# My 10 gallon planted tank, pls comment thanks.



## maple rookie (Jun 1, 2012)

Hi everyone,
I am quite new to this hobby and this is my first tank. It is a aqueon 10 g that came with a hood and a filter.
I have changed the light bulbs that came with the hood to two Glo bulbs which are 15W each, 6500 K.
I have no room for long flourscent tubes until I change hood. So I just replaced the incad bulbs with two Glo bulbs.
I use Seachem flourite black, and have some plants in this tank, mostly easy to care hardly plants as you can see.
I fert twice a week with seachem comprehensive.
I add equilibrium & alkaline buffer to my water, and also stability.
Right now, my pH is 7.5-7.6, gH and kH are in the mid range, Ammonia is zero, so is Nitrite. A bit of Nitrate but not over 20. Temp is for some reason about 80F eventhough I have turned off the heater.
I have 9 zebra danios, and 1 baby bristlenose pleco, along with 8 shrimps (ghost and cherry shrimps).
I am not sure if my light is bright enough but I do nto want to spend too much to buy just a 20" hood...
I have a simple CO2 set up, it runs by connectin g an airpump to a canister which is placed inside the tank. The canister is connected to a can of compressed Co2, and then there is an outlet for the air bubbles to get out and mix with the water.
I added a sponge filter which is run by a powerhead on the other side of the tank.
Since I am very new to this (only less than 6 months) any feedback/comment/suggestion would be greatly appreciated. 
Thank you.
Here is a picture of my tank which I took yestersday. It has been set up for about a week.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Tank looks very nice.


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## frogwings (Aug 26, 2011)

Absolutely super looking tank! What plants do you have in it and where did you get them?
You have done a great job so far!


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## Bigmike (May 18, 2012)

Your planted tank is awesome, I was trying to enlarge the picture to see it better.


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## gar1948 (Jan 25, 2012)

Looks very nice-------


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## Rufus' Mom (Jan 2, 2012)

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Not bad for a first tank!

Plants look nice and healthy.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Great looking tank! all of that in 1 week?

I'd watch the Ghost shrimp, they will eat any babies your RCS may have. Curious why you add the alkaline buffer? Are you using RO water and is that the reason you use Equilibrium?

Keep up the good work. May want to consider dry ferts one day. They cost $12 and has all the micros and macros you need....and will likely last you about 3-4yrs with just that tank. I know the liquid ferts are about $12 a bottle and run out about every month or so.


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## henrod (Sep 21, 2011)

that looks awesome, makes me wish live plants could live long enough to grow with my cichlids lol


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## maple rookie (Jun 1, 2012)

jrman83 said:


> Great looking tank! all of that in 1 week?
> 
> I'd watch the Ghost shrimp, they will eat any babies your RCS may have. Curious why you add the alkaline buffer? Are you using RO water and is that the reason you use Equilibrium?
> 
> Keep up the good work. May want to consider dry ferts one day. They cost $12 and has all the micros and macros you need....and will likely last you about 3-4yrs with just that tank. I know the liquid ferts are about $12 a bottle and run out about every month or so.


Thanks for the advice.
I am using tap water (mixing hot and cold to get the temperature I want then add water conditioner) and I add alkaline buffer because our tap water in Vancouver, BC, Canada has a pH of about 6.8 with zero KH. We have our water from the rain and snow and it is very soft. I was advised to add alkaline buffer to increase the kH and add equilibium to increase the gH for healthier fish. Thsi is a very unique situation regarding our water as far as I know. 
I actually have been wondering if keeping the water pH at 6.8 might be better. But i just thought perhaps the shrimps and fish would grow better with a mid range gH and kH rather than zero on both accounts.
When you say dry fert are you referring to tabs?
Does the florite black substrat provides any nutrients?
Also, do you recommend using carbon in my filter or should I use it for may be 1 week then just floss for 3 weeks?
Do you think I should get more light in my tank?


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## maple rookie (Jun 1, 2012)

frogwings said:


> Absolutely super looking tank! What plants do you have in it and where did you get them?
> You have done a great job so far!


Thank you. 
I have HC, Amazon and Brazilian sword, mini sword (cant see them as I just trimmed off the dead leafs but they will grow from under the big swords), java moss and fern, dwaft hairgrass, pygmy chainsword, water sprite (I put some weight on the bottom and let it float behind the wood), anaubias, and a small banana plant which I have rooted. I cannot remember what the long fluffy plants on the left hand side is called, it is a very hardy and popular plant. 
To be honest with you lots of plants I got are very cheap ($9.99 for 3) from PJ Pets and they sometimes come with algae, worn leaf, and snail and what not so I spend quite a bit of time cleaning them and trimming. Fortunately, after a while they will usually grow some nice new leaves.
I was lucky and got some java fern and swords when they just got their shipment in and they were very green and healthy. I hope they will keep that way.
The rocks I got from the dollar store for $1 a big bag. The wood is Malaysian drift wood I paid $17 for.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

By the look of your tank, I'd say your light level is perfect unless you want tougher to grow plants. If you go to aquariumfertilizer.com and look at their micro/macro mix, you'll see what I'm referring to for ferts. They are a powdered fert that is dosed right into the water. Very few tanks need more than what their mix provides. You'll dose very little of it and it will last about as long as I said or longer.

What does your kh sit at after adding the alkaline buffer? I never use carbon in my tanks. Only effective for about 2wks and only needed to do things like remove meds or something like that.


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## maple rookie (Jun 1, 2012)

Thank you very much for the reply.
My kH is 80ppm, gH is 120ppm (think it is higher as it hassomething to do with fert but not sure)
I will check out the fert, thank you for the link. Does the substrate provide enough nutrients on its own?
I heard excel is a good fert but I am only using comprehensive at the moment. Would you recommend that I use this fert instead of seachem or use them together.


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## Martha689 (Jun 2, 2012)

so excited!


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