Natural light.

[Drumachine09]

Like most other aquarium keeper, i too, fear having an empty tank. Ive got an empty 2.5 hex tank just laying around. I have always wanted to do a planted tank, but with a reefish tank, that sucks up enough money. If i were to get a good substrate (laterite maybe?) would i be able to keep plants and shrimp (java fern, java moss, and maybe hairgrass along with ghost or cherry shrimp) using sunlight? When i move my room into the basement, there is a deep window well with a ledge on the inside. I could set the tank there, where it will recieve direct sunlight maybe 4-6 hours a day. I could supplement lighting with a CF bulb as needed. My only worry is the possible algae problem. Is this even worth a shot, or should i just scrap all hopes?

[YaYgoldFish]

Why not try? If you dont like what happens put all the stuff you bought into your 10g?

[Drumachine09]

Well, i dont have any tanks that have the lighting or the substrate for the plants. This is just going to be an experimental thing. If i can take care of it, i might try a bigger one in the future.

[troy]

Planted tanks aren't that hard if you get the right types of plants.

[Incredulous_Ed]

You probably can just use sand instead of flourite btw.

You would also need fish that are not sensitive to temp changes, which seems to be an even bigger issue than algae lol.

[Drumachine09]

I wouldnt be doing any fish, just shrimp. And from what i understand, shrimp are pretty hardy temperature wise.

[Incredulous_Ed]

oh, shrimp. Sorry bout that.

I think I heard of some guy that planted sword plants in a bucket and kept them out side and they did amazing, so maybe you will get great plant growth.

What direction is the window you;re placing the tank near?

[Drumachine09]

Its facing west, but there is a concrete wall about 2-3 feet away from the window reflects light in too. It starts to get direct light at about 12, and it gets direct light untill about 6-7.

My plan is to have a spire of driftwood going up the top with a carpet plant (something like riccia, but i dont know if the sun will provide enough light for it) and then mabye some taller plants on the side, like a strand of cabomba or hair grass, with a java fern tied to the wood.

I dont know about filtration yet. If i did a 90-100% WC every day, would that eliminate the need for a filter/cycling?

I dont know how much ammonia 5 shrimp can produce, but i imagine its not very much.

[YaYgoldFish]

Its facing west, but there is a concrete wall about 2-3 feet away from the window reflects light in too. It starts to get direct light at about 12, and it gets direct light untill about 6-7.

My plan is to have a spire of driftwood going up the top with a carpet plant (something like riccia, but i dont know if the sun will provide enough light for it) and then mabye some taller plants on the side, like a strand of cabomba or hair grass, with a java fern tied to the wood.

I dont know about filtration yet. If i did a 90-100% WC every day, would that eliminate the need for a filter/cycling?

I dont know how much ammonia 5 shrimp can produce, but i imagine its not very much.



I wouldn't plan on 100% WC everyday because some days you wont be there, others you wont have time, sometimes youll be sick, others you wont feel like it ,etc.maybe do 100% every 3 days?

[sergo]

are you planning to run co2? if so you probably won't get much algae. i've got diy co2 on my 55 and it gets a couple of hours of direct light in the morning. i have a VERY small amount of algae growing in my tank with 30w and a fairly large bioload and it being moderately planted. it will mostly depend on how fast your plants are growing and your fert schedule as to how much algae will grow.

[RobbieG]

It sounds like its worth a shot - I wouldn't necessarily try it with a bigger tank but even if it turns into pea soup it wouldn't take too much to clean it out and start over.

I would probalby wait a bit and see how it works out before adding the shrimp though - the can have trouble with cloudy water.

[Drumachine09]

I wasnt going to attempt to do a natural light larger tank, this is just so i can get the basics of the planted tank now, costing as little as possible so i can decide if i want to take the plunge.



I could run CO2 if that would prevent alga. If i use laterite, the only ferts i will need will be liquid, right? Can anyone reccomend a good one?

[RobbieG]

I just meant I thought you had a good plan

[Drumachine09]

I just meant I thought you had a good plan

Ah, so i guess next week ill go get some laterite (is it worth it?) and driftwood and plants and see how it goes from there.

[hungryhound]

My general thoughts on the project.

It is just a five gallon, so it is worth a shot. There is big difference between scraping algae off a 5 gallon and a 50 gallon.


I dont know about filtration yet. If i did a 90-100% WC every day, would that eliminate the need for a filter/cycling?

