take the more conservative route mdwheeler and see if I can lower the light intensity a bit. I am concerned mostly about the algae issue and prefer to prevent it if I can, rather than fighting with it when it happens. If you are going to stick with the current wattage, would you mind keeping in touch so we can kind of monitor each other's situation, like a controlled experiment of some extend? I will definitely keep posting updates.

For the stocking question, I am just a starter here myself and did not even start stocking my tank yet. I hate to give inaccurate advice and lead you to wrong direction. I am sure you are aware of the 1" per gallon rule, which can be stretched a little bit (but how far?) when you have a heavily planted tank. That's about all I can tell you on this one.

 

[lljdma06]

I think I will take the more conservative route mdwheeler and see if I can lower the light intensity a bit. I am concerned mostly about the algae issue and prefer to prevent it if I can, rather than fighting with it when it happens. If you are going to stick with the current wattage, would you mind keeping in touch so we can kind of monitor each other's situation, like a controlled experiment of some extend? I will definitely keep posting updates.

For the stocking question, I am just a starter here myself and did not even start stocking my tank yet. I hate to give inaccurate advice and lead you to wrong direction. I am sure you are aware of the 1" per gallon rule, which can be stretched a little bit (but how far?) when you have a heavily planted tank. That's about all I can tell you on this one.

Give me a sec to address this. I need to chew. I'm on my lunch break.

 

[hakova]

Give me a sec to address this. I need to chew. I'm on my lunch break.

Bon apetite .

 

[mdwheeler]

Sure! I'm literally crazy about aquariums now........except for how expensive they can be.

For the stocking question, I am just a starter here myself and did not even start stocking my tank yet. I hate to give inaccurate advice and lead you to wrong direction. I am sure you are aware of the 1" per gallon rule, which can be stretched a little bit (but how far?) when you have a heavily planted tank. That's about all I can tell you on this one.

i was asking lljdma06 but I do appreciate your honesty. And yes that is the correct rule but i'm almost certain that the more filtration you have the more fish your allotted. I think i've got plenty of that! 1 fluval internal, 1 sponge, 1 aqueon power filter. I think the plants kinda filter the water as well. My friend works at an aquarium store in dallas that has a 500 gallon EXTREMELY planted tank that runs simply on a powerhead with a sponge attachment. The water was crystal clear. It didn't even have co2!!!

 

[hakova]

i was asking lljdma06 but I do appreciate your honesty.

Sorry, I am sure he will address this after lunch .

And yes that is the correct rule but i'm almost certain that the more filtration you have the more fish your allotted. I think i've got plenty of that! 1 fluval internal, 1 sponge, 1 aqueon power filter. I think the plants kinda filter the water as well. My friend works at an aquarium store in dallas that has a 500 gallon EXTREMELY planted tank that runs simply on a powerhead with a sponge attachment. The water was crystal clear. It didn't even have co2!!!

My vote would be to stock up to 1" per gallon first, and then depending on how mature and established your tank is, add one fish at a time every month or so and monitor everything as much as you can, until it starts to get unreasonably crowded or slightly toxic.

 

[lljdma06]

I think I will take the more conservative route mdwheeler and see if I can lower the light intensity a bit. I am concerned mostly about the algae issue and prefer to prevent it if I can, rather than fighting with it when it happens. If you are going to stick with the current wattage, would you mind keeping in touch so we can kind of monitor each other's situation, like a controlled experiment of some extend? I will definitely keep posting updates.

For the stocking question, I am just a starter here myself and did not even start stocking my tank yet. I hate to give inaccurate advice and lead you to wrong direction. I am sure you are aware of the 1" per gallon rule, which can be stretched a little bit (but how far?) when you have a heavily planted tank. That's about all I can tell you on this one.

Give me a sec to address this. I need to chew. I'm on my lunch break.

Okay, done with lunch, waiting for coffee to brew. Sticking a few fish extra into your tank isn't the way to compensate for a dosing regimen. The point is stable CO2, stable ferts. How do you know that your fish are producing what your plants need. Can you measure the waste levels and are they going to always be consistant? Besides, with your current lighting level mdwheeler, it's going to take a lot more than a few more fish to give your plants the stable nutrients that they need.

