tiger barbs in a ten gallon?

[Darkness]

I have a 29 gallon community tank with an aquatech 20-40 filter, and a ten gallon tank with an aquatech 10-20 filter. I was wondering if i bought a 10 gallon all in one kit from walmart, could i put the 20-40 filter on the 10 gallon tank, therefore providing enough filtration to have a group of 5 tiger barbs in a heavily planted tank, and put the two 10-20 filters on my 29 gallon tank and still properly filter that.?

also how much should fluorite cost to bed a ten gallon tank? with gravel over it.
at the local pet store they had a 15 pound bag i think for $28.99, i didn't know if that was a good price or not, it said it was the right amount for a ten gallon tank. also for a heavily planted tank, what else is needed for nutrients? as cheap as possible

[cocoa_pleco]

5 barbs is a large load, but it is possible. a large bag of fluorite is 30$ at petsmart here, and its enough to cover a 55g.

Plants also like CO2 systems and fertilizer in heavily planted tanks

[coachfraley]

The nutrients you need will depend on the type of plants that you choose. Some plants get their nutrients from the water column, and others get their nutrients primarily from the substrait.

I think the easiest way to save money is to set up a planted tanks with plants that are not root feeders. That way you can eliminate the flourite from your shopping list. Keep in mind that most plants that feed from the water column will need to be anchored to rocks or wood.

If you skip the flourite, you can spend that money on your lighting, which is really the most important (and expensive) component of a planted tank.

I can not stress enough the importance of selecting the right plants. Check out this link. I hope linking to another forum is ok???

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Chrona]

Don't go overboard on lighting either right away. As you scale up lighting, CO2 becomes a necessity at a certain point, so make sure you are ready to take the plunge (in terms of time and maintenance).

[A340]

a large bag of fluorite is 30$ at petsmart here, and its enough to cover a 55g.
Must be nice, the cheapest around here is $40 a bag and is only good for a 10g.

[bscman]

I'd feel pretty bad putting my tiger barbs in a 10g...

They are pretty active, and a little big for a 10g IMO...I think you'd be a little overstocked, and the fish wouldn't have enough room to swim around actively/excitedly (as mine do)...especially if you plan a heavily planted tank.

[Incredulous_Ed]

I think you would do okay with the tiger barbs in the 10g with the 20-40 filter, but you would be better off with a better filter for the 29g.

[NWMountainTroll]

I had 5 tiger barbs in a 10 gallon and it became too small for them pretty quick. If they were less active it would be a fine idea but they get quite large. Mine are probably 2 inches now and I've only had them for 6 months or so, they are now in a 65 gallon as well.

[Darkness]

i think im going to go ahead and get a new 55 gallon for them :)

[zackish]

The nutrients you need will depend on the type of plants that you choose. Some plants get their nutrients from the water column, and others get their nutrients primarily from the substrait.

I think the easiest way to save money is to set up a planted tanks with plants that are not root feeders. That way you can eliminate the flourite from your shopping list. Keep in mind that most plants that feed from the water column will need to be anchored to rocks or wood.

If you skip the flourite, you can spend that money on your lighting, which is really the most important (and expensive) component of a planted tank.

I can not stress enough the importance of selecting the right plants. Check out this link. I hope linking to another forum is ok???

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Ya but a lot of the "better" plants are root feeders that require more lighting. So if you have better lighting and regular pebbles it's not going to do you too well.

[Incredulous_Ed]

i think im going to go ahead and get a new 55 gallon for them :)
A good idea.

[NWMountainTroll]

The 55 gallon will be a lot more fun anyway because it will allow you to stock more than just tiger barbs, or a really big shoal of them!