Your 90 to 100 percent water change idea seems to aggressive to me. besides being a tremendous strain on your time it could cause problems with your shrimp is the water parameters are fluxuating that much. If you are going to try that route I would start with a 50 percent water change daily or as needed. When ever the nitrates get to 10. Then increase it if you need too.

In the long run it might be easier to get just buy a small filter. If it only is going to have shrimp it will not need to be that big and shouldn't cost more than 20 dollars. Personally I would think that your time is worth more than that.

My general thoughts on the project.

It is just a five gallon, so it is worth a shot. There is big difference between scraping algae off a 5 gallon and a 50 gallon.


I could run CO2 if that would prevent alga. If i use laterite, the only ferts i will need will be liquid, right? Can anyone recommend a good one?

C02 should help with algae, but i don't use it on my 5 gallon planted because it is such a hassle. I tend to use the liquid ferts for trace and then never dose macros in my 5. I figure with my water changes it will be fine. I use seachem flourish for trace.


My plan is to have a spire of driftwood going up the top with a carpet plant (something like riccia, but i dont know if the sun will provide enough light for it) and then mabye some taller plants on the side, like a strand of cabomba or hair grass, with a java fern tied to the wood.

I also am not sure about the riccia, but there are some cool mosses out there that would grow there and give a similar effect. Cabomba and Java fern should work. and the anubais would be fine.


Heck in my 5 gallon with eco complete and a 10 watt COmpact fluorescent bulb I have grown, mosses, anubais, and java fern fine. No co2 and very limited ferts. If that is all you wanted you could do that easily without going through the hassle of dealing with the sunlight issue.

That would however cause you to scratch the idea of hair grass. hair grass is a high light plant and very temperamental. I have it under 4 wpg and full ferts and c02 and it is barely hanging on.

Good luck in whichever way you go.

[Drumachine09]

I have small filters that would fit on it, and they are already seeded, and that might take away the need for a daily waterchange.

Im not looking to do anything amazing, just to get some experiance. The only plants ive kept were javafern (died in 30w over 55), amazon sword (same as JF, but it came with the tank), and brazillian pennywort (supossed to be a high light plant, but did fine in my 55, untill i trimmed it, and it wasted away)

When i am happy with my SW tank, i will DEFINATLY be trying a planted tank. Prolly a 10g, but i caught the planted tank bug, and its not going away!

[hungryhound]

I have small filters that would fit on it, and they are already seeded, and that might take away the need for a daily waterchange.

it would help greatly. you could probably get away with a 50percent water change weekly. You would want to do at least that much to replenish the nutrients in your water.


Im not looking to do anything amazing, just to get some experiance. The only plants ive kept were javafern (died in 30w over 55), amazon sword (same as JF, but it came with the tank), and brazillian pennywort (supossed to be a high light plant, but did fine in my 55, untill i trimmed it, and it wasted away)



Is this why you think that you have to have natural sunlight? Do you not think that your normal bulb will be strong enough to grow the plants.

Looking at those plants the only one that I am surprised that it died was the java fern. everything else was destined to fail in that setup.

Your problem came in with the plants you choose for your setup. I think that is the hardest part of owning a planted tank, is realizing the limitation of your set up. We see these beautiful tanks, with all of these rare and interesting plants and try to incorporate them into our tanks without realizing that we do not even have the bare minimum of the requirements to grow them and they die. Then we get discouraged.

But as long as you realize that your aquarium can only grow certain types of plants and plan accordingly you should be fine.

Honestly you can grow at least one type of plant in any tank (or at least that is my view). Mosses should always grow. (and personally they are fast becoming one of my favorite plants).

I do not think that you need to resort to the drastic measure of placing your tank in the sun to get a planted tank. I think that it could be a fun experiment, but i don't think that it is your only option.

I bet you have enough to do a low light planted 5 gallon sitting at home. You have the tank and a small filter. I am guessing a heater as well. The only think that you are missing is a substrate and light.


personally I have a Coralife Mini Power Compact 50/50 Lamp- 10 Watt over my tank.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


link ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

and my tank is this. The eclipse 5 gallon hex [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

This set up provides plenty of light for me to grow mosses, anubais and java fern.

I did spend some cash on a bag of eco-complete but if you are going to go with mosses and java fern you will not need it, because they are filter feeders that get their nutrients from the water column.

A good place to check out all the cool moss varieties is here. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

If you have any questions let me know.