Now, to address you, Hakova. "1" per gallon is a really, really loose guideline, and I break it quite often. In some tanks, I have 3-4 inches per gallon and can still add more stock. But, I tend to put what really looks good in planted aquariums anyways; slim-bodied, small fish. I also keep less species per tank and keep more of them. For example, in my 20g, I keep 10 harlequin rasboras, 7 rasbora pauciperforata, 10 bronze corydoras, and 1 oto. Not a lot of species really. I'd like 6 otos and maybe more pauciperforata if I can get them. With the filtration I have, and the plantload that is in this tank, it is something I can certainly do and not be worried about overstocking. My 10g has about 30 dwarf corydoras in it and 9 dwarf platies. Again, seemingly overstocked, but not really, again because of high filtration, high plantload, and that the fish are really small. The point is that I get fish that are comfortable swimming in the size tanks I have. It isn't an exact science, this stocking issue, and you get really good at eyeballing whether a fish will work after a while. It really depends on what you're keeping and knowing the habits of what you keep. Feel free to ask me stocking questions or what will work. This is and always will be my forte. I kept fish long before I started keeping planted tanks.

llj

 

[mdwheeler]

Okay, done with lunch, waiting for coffee to brew. Sticking a few fish extra into your tank isn't the way to compensate for a dosing regimen. The point is stable CO2, stable ferts. How do you know that your fish are producing what your plants need. Can you measure the waste levels and are they going to always be consistant? Besides, with your current lighting level mdwheeler, it's going to take a lot more than a few more fish to give your plants the stable nutrients that they need.


llj

About ferts I was told by the place I got all my plants from that I won't need to start adding ferts until after my tank has been established for about 7 months. Correct??

I thinking of getting flourish excel to swipe a small brown haired algae problem. Its only on a stem of rotella that I threw away (i've got plenty more anyway) and want to make sure to wipe it all out j.i.c.

 

[lljdma06]

Nope. I run about 10 bubbles a second through my powerhead though and basically coat the plants with a fine mist of bubbles by the end of the day. I have them running through a spray bar as well (to get the evenly dispersed).

10 bubbles a second means nothing. It still might not be difusing evenly into your tank. Still say to get a dropchecker to be sure. How much does peace of mind really count?

i was asking lljdma06 but I do appreciate your honesty. And yes that is the correct rule but i'm almost certain that the more filtration you have the more fish your allotted. I think i've got plenty of that! 1 fluval internal, 1 sponge, 1 aqueon power filter. I think the plants kinda filter the water as well. My friend works at an aquarium store in dallas that has a 500 gallon EXTREMELY planted tank that runs simply on a powerhead with a sponge attachment. The water was crystal clear. It didn't even have co2!!!

That setup is entirely possible. My whole type of setup is the tiny version of that behemoth tank you talked about. The water actually becomes extremely clear. The inch per gallon rule isn't a "rule", just a guideline to prevent the whole "I have an 18" pleco in my 10g tank thing" and it is open to a lot of different interpretations. Stocking is much more subtle than this and there are many, many variables to consider, the most important being the size and habits of the fish you are keeping.

My vote would be to stock up to 1" per gallon first, and then depending on how mature and established your tank is, add one fish at a time every month or so and monitor everything as much as you can, until it starts to get unreasonably crowded or slightly toxic.

The conservative approach is often, a very good approach. Year old aquariums can handle a different bioload from a 1 month old aquarium. I have two three-year-old systems, and these are very different from my year-old system.

About ferts I was told by the place I got all my plants from that I won't need to start adding ferts until after my tank has been established for about 7 months. Correct??

Not with your lighting level. You're plants won't last 7 months. The average high-tech scape usually lasts about 3-5 months until it's usually rescaped. You can't maintain that excelerated level of growth for long. The plants kind of start getting tired. The dosing with this tanks usually start immediately. Look at some of the high-tech journals in this forum and you'll see this. Plants usually have a store of nutrients, but that store doesn't last 7 months.

That little brown-haired algae problem is only the beginning. Get the dropchecker, start a dosing regimen, halve your lighting. You will not regret it. You'll still get great growth. You don't want mad growth. It is a pain. A big, big pain. I'm not saying go completely low-tech. You've got the CO2, use it. CO2 is great to use even at lower light levels. You can grow a lot more species well. By the way, can you show me a picture of your setup with the gang valve? Or direct me to a link that has it? I'm very curious and would like to see it.

llj

 

[hakova]

... By the way, can you show me a picture of your setup with the gang valve? Or direct me to a link that has it? I'm very curious and would like to see it.

Hi lljdma06,

Here is a link mdwheeler previously posted. His gang valve has three outlets, not 5 like shown in this picture. HTH

 

[lljdma06]

... By the way, can you show me a picture of your setup with the gang valve? Or direct me to a link that has it? I'm very curious and would like to see it.

Hi lljdma06,

Here is a link mdwheeler previously posted. His gang valve has three outlets, not 5 like shown in this picture. HTH

And you then regulate it by turning the knobs. I have a plastic 3-way to regulate the airstone flow when I hatch BBS. I imagine the metal is better than the plastic for CO2 gas . With a drop-checker to measure and a better difusor, might make for a nice, inexpensive alternative to pressurized for lower light tanks. Something to think about, should I ever decide to inject CO2 again. It has been so long.

