# Reviving an old 10 gallon



## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm thinking about bringing back to life an old 10 gallon of mine. It currently has about 2" of black Fluorite (which I hate) mixed with a bottom layer of laterite and some standard blue aquarium gravel. The light is a retrofitted 50W standard hood light with 2 25W PC 1600K daylight bulbs, the filter is a Tetra Whisper 10, I've got an air pump and some air stones, and I have a full glass hood for the tank. I'll be getting a nice heater for it this weekend or the next.

I'm an old hand at a good Amano-style tank (mostly through trial and error, unfortunately), but I'd like to set this one up the right way. I've got the hardware, here's my question to everybody:

Structures - what rocks, types of driftwood, etc. should I get?

Plants - I'd like some small yet resilient low-light low-maintenance plants (which, I'm guessing from reading, are crypts and anubias). What should I consider for ground cover?

Critters - I'm planning on covering my filter inlet and breeding RCS in the tank, but what should I add as far as swimmers and others? Preferably, something eye-catching, and with that being said I'm perfectly happy with one big swimmer versus a bunch of little guys. I've never dabbled in bettas or gouramis or anything aside from tetras, tiger barbs, danios, and once an angelfish.

Thanks for the thoughts and opinions in advance!:goldfish:


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

Oooo.. RCS tank. Thats my favorite tank (my 10G). I have a single piece of mopani driftwood (presoak to avoid tannin madness). The plants I used are (from memory) wisteria, hygrophilia polyspermia, dwarf sag dwarf hairgrass, najas (guppy grass), anacharis, corkscrew vals, moneywory, duckweed and java moss (growing on the driftwood now). Anacharis melted badly when I added some flourish excel, and I removed hornwort since I dont want needle drops. The RCS love the plants and spend all day in them. I've heard the marimo balls make them really happy too.

As for fish, the only ones I've heard are definitely safe are otos (so much for showy). I did add some kuhli loaches, and am waiting to see if I have luck with survivor shrimplets. I think James said he has luck with them and his shrimp. Very cool fish. Any other fish is a suspected shrimplet eater. Some will just eat the babies, some will even chase down the adults. 

PS, Mine is a beaslbob build, and I planted very heavy. I just have a little sponge filter to keep the water moving.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

What are needle drops as they pertain to guppy grass? I agree with the guppy grass - my RCS used to love that stuff but it was out of control. And I've got a PetsMart 5 minutes from my house with some marimo moss balls. Maybe I'll do those two as plants (my 30 gallon still has some residual guppy grass). Hmm...shopping adventure tomorrow!

I'd love to have a ton of plants but the fact is I want to keep this tank relatively low-tech and stuff it in a corner in the main room where I really want to keep the clutter around the tank to a minimum.

For the pond snails that will inevitably come in the marimo ball, I'm going to buy some Assassins from the LFS about 15 minutes from my house.

Thanks buddy!*w2


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