Only Natural Light Tank

[Fintastic!]

I have no light fixture on my 10 gal and may get an LED light or may not. It's positioned by a window so gets lots of natural light (as long as the weather is bright). I have a gravel substrate in it and a couple of fake plants.
If I add a few low-light plants will this light be enough for them and would I need to add ferts? Is there much risk of algae?
I have Vallis growing crazy in my other tank, can I put some of the new shoots into my 10 gal?
Sorry for all the questions!

 

[kylealastairlove]

you could try java ferns, as they prefer quite low lighting and will grow fine in dim conditions, you could also try some of the cryptocoryne species some of those might work

 

[SO19Firearms]

It's a tricky one as you're not in control. CO[sub]2[/sub] related algae would be my worry.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Yeah, I hear staghorn grows nicely in low/fluctuating CO2 conditions.

 

[BigTom]

Java ferns, mosses and suchlike are definitely worth a go.

If it's open topped then you could also try floating/emergent/riparian plants as well, lots of choice there and they'll certainly help reduce the chances of getting algae.

 

[Fintastic!]

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated! I'm not sure what to do now. Maybe I'm better off leaving it with some rocks, fake plants and wood.

 

[BigTom]

Definitely get some plants in there, even if its just floaters.

 

[Fintastic!]

Well since my last post I've been fiddling about some and I've plucked some Vallis off-shoots and crypt (wendtil?) from my other tank and planted them in the gravel in the 10 gal. I've added some ferts and that's that. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll no doubt be on looking for algae advice soon.

 

[BigTom]

Cool. Just go easy on the ferts - assuming there are fish in the tank, a few little plants should get most of what they need from the fish waste and any left over fish food. Extra ferts will just encourage algae.

 

[Fintastic!]

Oh right, thanks BigTom. I won't put any more in then.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Extra ferts will just encourage algae.

....

 

[BigTom]

Extra ferts will just encourage algae.

....

In this particular case where there are only a small amount of plants with (I'm guessing), already sufficient nutrients from fish food and waste. Quoting out of context is bad!

 

[SO19Firearms]

In this particular case where there are only a small amount of plants with (I'm guessing), already sufficient nutrients from fish food and waste. Quoting out of context is bad!

I can agree that there may be enough Phosphate from the food and Nitrate from waste etc, but to then go one to say extra ferts will encourage algae implies that if you limit them you won't get algae...and we know this not to be true.
It might be a waste of money to add more, but that's it.

IMO

 

[BigTom]

In this particular case where there are only a small amount of plants with (I'm guessing), already sufficient nutrients from fish food and waste. Quoting out of context is bad!

I can agree that there may be enough Phosphate from the food and Nitrate from waste etc, but to then go one to say extra ferts will encourage algae implies that if you limit them you won't get algae...and we know this not to be true.
It might be a waste of money to add more, but that's it.

IMO

Conversely though, having an excess of ferts floating around is likely to maximise the potential size of any algae bloom that's triggered by too much light, ammonia spikes, etc, even if they do not cause it per se. Perhaps 'encourage' was the wrong word, but I was short on sleep and not totally on guard for people implying that I was implying any causal factor by my statement

 

[SO19Firearms]

Conversely though, having an excess of ferts floating around is likely to maximise the potential size of any algae bloom that's triggered by too much light, ammonia spikes, etc, even if they do not cause it per se. Perhaps 'encourage' was the wrong word, but I was short on sleep and not totally on guard for people implying that I was implying any causal factor by my statement

You sunk my battle ship
I can't argue with that