10G Planted tank

[Anonymous]

Well.. i'm thinking about doing this.
Fish load: Neons, glow lights..maybe a cory, or something for the bottom.
filter: Thinking about a wisper hang on back.. other suggestions?
noise: As quiet as possible..I hate noisy tanks

Questions:
Can I use the basic lighting of a 10g hood?
If so, what types would do well?

Water: Should I use RO, or Tap, with dechlorinater?

Any other suggestions let me know.
Thanks
~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

sound like you need a FW leiden.

Just establish the plants first then slowly add fish and no filter is needed.

After about six months or so I have added neons which were awesome in that environment. And lasted for about 2 years or so.

I currently have only a single tube over my 10g but recommend more lighting. I would try for about 30watts NO. Two tubes of a couple of 20w spots or even a couple of 100-150w incand would be better.


no filter, no circulation so the next to nothing for noise.


My thread on cal's tank gives you some idea of what a 30g can look like. The problems there were caused by not establishing the plant life as the first thing. see: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=60020

Plus gpodio has some nice plant suggestions and pictures of his tank also.

Wish you the best.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info,

What's a leiden?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=leiden

Also, it appears that gpodio uses a filter.


So, how to you start plant life in a sterile tank?

~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info,

What's a leiden?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=leiden

It's a term from a public aquarium in that dutch town back in the 1900's that used plants to maintain their tanks

Also, it appears that gpodio uses a filter.

yes and Fw planted tank can also use co2 injectors, high lighting, water changed and all that. I don't

So, how to you start plant life in a sterile tank?

~wings~

Simple you don't start with a sterile system. My 3-4 step:

1) set up tank with play sand, tap water and plants. wait a week.

2) add a single male live bearer ( i use a red wag platty)

3) don't add food for a week. then feed a single flake per day for a week.

4) add female

in 6 months you will have a thriving tank with 20 or so fish, snails and thriving plant growth.

no filtration, no air stone, only replace the water that evaporates, have the top open to the air, and just enough lighting so the plants grow but not so much that you get green water.

the platties eat the surface scum, the plants prevent algae growth, and the snails from the plants help with ditrious.

but you have to add lotsa fast growing plants right from the start. The entire back wall should be thick with anacorus. then some slower growing plants with a centerpiece like a sword. with say about 1/3 or so of free swimming area towards the front.

What happens the plants establish the system and the slowly growing bioload and plants keep each other in balance. And it lasts for years and years. Anything I do just seems to get in the way of that balance. For instance, I used to feed a flake per day during the first week. And that first fish, just like clockwork would slow down on the 4th day, start breathing heavy on the 5th and die on the 6th. With no feeding that first week he lived. When he did die his replacement the second week lived.

My first tank that way lasted 8 years with 6 years in the same location. And I had descendants for the original pair of fish. Plus I have done this in ~6 different cities in the US when I was in the air force. So the quality of the tap water was not a factor.

Finally there obviously is nothing new about this. It was named after an aquarium in the 1900's after all.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, tonight, I picked up a 10g and a hood. Bought the "plant" light. Tomorrow, I'll pick up some plants at a LFS. I like the idea of eco-complete. Ever use it? Help? Hinder? Anyone?

I did NOT pick up a filter. This should be an interesting experiment.

~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

Well, tonight, I picked up a 10g and a hood. Bought the "plant" light. Tomorrow, I'll pick up some plants at a LFS. I like the idea of eco-complete. Ever use it? Help? Hinder? Anyone?

I did NOT pick up a filter. This should be an interesting experiment.

~wings~

never used or heard of eco-complete.


Be sure the hood can be left open for an air-water interface.

And I'll keep it on the down low. I know you have a reputation to protect.

Keep us posted.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, tonight, I picked up a 10g and a hood. Bought the "plant" light. Tomorrow, I'll pick up some plants at a LFS. I like the idea of eco-complete. Ever use it? Help? Hinder? Anyone?

I did NOT pick up a filter. This should be an interesting experiment.

~wings~

never used or heard of eco-complete.


Be sure the hood can be left open for an air-water interface.

And I'll keep it on the down low. I know you have a reputation to protect.

Keep us posted.

haha.. will do... actually, this is well within the budget... when it comes to saltwater, a science project can become quite costly.

~wings~

 

[fishfanatic2]

Well, tonight, I picked up a 10g and a hood. Bought the "plant" light. Tomorrow, I'll pick up some plants at a LFS. I like the idea of eco-complete. Ever use it? Help? Hinder? Anyone?

I did NOT pick up a filter. This should be an interesting experiment.

~wings~

Yes, eco-complete is what I plan on getting and what I think you should get.

I agree with bob in that you have to add many fast plants ASAP otherwise you'll be stuck staring at algae smothering them.

IMO, you won't be able to support more than 4-5 fish without a filter.

Whisper would be great. As for water, just use tap unless you really have an urge to use RO. You'll end up adding in all the buffering and remineral chemicals anyway.

As for lighting I would optimally shoot for about 3 watts a gallon. Most 10 gallon lighting won't give you this-with 1.5-2 watts a gallon you can really only keep low level plants-others will be run over by algae.

HTH and GL!

 

[Anonymous]

Based on this, and what you said, fishfanatic, I think it would be prudent to get a small filter.