The other thing that I would say is that if you are serious about a planted tank I would pony up the money for either eco -complete or ada aquasoil. it may be more expensive in the short term but I have heard very few complaints. I personally have nothing bad to say about eco-complete and will always have it in my planted tanks. A 20 pound bag of eco will cost you around 30 bucks but it should be enough for a 10 gallon and maybe a 5 gallon on top of that.

[Drumachine09]

Well, its a 2.5g hex tank, and the bulb is a small incandecent with the orange tinge. That is why i was thinking natural light. I have a CF bulp in one of my lamps thats 6700k that i might/could be able to use, i just need to figure out how to get the light to the tank.

I also have 2 18" strip lights if that tells you anything. One has a bracked where you can mount the light to a wall, so i might be able to do that, but its a 15 watt light, which would be a lot of algae, right?

[hungryhound]

Well, its a 2.5g hex tank, and the bulb is a small incandecent with the orange tinge. That is why i was thinking natural light. I have a CF bulp in one of my lamps thats 6700k that i might/could be able to use, i just need to figure out how to get the light to the tank.


how many watts can your incandescent socket hold. If you notice the bulb I linked to is a compact fluorescent that has an incandescent base that will screw into a normal light bulb socket. They make it in a 10 and a 20 watt variety. So it should be able to attach to your light.

Well you may get some algae, but then again you did say that you were planing on adding shrimp. i found that when I had my shrimp in my 5 gallon I did not have very much algae at all as they did a good job eating it.


I also have 2 18" strip lights if that tells you anything. One has a bracked where you can mount the light to a wall, so i might be able to do that, but its a 15 watt light, which would be a lot of algae, right?

It might not be that bad. you most likely would want to do DIY co2 or dose flourish excel. here is a link to a nice 3 gallon tank with high light. I will say that results are not typical, but if you try hard enough you could pull it off.

Broken bridge 3 gallon picotope journal ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

[Drumachine09]

The problem with the fixture is it has a small base, not like a regular light bulb, but more like a mogul base for Halides.

[Drumachine09]

Also, i have an architects lamp as well. But wouldnt the 10w bulb be a bit overkill?

[hungryhound]

Also, i have an architects lamp as well. But wouldnt the 10w bulb be a bit overkill?

Keep in mind that the watts per gallon rule breaks down on smaller tanks and larger tanks.

I doubt the 10 watts per gallon would be much of a problem at all. And if you are talking about the bulb I showed you. That bulb is 5 watts acitinic and 5 watts 10,000K. So actually only 5 watts of that bulb is good for the plants. with this bulb I would consider it low light.

[Drumachine09]

What if i useds a 20w 6700k light in the architechts lamp? would i need to move the light a little farther away from the surface?


You should change your usertitle from "senior member" to "resident plant guru" lol

[hungryhound]

What if i useds a 20w 6700k light in the architechts lamp? would i need to move the light a little farther away from the surface?


You should change your usertitle from "senior member" to "resident plant guru" lol

You are getting into un chartered water for me, but here is what I can tell you.

From the broken bridge link above. on a 3 gallon solstice used an architects lamp with a 23 watt bulb over a 3 gallon.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

This provided enough light for him to grow HC and hair grass. So I would have to consider this high light as those are both high light plants.

So 20 watts over your 2.5 would be high light. In order to pull this off you would need to do CO2 either DIY or Flourish Excel and dose fertilizers to avoid problems with algae.

I think solstace was adding a mL of excel . So the 250 mL bottle that cost 10 bucks woudl last you 250 days if you use a syringe.

FOr trace you could use flourish and since you are only adding it 3 times a week at .25 to 1 ml this will last well over a year for 10 dollars.

The macros will Nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus will cost you about 15 20 bucks to ship and Then it will last you indefinitely. I would check out solstices calculation for making the macro fert solution.

If you did go that route I would make it worth your while and try some HC for a nice carpet and get another high light plant to grow.

The HC is expensive. It will run you 10 to 20 bucks for a 2 x 2 inch square.

Dwarf hair grass is more reasonable 2 x 2 inch for 5 bucks

It all depends on how much you want to spend.

you could also put maybe a 10 watt bulb in and try groing med to low light plants as well and be fine.

[Drumachine09]

I should probobly stick to low light plants, and get a 10w bulb.

Thanks for the help. I will be asking plenty of questions as the project progresses.

[hungryhound]

another piece of indispensables advise that I can think of off the top of my head is to pick up a timer for the light. The best way to control algae is to control the photo period.

[Drumachine09]

Yea, i need to get one for my SW tank too.

