10 Gallon Planted Profile

[SBDTHRU]

I finally got my tank setup! Been a long time since I've posted but I'm back with a new 10. Specs:
Gallons: 10
Substrate: 3" of Some sort of plant substrate I cant remeber the name.
Filtration: Powerhead pumping water into old Penguin 200GPH. There was too much flow with the filter pump. :P
Lighting: 4x18w bulbs
Co2: None
Dosing: Flourish Nitrogen bout 1/8 a cap full every sunday.
Rock: 5 Good size Pagoda Stones
Plants: 1 Pot of Dwarf Hairgrass broken up into separate plants to spread out.
Fish: 3 Chinese Algae Eaters about 1.5 inches
Yep comments wanted! Feel free to criticize. Pictures to come. :]
I'm going for the Hairgrass carpet look.

[JustOneMore20]

Whoa.....you have 72w of light over that tank and no CO2? You're going to have some serious algae issues soon. Not to mention, Hairgrass needs CO2 to thrive and you won't get a healthy carpet without it.

You have a good start, but you need to have everything balanced and right now its not.

I also suggest you dose some potassium. If you prefer the liquid ferts, pick up some Flourish Potassium. You should dose micro ferts as well (reg. Flourish).

DIY CO2 would work on a 10g. Go to google.com and search for "DIY CO2" and you'll find tons of sites with info, pics, and instructions.

Also, your CAEs are going to outgrow the tank eventually. You probably knew that already though. Those things get like 8 inches...

If you want a healthy hairgrass carpet that grows in pretty fast, get some CO2 pumping in the tank and dose some micro nutrients and potassium.

[trashion]

IDK, I doubt how well DIY CO2 is going to work with... what is that, 7.2 wpg?!

I'd suggest going pressurized.

[JustOneMore20]

Very true, Julie, very true. That is a ton of light over that tank SBD. I'd suggest atleast cutting 1 18w off or even 2 and running DIY if you can't get pressurized.

A paintball CO2 system would work nicely on that size tank.

[SBDTHRU]

Haha. I'm working on the Co2 right now I already have the tanks and i just need the diffuser and stuff. As far as the CAE's go, I have a question. When I went to the store they didn't move much. But when I came home today they came right up and greeted me and they are pretty active with short sits. Is this good or bad? I put a couple algae pelets in for them as there wasn't much in the tank when I got them and they ate all of 2 of them in 1 night. Thanks.

[JustOneMore20]

I'm glad you are working on the CO2. You'd have an algae farm really soon if you didn't.

Work on the ferts as well.

They water at the pet store could have been bad or something and maybe they were stressed out there, so they didn't move. I'd say its good that they are active and eating now.

They also get more carnivorous as they age, so you can feed them algae wafers and something like shrimp pellets. Just remember they will eventually get too big for that tank.

[SBDTHRU]

I know. I got the 30G that would be fine for them all cycled and stuff. If I get anxious I just might have to upgrade to a 30.

[SBDTHUR]

I just realized I was posting under the wrong name. I thought the whole site just went nanners. :P Back on my good name. :]

[SBDTHUR]

Wow, I pulled a stupid. I left my lights on for the entire weekend, I went out of town and I came back to a lot of algae on one plant in particular. Co2 still isn't set up. How should I get rid of it? When I set up Co2 will it go away?

[JustOneMore20]

You'll have to remove the algae before. If you can't wipe it off the plant(s) then you'll need to cut off the affected leaves. CO2 will help it not spread in the tank, but it won't kill it.

You should invest in a timer. With that much light I wouldn't leave it on more than about 7-8 hours a day.

[SBDTHUR]

Well the plants were looking a tad brown so I thought Algae won't form for a little while. So I left the lights on. I got a lot of growth, but some of it was algae.

[SBDTHUR]

Good news. The hairgrass is growing like weeds. Every plant has expanded. Once I get the Co2 In there, and get the Potassium flourish. I should have a nice green carpet. I pulled the plants out today to get the algae off. The roots a a bright bright white. Is that bad? The new pieces of grass are a bright green though.

[oliesminis]

every plant root ive ever seen is white, glad to see its growing well

[darkfalz]

I have 15w over my 10 gallons and it's too bright for my liking...

[SBDTHUR]

Yea, times that by 5 and you've got my lighting. :]

[CaysE]

Originally Posted by darkfalz

I have 15w over my 10 gallons and it's too bright for my liking...

Really? I have two 15W screw-in CFs on my girlfriend's 10 gallon and I think it's too dark for good plant growth.