 

[mdwheeler]

Yeah I also have a plastic three way but the leakage is awful. It's fine for air pumps of course but when your on co2 and want to pressurize it (to an extent) the metal has virtually no leaks. The only leak is between the valves, but that works as a slight pressure relief for the two liter bottles.

 

[mdwheeler]

Gots my light today!!!

It looks WAY better than the two screw in bulb thing I had before. It honestly looks almost the same as the pic you showed earlier (color wise). Now I have to get a canopy (before that was the lighting hood), a new timer (unfortunately the one I had isn't the grounded type) and some ferts (i've decided to go with Seachem Flourish). I made a small injection system (pics later) for adding them by using the venturi injector on my powerhead. Unfortunately since the output is attached to a spraybar the water pushes out of the venturi, but I have a stop valve installed on it and will be using a syringe to dose it in.



Wish it was friday. Kinda broke right now . Wiped out my account on college supplies the other day (like a fridge n towels n more).


I'll also be setting up a 40 gallon (maybe just 29....I like more space though) next year (around may) and made an expense spreadsheet for equipment:

C02 Equipment
Semi Auto System $129.99 Dr Foster & Smith

Lighting
Nova Extreme 36 inch T-5 2x39W FW $72.99 Aquabuys

Filtration
Marineland c-220 Canister Filter $149.99 Dr Foster & Smith

Substrate
Seachem Onyx Sand Substrate *4 $71.80 Aquacave

Circulation
Marineland Maxi-Jet 900 $16.44 Linens N Things

Sure-flow Maxi Jet Upgrade Kit $14.99 Dr Foster & Smith

Total: $456.20


To bad this doesn't include shipping and the expenses for the tank, stand, plants, or fish. I'm gonna try and get this over time (first the co2 kit).

 

[hakova]

Well, congratulations on your new lighting mdwheeler! I can feel the excitement between your lines .

I took out the 10K tube and I am now using only the plant spectrum tube to accommodate the CO2 levels in my tank. My plants do not look very healthy at the moment, I am trying to revert the down trend. I starting dosing the ferts as of yesterday, added some harlequin rasboras and ghost shrimp and hoping for the best. I am going to add the second yeast bottle tonight with a two way metal gang valve similar to what you had posted.

I liked your 40 gallon project. Keep us informed about its progress please.

For the pressurized system, I am considering to go for a Milwaukee CO2 regulator just because it would be easier to deal with it if it breaks, since it is US made, and it is available through ebay. The one Dr F&S sells is made in Taiwan and comes with a longer warranty (1 year vs. 6 months) but I just don't see how I can use the warranty if need be (shipment to Taiwan, etc.). Just wanted share my thoughts.

 

[mdwheeler]

So basically i'm gonna buy some new plants and trash some old ones. My rotalas are fine but have an algae problem (that came with the plant.....should'nt have bought them). My vallis i'm gonna try to regrow. My cabomba i'm gonna trash the bad stems and add some new healthy stems. My Wisteria i'm gonna let be. My hygro rosa I'm gonna purchase more of. The leaves on it have translucent spots aside from the fact that the plant is noticably growing (one day its below the water line the next its almost floating). My idea is to cover it with new stems and let it recover in the background. I'd like to get some dwarf hairgrass but unfortunately nobody sells any nearby.....


I found a co2 valve with a solenoid that hooks up to paintball bottles: perfect for me! Less than $100 too!

<a href="http/www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/4531/product.web" target="_blank">http/www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/4531/product.web</a>

ALSO i've got my Seachem Flourish and have been dosing 1.5 ml every other day (only done it twice though... )

 

[hakova]

Sorry, I was out of town for about 5 days. Just came back and trying to catch up. My wife did a good job maintaining stuff.

I am glad you found that. There is a similar prized regulator set with solenoid valve in ebay, Milwaukee brand:
Item link

This one may or may not fit to paint ball bottles though, I am not sure.

I think I started to see some growth on sagitaria subulata, in the form of new leaves. Just clipped some old leaves that were getting transparent and cleaned some diatoms with my fingers from some old leaves, too. The HC is still not taking off. I stopped seeing mass disintegrations of it at least. I am renewing yeast bottles (now I have 2) weekly and alternating every 3-4 days.

I had 5 ghost shrimps none of which survived the fertilization. I am not going to buy new ones, since I have read that it was actually not recommended to keep shrimp in a planted tank with fertilizers (ref: petshrimp.com).

Still using one bulb (plant spectrum). Will try to post a picture soon.