[Incredulous_Ed]

You could use flourish liquid fertilizer by seachem. Heard it is great stuff.

[RobbieG]

Ah, so i guess next week ill go get some laterite (is it worth it?) and driftwood and plants and see how it goes from there.

Laeterite os OK - but it is the messiest stuff on earth! If you get it - put it in first (before the water even) - lay some gravel (1/2" or so) over the top of it - put in your plants then and add the water VERY carefully.

You can rinse it if you want - but it really won't do any good.

Eco-Complete is better and neater, but the smallest bag of it I've seen would probably fill your tank solid.

[Drumachine09]

The only reason im thinking about using laterite is that i can find it in 3 lbs packages, VS 20lbs of flourite.

[RobbieG]

It works pretty well - its just messy - from what I heard flourite is pretty messy too. Eco complete comes in the 20 pund bags and it is covered with some kind of slime that is supposed to be biologically active - so if you bought a bag and used part of it I think the rest would go bad - or get nastier.

If I was you I'd just get the small bag of laeterite - it does work I'm using it in one of my 30 gallon tanks - I'm growing Anachris in it and the plants go from the bottom of the tank to the top and loop around about 10 times.

[hungryhound]

It works pretty well - its just messy - from what I heard flourite is pretty messy too. Eco complete comes in the 20 pund bags and it is covered with some kind of slime that is supposed to be biologically active - so if you bought a bag and used part of it I think the rest would go bad - or get nastier.

I actually have some experience with this. I bought a bag of Eco complete where the "black water" (the liquid that is packaged with Eco complete) was tainted and caused my entire tank to be cloudy. The manufacture admitted that this bag was bad and advised me to do water changes to remove the black water. These water changes did nothing and I ended up pulling all of the gravel out and rinsing it through a paint strainer using a garden hose. Loosing the slim it's packaged in has had no ill-effects on my tank and the plants in that tank are growing well.

I am sure that it would be fine to only use part of a bag and put the other portion away for later use. The black water contains beneficial bacteria to cycle your tank, but any nutrients that you lose by not having it can easily be replaced by ferts.

[Chrona]

I wasnt going to attempt to do a natural light larger tank, this is just so i can get the basics of the planted tank now, costing as little as possible so i can decide if i want to take the plunge.



I could run CO2 if that would prevent alga. If i use laterite, the only ferts i will need will be liquid, right? Can anyone reccomend a good one?

Laterite is messy, just get Flourite/Eco/Lesco Soilmaster. Laterite/Flourite/Eco only provide iron and some trace. You still need to dose (depending on bioload and just how much sunlight/CO2 it gets) macros and possibly more trace (And iron if you have plants that draw nutrients from the water column only, ie mosses, since the iron in the substrate is unavailable)

Haven't read the whole thread though, but HH seems to have covered most everything

[hungryhound]

You should change your usertitle from "senior member" to "resident plant guru" lol

I cannot take this title because the master has just made his presence felt on the thread.

Welcome back Chrona. I hope everything is going well.

[Drumachine09]

Ok, so if i decided to get java moss as a carpet, a small java fern for the driftwood, and some i think its called anacharis for the sides and back, would that be too much for trace/flourite/10w?

[hungryhound]

Ok, so if i decided to get java moss as a carpet, a small java fern for the driftwood, and some i think its called anacharis for the sides and back, would that be too much for trace/flourite/10w?

I think that would be fine, in fact those are the three quintessential low light plants. I would almost say not to worry about the fluorite as the java moss and java fern are not going to need it but I am not sure if the anacharis will or not.

[Chrona]

I cannot take this title because the master has just made his presence felt on the thread.

Welcome back Chrona. I hope everything is going well.

lol, far from master....more like novice really. I trust that you probably know more than I at this point. I'm not really back unfortunately, just dropping by to say hi. Real life's been extremely busy and I barely have the time to dose ferts and do water changes, much less troll forums for hours like I used to, hehe.

[Drumachine09]

lol, far from master....more like novice really. I trust that you probably know more than I at this point. I'm not really back unfortunately, just dropping by to say hi. Real life's been extremely busy and I barely have the time to dose ferts and do water changes, much less troll forums for hours like I used to, hehe.



Good times, good times.....im still gonna work at walmart though.

[Chrona]

Good times, good times.....im still gonna work at walmart though.

