Journal: beginner 10g planted tank

[alter40]

Well here is my journal for my first planted tank ever. I have never done a planted tank before and I'm pretty much clueless as to what I am doing, but I hope to learn fast. As promised I have a couple of pictures of my tank setup now. The glass still isn't super clean yet; I still have some cleaning left to do on that. I have till at least next week until all my stuff comes in from Drs. Foster and Smith. Alright now on with a couple of pictures.

First here is a picture of my tank up close. It has an old ornament in there from when this was setup before. I will not be using this once I set it up but I figured the picture would look better with something in there.


And here is an overview picture of where I have this setup. The tank is going to sit on my computer desk.

[alter40]

Ok and here is a list of what I purchased from Drs. Foster and Smith for my tank. I'm ditching the old 5-15 regent filter and the non-submersible 50w heater that came with the tank and getting a more powerful biowheel filter and a submersible heater. Here is the complete list of my first order for the tank.

Hagen Thermometers Floating Glass w/Suction Cup $2.39
Mag-Float Small $6.79
Master Test Kit Freshwater $15.99
Flourish™ 250 ml $3.69
Flourish™ Excel 250 ml $3.69
Malaysian Driftwood 6"-8" $6.99
Eco-Complete Plant Substrate 20 lbs $21.99
Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters 100 $16.99
Rite-Size A Mini & 100 6 pk $9.49
Stealth Heater 50W $15.29
Fish Catcher Nets Small $1.29

Shipping $12.99
Discount $10.00 (found coupon code with google)
Total $107.58

[d3sc3n7]

HEY! I have that same trunk! But mine dosent have the plants on it..got it used. Well, mine isnt pink!

[alter40]

lol its supposed to be brown but its old and nasty and could probably use a cleaning

[alter40]

Here are some basic ideas that I have at the moment for this tank, but I'm looking for suggestions as to what others think will do well. At the moment this tank has a 15watt light.

As far as plants go I think I'm going to put in some hornwort in the back on one side, and some java fern in the back corner on the other side. Probably some java moss on the piece of driftwood I have ordered unless it has a hole in it, and if thats the case I will try to put a plant through the hole and into substrate so it appears to be growing out of the driftwood.
I am curious as to whether I can cycle the tank with the plants in. I think I remember reading another thread where it said that this is ok and helps the cycle some, but I will be putting ammonia in the water and cycling according to missfishy's page unless there is a better way to cycle a planted tank. Somebody who knows about planted tanks please let me know if that is the best way to cycle the tank with plants in it or if there is a different way that I should go about this.

For fish I'm still open to this. Its a 10 gallon tank so I can't put too much in there and whenever I try to figure out what I want to put in there I usually come up with an overstocked list. So because of my problem of wanting to overstock my tank I'm going to take suggestions and make sure I get others approval of my stocking choices before any fish go in the tank. My original thought was to have about 4 neon tetras and a dwarf gourami (either a flame or neon blue) this may be overstocked though so let me know. I also love how german blue rams look, but I believe my tank is too small for one. If I'm safe to go the ram route let me know what else would be able to be in there with it.

Like I said before I'm open to all suggestions and I'm trying to get as much information from others with more experiance before I put anything in there. I really want to have a successful tank and I'm so excited to hear others feedback. I hope I'm on the right track at least and not completely out of my mind.

Thanks for reading my ramblings and thanks for any suggestions and responses,
Eric

[ishar]

yes, you can cycle with plants in without any worries.

I think a gourami (one of the small one's- I suggest a dwarf gourami) and the neons would be great with the addition of a small shrimp or cory cat would be a good mix in there I think .

[tom91970]

Personally, I'd go with a powder blue gourami and four or five glo-light tetras. Maybe throw in three or four ghost shrimp.

[alter40]

I like the glo-light tetras, but I always love the way neon and cardinal tetras look in planted tanks. I would like to put some cardinal tetras in there instead of neons, just because not as many people seem to have them, but I can't seem to find any at my LFS. I can easily get some neons or glo-lights. I am unsure however if 4-5 neons and a dwarf gourami is overstocking for 10 gallons though. Then adding shrimp or a cory cat for a cleaner. Would this be too much or does it sound feasible?

What other fish would be good to have in a small planted tank? I would like something that can add some nice colors to the tank and won't tear up my plants. I was also thinking of swordtails as well. I just really would like to have a few smaller fish and hopefully 1 larger fish as a showcase type fish.

[tom91970]

I don't see many cardinals for sale, either. I read something not too long ago that stated that don't live as long in the aquarium becuase they are mostly caught in the wild as adults. However, I have learned that recently they have been bred in captivity so maybe they will be seen more at the LFS. I might have to look the next time I go.

[alter40]

I want to put some a few rocks on the bottom around the driftwood that I get. The LFS didn't really seem to have anything there as far as rocks go, but I have a couple other LFSs that I will be checking this by this weekend sometime to see if they have any. If they don't I will probably check out a crafts store or something. Is there anything that I need to do with the rocks that I get before they go in the tank? I think I will need to boil them or something probably but I'm not 100% sure if thats what I need to do. Also do I need to do the same thing with my piece of malaysian drift wood as well? I read one place that the self sinking driftwood doesn't need to be boiled because they release less tannins then others. I'm not sure how accurate that is.