When the light is on in your aquarium your plants undergo two processes. The first is photosynthesis and the second is respiration. Plants create sugar and oxygen in photosynthesis. During respiration they create energy and carbon dioxide using sugar. More oxygen is created than carbon dioxide when the lights are on so you fish will do even better than they would without plants. Unfortunately when the lights are turned off photosynthesis ceases, but respiration continues. Only carbon dioxide is released, the fish can be poisoned at night. The pH will also tend to drop at night due to carbonic acid. In short, the more plants you have the less fish you should keep. Over planted aquariums can be poisonous to fishes with high oxygen requirements.

We really want a school of neons/glo lights/ black neons, and so if we can only keep 4 or 5 fish, this whole thing would be useless.

We'll prolly pick up a small Whisper.

Tap water, it is.. because I know that using tap water for my reef, there is plenty of junk in there to sustain plant life. :lol: (I do use RO for the reef now.)

Thanks guys... keep the comments coming.. I'll post pics soon.
~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

What is important and very easy to attain is a balance between the fish and plants. for instance not enough fish then the plants jsut grow a little faster. Too many fish then the plants grow faster. Kinda self regulating.

My 10g had 20-30 guppies in it with no filter. Wel other than the plants that is. So I guess it depends on what you consider a high fish load.

In my experience neons don't do well until the tank has been thriving for about 6 months or so. After that a school of 6 lived for1.5-2 years and trippled in size. they were small to start with.

Finally could you take daily pictures for a couple weeks then once a week for a few months and then every month or so? I would like to document what I have seen happen all these years but don't have the pics. The initial clearing up in the first couple of days has always amazed me. LOL

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I've had guppies for years even without the plants, so having guppies in a planted tank is really well, not hard. I've had just about every variety of guppy and they were all cool. Right now, my mom has a tank set up, no filter, just standing water and has a thriving guppy population.

DISCLAIMER: THIS TANK IS SET UP WITH A FILTER AND A CO2 REACTOR. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS SETUP FOR REEF TANKS, SO IF THIS THREAD ENDS UP IN ANOTHER THREAD AS PROOF THAT NO FILTERS, NO WATER CHANGES, OR ANY OTHER WACKY IDEAS, PLEASE CONTACT ME AND I WILL SET YOU STRAIGHT.

FWIW, here are a few pictures. There's no way I'm taking a shot every day, but when things change, I'll post something up here. Now for some muddy pictures. :lol:

I also used ECO-complete. Every person I've talked to so far who used this had excellent results.

 

[fishfanatic2]

Looks great! After what you just said about Eco-Complete, well that kind of settles it. I'm gettin some!

I agree, my friend has a tank with 1 pleco, countless guppies, and no plants. The tank is self-sustaining, as the guppies produce so much fry that they feed themselves.

Oh yeah, that CO2 reactor will help a lot.

 

[fishfanatic2]

Wait, how many bags did you use for the Eco-Complete? I'm trying to figure out how many to use for my 20 high.

 

[Anonymous]

1X20LB bag. The instructions on the bag said 1-2 pounds/gallon. The object is to get 3" of stuff on the ground. After doing this yesterday, I highly recommend the 3 inches, because it's difficult to plant the plants.

Oh yeah, the cost was 24.99. Pretty expensive I thought, but ultimatly, if the results are there, it's prolly worth it in the long run.

Here's some pics today, getting clearer... :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

I'd second the Eco Complete, but ditch the Whisper. I like the Bio-wheel filters better.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd second the Eco Complete, but ditch the Whisper. I like the Bio-wheel filters better.

Well, actually, I ended up getting an Eheim. Goal: movement, and silent.

~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

Looking good.

amazing how these clearup in a couple of days.

Bob

 

[gpodio]

You'll like Eco-Complete, it's a great substrate, I use it or Flourite in all my tanks. Now that we have access to ADA substrates I think I will definetly change to Amazonian as those who are already trying it are simply awed by the results. But it is expensive, far more than eco-complete.

As for the lighting, I've used one or two regular 10 gallon light strips on such tanks. If you feel you need more light consider the Coralife 18W (2x9w) fixture, it's small and bright, I've been using these on small tanks I use to keep certain plants that aren't currently being used in display tanks:

One is running CO2, the other Excel. If you don't have pressurized CO2 I suggest giving Flourish Excel a try, I dose 1ml every day (I have no fish in these BTW). I also use Flourish, KNO3 and Fleet Enema weekly for the rest of the nutrients (Don't suggest using these until you see that the plants need them as initially the water will be rich from the eco-complete). I also change a couple cups of water as often as I remember to dose the Excel, regular tap water.

Eco-Complete will raise hardness a little in the early stages, will taper off eventually so don't worry about that.

Tank is looking good, keep us updated as it gets established.

Giancarlo

 

[Anonymous]

Cool tanks, gpodio. It was suggested that I install a co2 injector, the kind that makes the bubbles travel upwards. It's actually starting to settle in nicely. I will keep you all updated.
~wings~

 

[gpodio]

Yes, you are referring to the method of diffusion, I have a glass diffuser visible in the first picture with the big ugly white suction cup. Are you using a CO2 cylinder or DIY (yeast/sugar) CO2?

Carbon is key when it comes to plants, it's like calcium for corals... :wink:

Giancarlo