And I will continue to lobby for stricter gun control

[Drumachine09]

And I will continue to lobby for stricter gun control


You do that....*cocks SAE desert eagle*

[Chrona]

You do that....*cocks SAE desert eagle*

*Watches as police arrest you for possession of firearm under the legal age*

last post :P

[Drumachine09]

I love guns. Guns are awesome. Gun control is pointless


I concur!!!!

[Drumachine09]

Anyway, back on track. What does chrona think about the anacharis?

[Chrona]

Anyway, back on track. What does chrona think about the anacharis?

Anacharis is a heavy root feeder if I recall, so it'll suffer if you place it in a direct sunlight high growth environment. However, in a low growth low light tank, it should be fine in inert substrates like sand (Flourish tabs will help a bit) just from the ferts in the water column.

[Drumachine09]

Anacharis is a heavy root feeder if I recall, so it'll suffer if you place it in a direct sunlight high growth environment. However, in a low growth low light tank, it should be fine in inert substrates like sand (Flourish tabs will help a bit) just from the ferts in the water column.

I see..... So can you reccomend a slim, high growing plant that will fit?

[Chrona]

I see..... So can you reccomend a slim, high growing plant that will fit?

Slim, high growing plants are almost always root feeders. Thought you were going with the low light approach though? Anyways, bedtime, hit me up later.

[Drumachine09]

Slim, high growing plants are almost always root feeders. Thought you were going with the low light approach though? Anyways, bedtime, hit me up later.


Alright, ill do some more reasearch. Later.

[hungryhound]

Back on topic.

Here is a good link for finding plants based upon their light requirements and other factors.

plant finder ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

I know that I sated that you could get away with an enriched substrate if you only went with java moss and java fern, but I am going to give the counter argument.

You may want to go ahead and buy the enriched substrate and have it in the tank in case you change your mind and want to add root feeders or increase your lighting. It would provide you more options down the road.

Here is a link to chronas thread on soilmaster select. soil master select ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

You can purchase 50 lb bags for 17 dollars. So it would be a cheap way to start a planted tank. I have never used but I have heard good things about it.

My other piece of advise is that you sit down and figure out what plants you want to grow, and then figure out what hardware you will need to grow them. Decide on the plants and then you can worry about what they need to grow. This is the only time when you can do this so take advantage of it.

[Drumachine09]

Thanks for the link.

There are so many nice looking bushy plants, but i dont think my tank has the footprint for them. By this point, i am thinking i should just bite the bullet and go with a ten gallon. What bothers be is lighting, so how does this sound.

Incandecent hood
2 10w 50/50 bulbs
flourite
diy CO2
(i forgot the name of the liquid fertilizers)

[hungryhound]

Thanks for the link.

There are so many nice looking bushy plants, but i dont think my tank has the footprint for them. By this point, i am thinking i should just bite the bullet and go with a ten gallon. What bothers be is lighting, so how does this sound.

Incandecent hood
2 10w 50/50 bulbs
flourite
diy CO2
(i forgot the name of the liquid fertilizers)


I need some more information. IS this for a 10 gallon now.

I Know I threw out those 10 watt bulbs,but that was for a 5 gallon and smaller. You may be better off going to lowes and checking out thier bulbs. You should be able to get a few compact flourscent there that look like this.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

just make sure that they are rated at 6500 kelvin and greater. or it could be that you will need to get a compact hood, but it depends on what you want to grow.

It sounds to me like you are still not sold on what you want to do. I would sit down and plan your dream aquarium. Then set a budget and see if is possible to get the equipment you will need to grow the plants you want for the budget. Then tweak your plants list and design until you have enough money to fit it in to that budget.

What plants do you want to grow in this 10 gallon.

[Drumachine09]

I dont know the names of hardly any plants, so ill just give you a general idea of what i want.


Short bushy planys on both sides, so you cant see the gravel. Some taller plants in the back corners. A carpet plant or moss in between the two sides of bushy plants a spire of driftwood up to the top, with a moss or fern growing on it.

I can get teh 6700k bulbs in 20 watts.

[hungryhound]

I am assuming this is for the 10 gallon. I will try to break this down giving you options for each thing you suggested.

All pictures and descriptions taken from plant finder unless otherwise specified


I dont know the names of hardly any plants, so ill just give you a general idea of what i want.

plant finder ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])


Short bushy planys on both sides

option 1.

