My 1st Community Tank

[Osiris]

Ok, so this is it i have hit low bottem, i am going to start a 10g FW community tank, so sue me

Here's my picture of what i have planned;
10g tank AGA-$7
CO2 Injection setup-$30
Stand- $15
Lighting 40w's-$15
Heater-$3
Filter-ACmini $13

Stock:
7 Cardinal tetras
Pair of BN pleco's
Male Betta(going to see how he does, have mixed reviews with the tetras)

Water Conditions:
Water will be supplied via a RO supply keeping PH levels nuetral and soft water.

Substrate:
Will be down with eco-complete and tahiton moon sand

Plants:
some sort of grassy plant, maybe duckweed, java moss, some sort of background plant, and some sort of big center plant lol

What u think?

[maxpayne_lhp]

Sounds cool! The tetras won't be so active so I think the betta will be doing fine,,,

[Osiris]

i forgot to mention the tetras' are going to be wild lol

[maxpayne_lhp]

Sometime bettas may acttack colorful 'moving' things... I dun know if it's rite...

[fishfreaks]

sounds great to me, but im curious....are you trying to breed the bushynoses?

[Osiris]

"Try" is word for it lol, well hopefully they do something for me in there, i have clay pot for them am getting ready to decor with black sand to put in back of tank..

[MyraVan]

Well, in my opinion, this tank is too small for even one full-grown BN pleco, let alone two! Try otos instead for algae-cleanup duties.

And you seem to be going in for the planted tank thing, big time. But I really think it's a bit overkill, if this is your first planted tank. None of the pants you've listed need that much light/CO2 to grow. I'd go for a much more modest 20-25W of light (I have a 10 gallon with a 24W CF tube over it that's doing well). For the grassy plant, sagittaria and harigrass spring to mind. I'm growing "dwarf mini hairgrass" (only get about 1" tall) in my 10g, and it seems to be doing OK, but then I only put it in the substrate a couple of weeks ago.

[Lydia]

MP seems to have been in the hobby for a long time, myravan, so i kinda doubt he will have trouble with it....im sure simpte would recommend it

mp: is this your first fw or have i only seen pictures of your sw but you have fw?

[MyraVan]

Hee hee, I'm sure Simpte wound indeed approve!

[fishfreaks]

myravan, ive heard of others breeding bushynoses in a 10g. im sure MP will take care of his fishies

[Osiris]

ok shoulda been more blunt i forgot to mention the higher lighting plants i want, riccia is one of them, and some nicer green grass plants from my understanding some need higher light. And if it's the case that i only need 20w over the tank then i can put a 20w 50/50 over to bring out the blue in the tetras lol.

as far as the BN's go, they'll be fine in there, it is kinda to get them to spawn easier in the tank, besides i have plenty of other tanks lol.

Reason why 10g are used more is because BN's need to trap the female so can spawn(from what i've read and heard) as some other pleco's do as well like the L260's. And in 10g much easier to keep female in place to spawn then say a 20L or 50g tank. but either way i'd rather catch fry from 10g then a 50g tnak lol. They'll be cool in there not like their 6" or anything.

[Mr Aquarium]

Just a word on the betta, it should be fine, I have all this in a 75g and both male and female bettas, only the male is nipped up some, the female runs the kribs, she don;t want them near her she lets them know it, They have been in here for months by the way...
2 Mollys 2 platties /////2 bettas ////
12 Pulcher Kribs///5 White Clouds//4 Zebra Danios//1 Glow Light//
1 Head Lite Tail Lite, 1 B-Pleco, 2 Blue Gouramis,
4 Angel Fish, 1 cory cat, 1 Spotted Rafael,
Tanks=75g,
Plants, JavaMoss, hornwort, water lilly, aponogenton, Anacharis
I think that is the correct fish.

[fish_doc]

Gasp, Freshwater 10 gallon. Whats wrong your slipping. JK. Actually Thats why I keep my goldies and liveberars, they keep memories of my early fishkeeping years alive.

[Damon]

You might have trouble with the cardinals, but I doubt it. As for the pair of BN plecos, it could also work as many breed them in 10 gallon tanks, but with no other fish in it. You might find your cardinals stressed when the BN take over half of the tank or more. You can forget the betta in that setup with the other 2 species. 1 maybe but not bothe the cardinals and the BN. Better to leave the betta out of the equation to start. With 4wpg (which isn't a lot), you will need a good CO2 setup. Most likely one with a powered reactor and not a diffuser. Riccia isn't hard to grow but it can be tricky for a beginner to plants. I'd good with aquatic clover, dwarf sag or microsword for a foreground plant. A nice peice of branching driftwood with some christmas or java moss growing on it would look nice also. WIth your lighting, you will have to add ferts and keep a steady supply of CO2 in there. A HOB filter will cause more problems than its worth. I'd go with a fluval 2plus. Substrate is good. (Too bad they don't make the tahitian sand anymore so get it while you can). If you set this up right from the beginning and PLANT HEAVY (I cant stress that enough) It will be minimal work. You can use a DIY method 2litre soda bottle (or bigger) and save on buying the hagen system or comperable. The mixture is only yeast, sugar, a pinch of baking soda and water. Cheaper to go DIY and you can use the money spent on the Fluval. A powered reactor requires a small powerhead (which I'm sure you already have) and an extra gravel cleaner (which I'm sure you have also), and some bio balls. Much more efficient as it gets closer to 100% diffusion than the passive method (50-76%). The fluval will also cut down on surface agitation which can outgas you co2 as quickly as you put it in the tank if the water level drops (which I will with that lighting). WHat exactly are you using for lighting? PC or Incan or NO flourescent?

