10 Gallon Planted Tank

[sampster5000]

Hello everyone. I am very new to planted tanks and was wondering if I could have some help. I have a 10 gallon tank that I would like to put plants in but I do not know exactly what I need to do so. I was wanting to see if what I have is enough and if I need more. My list of items is this:

10 gallon aquarium
1x 15w light (Coralife Nutri Gro Plant Lamp)
1.5-2 inches deep black sand bed (Seachem Flourite Black Sand)
Aqueon 10 Power Filter with 100gph
Marineland Stealth Pro Heater 50W
Coralife Digital Thermometer
1x Whisper Air Pump for 60 gallons
2x black air stones

This is where I'm pretty sure I dont have enough:

Seachem Flourish

Fish:
1x Purple and Red Crowntail Betta
4x Skunk Corydoras Catfish
1x Mystery/Apple Snail

My questions:

Do I have everything I need to keep plants alive and healthly? Is the Seachem Flourish enough by itself for plants or do I need to buy other additives? If so, which can I buy that I can find in America?
Can I keep any kind of plant alive with what I have?
Is my lighting enough for any kind of plant? Too much? Too little? What do I have enough lighting for?
Should I not be using the air stones or does it even matter?
Will my fish live long? I know that plants and fish compete for oxygen at night and am not sure how people keep their fish alive if this is so.
Do my fish "fertilize" the plants?


Basically, I want to do some simple plants and I dont want to have to worry about them dying. I do NOT want to spend a load of cash on a 10 gallon but I don't mind spending a bit extra to keep the plants and fish healthy. I won't be using a CO2 injector because I don't think they are worth the insane price they are currently set at.

Thanks for any help and answers! Feel free to tell me how much of a noob I am!

 

[Tom499]

It looks pretty good to me.

I use a similiar lamp wattage for my 10 gallon planted, and I'm currently running it about 8 hours a day, as algae in such a size tank can quickly take if the tanks getting too much light.

I find that most plants don't need much in the way of fertiliser, fish poo is probably my plants main source of nutrients.

There wont be any problem of oxygen competition unless things are really wrong.

Air stones wont make a real difference, its CO2 that needs to be added to boast plant growth.

You can buy simple aquarium plant fertiliers in an average aquarium shop, just check that they're low in Nitrogen, and dont use none aquarium fertiliers, otherwise you can cause large algae blooms.

 

[sampster5000]

Thx for the reply. So just using the flourish will be fine? I guess I am confused about CO2. Is it only needed for a speeded up plant growth and what is it really doing? Also, with my lighting can I grow any kind of plant? Thx for the help!

 

[ian]

The airstones and pumps aren't needed, so remove them from your list and save yourself some money. The airstones will just drive off your much needed c02.

Plants DO need fertalisation, i would suggest buying some Tropica plant nutrition plus. As for the plants, i'd probably start off with easy hardy plants. Have a read of the pinned topics at the top of this part of the forum, there is a lot of info in there.

 

[sampster5000]

The airstones and pumps aren't needed, so remove them from your list and save yourself some money. The airstones will just drive off your much needed c02.

Plants DO need fertalisation, i would suggest buying some Tropica plant nutrition plus. As for the plants, i'd probably start off with easy hardy plants. Have a read of the pinned topics at the top of this part of the forum, there is a lot of info in there.

Thx for the reply. I have a question for you. Where is the CO2 coming from if I do not have an injector? Do I need to buy some more additives for this? Is that what the Tropica plant nutrition plus does? Thx!

 

[ian]

you have limited amounts of c02 in you water, which get drivin off by to much 02 ie airstones or to much surface aggitation. If i was you i'd look into either liquid carbon or fermented c02. The TPN plus is a complete fert, that you would add daily on top of the liquid c02.

 

[sampster5000]

Since I cant find TPN anywhere around here, would Seachem Flourish and Seachem Flourish Excel be enough? Are there any other additives I should get? Looking for some more in depth answers.

 

[SlyPolak]

If you are SERIOUS on getting a ton of plants you need a macro nutrient.. Seachem Flourish is micro nutes and Excel is liquid C02....... But if you have enough fish and pretty low light the fish should suffice for the macros (N-P-K)... I do not dose macros or C02 and my plants seem to be doing fine.... but I would recommend shutting the bubbler off because you might get a lack of C02 and see some deficiencies like I have in the past... I shut off mine and the plants seem to LOOVE it

 

[sampster5000]

If you are SERIOUS on getting a ton of plants you need a macro nutrient.. Seachem Flourish is micro nutes and Excel is liquid C02....... But if you have enough fish and pretty low light the fish should suffice for the macros (N-P-K)... I do not dose macros or C02 and my plants seem to be doing fine.... but I would recommend shutting the bubbler off because you might get a lack of C02 and see some deficiencies like I have in the past... I shut off mine and the plants seem to LOOVE it

Thanks SlyPolak. What would you suggest I use then if not flourish or excel?

 

[SlyPolak]

I'm not telling you to not use Flourish or Excel, Im just saying that I only use Flourish and my tank is doing well at the moment. If you are looking for Micro and Macro nutes together I was suggested TPN+ but I also could not find it, could only find TPN(micro nutes). I was also suggested EasyLife products which contain Macro.. http/www.easylife.nl/usa/index.html?id=45 .... In my case I did not purchase them because the plants seemed to get a "boost" after I shut off the bubbler and started dosing Seachem Flourish through the water column other than only having Flourish root tabs.

With a 15w in a 10 gallon I am not sure if its considered low or high light since its a small tank. But like I said before, If you are going to have LOADS of plants you will end up needing C02 .... just wait for the "experts" advice.........

 

[ian]

Thanks SlyPolak. What would you suggest I use then if not flourish or excel?

Flourish and Flourish Excel are different products, Flourish contains micro and trace elements and Flourish Excel is the liquid carbon. Both are needed in a aqaurium, however macro elements are also needed nitrogen, phosphorus and potasium. These are normally provided by the fish, but in a moderate or heavy planted tank, the plants need more, so dosing N K P are also needed. TPN plus contains everything apart from Carbon.

So, if i were you i would buy Excel and if you cannot get TPN plus, have a look around for some offers on the macro stuff. There is some offers on the net at the moment.

 

[sampster5000]

Thanks for your help! I will just use Flourish until I see problems. Then I might start using the Excel or something else that works. I was told that 1.5wpg was average and most of the lights I look at for a 10 gallon are 15watts. Hopefully everything works out!

I sure wish I could find this TPN+ stuff! Everyone on this forum makes it sound like gold I can easily find all of the macro nutrients but they will be in seperate bottles and I am trying to keep a minimum on the money I put out for these plants. I only want to buy what I need but I don't want to regret not getting something later on.