ECHINODORUS TENELLUS

Hardiness: Easy
Light Needs: Medium
Plant Structure: Rosette
Family: Alismataceae
Genus: Echinodorus
Region: North, Central, and South America
Location: Locations of specific aquarium varieties are unknown
Size: 2-3 inches (5-8cm)
Growth Rate: Fast

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
picture link ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

option 2

LILAEOPSIS BRASILIENSIS

Hardiness: Moderate
Light Needs: Medium
Plant Structure: Rhizome
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Lilaeopsis
Region: Central/South America
Location: Brazil
Size: Height: 3-6cm (1-2
Growth Rate: Medium

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

This is the plant that is growing in my 30 gallon tank in my blog.

option 3

anubais nana

ANUBIAS BARTERI VAR. NANA

Hardiness: Very Easy
Light Needs: Low
Plant Structure: Rhizome
Family: Araceae
Genus: Anubias
Region: Africa
Location: Cameroon
Size: 2-6 inches (5-15 cm) tall
Growth Rate: Slow

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

I just realized that the bushy plant could be alot of things.

heres another carpet like plant I think this is what you mean

SAGITTARIA SUBULATA

Hardiness: Easy
Light Needs: Medium
Plant Structure: Rosette
Family: Alismataceae
Genus: Sagittaria
Region: North America
Location: Eastern United States
Size: Height: 5-15cm (4-6in)
Growth Rate: Fast

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


to be continued.

[hungryhound]

Some taller plants in the back corners.

There are plenty of plants that could fit here.

Anacharis
combaomba
crypts
vals
hygrophilia

A carpet plant or moss in between the two sides of bushy plants a spire of driftwood up to the top, with a moss or fern growing on it.

carpet plants include

Marselia Minuta
mosses

i hope that it gives you an idea of what you could do. Also keep in mind that on the plant finder web site you can search the site by aquascape placement and this will divide them up into foreground, background plants to help you decide.



I can get teh 6700k bulbs in 20 watts.

those will probably be fine.

[Drumachine09]

Alright. So, with lights, hood and tank, substrate, and wood, im looking at about $60. Plus ferts, plants, and stock, i would like to keep it under $100. Is that possible?

[Drumachine09]

Also, i realize the WPG rule breaks down in smaller tanks, but does having the 40w over a 10g initiate the need for pressurized CO2?

[hungryhound]

Alright. So, with lights, hood and tank, substrate, and wood, im looking at about $60. Plus ferts, plants, and stock, i would like to keep it under $100. Is that possible?

keeping it under a 100 will depend on what you are planing to do for filtration and heating. because they will use up that remaining money real quick.

Honestly The biggest problem you will have is with the filter. You could get an aqua clear 20 HOB 13 dollars , but you would not be able to do co2. If you want to do co2 you may need to invest in a canister.

something simple like this should work: Tom Rapid Mini Canister Filter C-80 u that is 28 plus shipping and the remaining 40 dollars is gone.

To go low tech you may want to think about going low tech.

HOB filter,
Stanard hood, if incandescent upgrade the bulb.
heater
flourite substrate (i would pay the extra for eco or find a soilmaster select dealer but that is me)

plants

Bushy plants on the side
Anubais, or crypt Sppecies

Taller plants back corner.
Java fern, Hornwort, Anacharis, maybe try hygrophilia spp.

Mosses
java, taiwan, chritmas, peacock

carpet, Use mosses or masilia minuta

Another place to get some good research is here.planted tank low tech forum ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

[hungryhound]

Also, i realize the WPG rule breaks down in smaller tanks, but does having the 40w over a 10g initiate the need for pressurized CO2?

I would suspect that you would need CO2.

For a ten low light no co2 I would think 20 watts would be fine.

[Drumachine09]

With the 40w and CO2, would that make algae more of a problem?


Quick question too. If someone does a high light planted tank, does that mean lower light plants cannot go in that tank?

[Incredulous_Ed]

With the 40w and CO2, would that make algae more of a problem?


Quick question too. If someone does a high light planted tank, does that mean lower light plants cannot go in that tank?
I think the algae wouldn't be a problem if you stock the tank heavily from the start.

Lower light plants can go in high light tanks, and that's because they it not they don't like high light, it because they only tolerate low light conditions. Most low light plants grow alot nicer in high light tanks. With the excpetion of crypts and java ferns.

[Chrona]

CO2 is a good thing 99% of the time. Lack of CO2 causes algae, never the other way around. Just use DIY for a 10g. AC 20 works fine as long as you fill the tank to the lip of the filter(have one myself), get a nano glass CO2 diffuser from Ebay and stick it under the output of the filter (look to get about 1 bpm or whatever it takes to drop the pH by 1.0)