[Osiris]

Ok so let's look at the most important part of what you said,


Their stopping making tahiton moon sand??????????

[Damon]

To my knowledge, they have already stopped making it. Its still in the stores now but no longer supplied. Just selling stock in warehouses.

[fishfreaks]

why are they doing that???

[MyraVan]

Originally Posted by Simpte

Riccia isn't hard to grow but it can be tricky for a beginner to plants. I'd good with aquatic clover, dwarf sag or microsword for a foreground plant. A nice peice of branching driftwood with some christmas or java moss growing on it would look nice also. WIth your lighting, you will have to add ferts and keep a steady supply of CO2 in there. ... A HOB filter will cause more problems than its worth. I'd go with a fluval 2plus.

I might add that the plants the Simpte is recommending (aquatic clover, dwarf sag or microsword, java moss) work well in a low tech setup (2 to 2.4WPG and no CO2 injection). I have them in my tanks (well, not the java moss, simply because I have't tried that yet!). But if you want to go with the riccia I think you'll definitely need the extra light and CO2.

Simpte, your comments on the HOB have me confused. I have a fluval 2plus; it's a really great filter, but I thought that it is a HOB? If it isn't, then what's difference between it and a HOB?

[Osiris]

Originally Posted by Simpte

You might have trouble with the cardinals, but I doubt it. As for the pair of BN plecos, it could also work as many breed them in 10 gallon tanks, but with no other fish in it. You might find your cardinals stressed when the BN take over half of the tank or more. You can forget the betta in that setup with the other 2 species. 1 maybe but not bothe the cardinals and the BN. Better to leave the betta out of the equation to start. With 4wpg (which isn't a lot), you will need a good CO2 setup. Most likely one with a powered reactor and not a diffuser. Riccia isn't hard to grow but it can be tricky for a beginner to plants. I'd good with aquatic clover, dwarf sag or microsword for a foreground plant. A nice peice of branching driftwood with some christmas or java moss growing on it would look nice also. WIth your lighting, you will have to add ferts and keep a steady supply of CO2 in there. A HOB filter will cause more problems than its worth. I'd go with a fluval 2plus. Substrate is good. (Too bad they don't make the tahitian sand anymore so get it while you can). If you set this up right from the beginning and PLANT HEAVY (I cant stress that enough) It will be minimal work. You can use a DIY method 2litre soda bottle (or bigger) and save on buying the hagen system or comperable. The mixture is only yeast, sugar, a pinch of baking soda and water. Cheaper to go DIY and you can use the money spent on the Fluval. A powered reactor requires a small powerhead (which I'm sure you already have) and an extra gravel cleaner (which I'm sure you have also), and some bio balls. Much more efficient as it gets closer to 100% diffusion than the passive method (50-76%). The fluval will also cut down on surface agitation which can outgas you co2 as quickly as you put it in the tank if the water level drops (which I will with that lighting). WHat exactly are you using for lighting? PC or Incan or NO flourescent?

I will have to look into that intank filter you suggested. But now i'm wondering, why is the hagen co2 canister thing not efficient for this? I mean would like to get cacomba also.

As for the BN's i haven't been able to track down a female BN locally, so not really going to worry about that road til i hit it, so just a male BN will be in there for now.

Myra, the fluval she is talking about is a intake one versusa HOB one is one that well is half outside half inside, but this one stays completely underwater the tank i believe.

[MyraVan]

Originally Posted by MalawianPro

II mean would like to get cacomba also. ...
Myra, the fluval she is talking about is a intake one versusa HOB one is one that well is half outside half inside, but this one stays completely underwater the tank i believe.

If you want camomba you'll definitely want to go the high-tech route!

About the filter: I obviously have the wrong idea about what a HOB is. All the filters I have are completely under the water, with no parts (other than the power cord!) outside the tank. So what is the general term for things like the Fluval 2 plus, that stay completely under water?

BTW I can second the recomendation for the Fluval 2 plus. It's easy to clean, silent, has adjustable water flow, you can turn the exit nozzle side-to-side, comes with a Venturi device if you want to use that (I don't), has two-part foam so you can replace half the media at a time, has space in the filter for carbon or a finer filter pad if you want it. Gets top marks all around.