My ten gallon planted

[drt1818]

I am planning on adding plants to my 10 gallon.

I am going to return the wood piece and replace it with a medium

sized one as opposed to the large that is currently there, attach my java ferns

to the smaller wood piece and place it more in the middle. kindof creating a large

clump of java fern. The lighting is a standard walmart bought hood, two 15

watt incandescent lights, that I might be replacing with some cfl bulbs, so low

lighting is what I have. I am thinking about adding a water wisteria or

anacharis to the back left corner and an anubias nana or some sort of anubias

to the open area on the front right. Keep in mind that more space will be open

with the small piece of wood that i will be getting. But do my plans sound

reasonable? Please give any and all suggestions.

[Lady Hobbs]

First thing I would replace that standard hood light if you want plants. Those lights are for viewing fish, not plant growth.

Mine is a 24" because I previously had it on another tank. Sticks out 2" on both ends but no problem. I didn't order it here but this is the kind I got. http://tiny.cc/2f3ug
Got mine at Big Als but for some reason can't find it now.

Others should have better ideas. I had a hard time trying to find any lights for a 10 gallon.

[MCHRKiller]

If you are using some CFLs in that hood in the 5000-10,000K range you will be fine on growing some plants. I would however paint the underside of the hood white as those reflectors are junk. Just tape off the electrical parts and give it a couple of coats with some krylon. Of course you can get much better lighting for your tank, I have the same fixture Hobbs posted on one of my 10Gs...it grows lower light plants well. I also have a Coralife 28watt PC fixture...this is probably one of the best 10G fixtures as its ballast will drive any square pin PC bulb up to 40 watts. I am running a Sunpaq 40watt bulb in mine for a nice medium light setup.
http://www.timsdiscountpet.com/servl...28-Watt/Detail
The provided 50/50 bulb isnt good for plants, you can probably find a used one floating around ebay...I got mine there for like $15.

[drt1818]

Would two 6500k 10 watt daylight screw in compact florescent work for low

lighting in a ten gallon? I would rather not buy a lighting hood as money is at a

minimum for my 17 year old jobless self atm hah.

Thanks for the links. All of the lighting at my lfs is too expensive for me.

Paint the reflectors too?

[MCHRKiller]

That would be fine, you can pick up a pack of spiral CFLs in the household lighting section at walmart in the 10-15watt range for around $5. Just make sure to get the Daylight 6500K ones. Yes paint the reflectors as well, just tape off the part the bulbs screw into and remove those plastic splash guards. The white paint will reflect light into the tank much better than the not very shiny aluminum, if you did this and got 15watt spirals you could easily make it into the medium light range and make use of some DIY CO2.

[drt1818]

Thanks bunches for the input. Looks like I have a project for my last week

before school starts back.

What about my plant plans. any suggestions or comments?

[MCHRKiller]

Plant choices sound fine, I would also think about a crypt or two to add a splash of color to the tank. Just pick up some root tabs for the crypt and some liquid fertilizer for the other plants.

[drt1818]

ok. I will definitely check those out. I have to order root tabs as none of the fish

stores or big box stores around me have them. Any recomendations on root tabs

and fertilizer?

[MCHRKiller]

Any general purpose aquarium fert will do for the purposes of this tank, Flourish Comprehensive is a good choice. I have used API and Flourish root tabs in the past with good results.

[drt1818]

Ok so I got some plants today and redid everything. I will be getting lighting

either tuesday or wednesday, and ordering some fertilizer/root tabs this week.

I got an anubias nana, some anacharis, water wisteria, and a banana plant

cause it just looked really neat.