# Wanting to plant my 10 gal tank and need alot of help



## soccergod2203 (Feb 4, 2011)

i want to plant my 10g tank and i dont know anything about plants.
how do i care for them? what all do they need?
i want to know pretty much everything i can about them please help


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## FalconStorm (Nov 12, 2008)

Well, I know I planted a ten gallon once and the most important thing is lighting, but the flourescent hood that you can get for a ten gallon tank ended up being more than enough light for that tank. The plants went crazy.

I recommend to start small and easy and then work your way up as you learn. Personally, I think ten gallons is perfect to start with because the lighting to do a planted ten gallon is considerably cheaper than a larger tank and if you decide it's not for you, you haven't put this horribly large expenditure of money into it. On the other hand, if you find you love it, there's a lot you can do with a ten gallon that will make great experience if you move to a more difficult project later on.

How much research have you done? Have you decided how complex you want to go or do you just want to try your hand at plants and don't really care which ones for the beginning?

Your first step is to get a flourescent hood and light if you don't already have one. If you do, I recommend getting some anubias nana, java fern and maybe some vallisneria for background. Those are all good plants that will thrive in the ten gallon setting. You don't need really special gravel for those, just the small stuff that measures about an eighth of an inch, or sand. If you think you might branch out into more demanding plants later, you can put a layer of flourite under the gravel or get eco complete. I just used regular pea gravel for mine, though.

In a ten gallon tank, if you have fish and start with the relatively easy plants I listed above, you don't have to worry too much about fertilization or CO2 or anything like that. Of course, this is all beginner level stuff, but you can do a gorgeous planted tank out of just 'beginner' stuff.

I'm sure the more experienced peeps on the forums will have more advice, but that's my two cents. I also recommend doing some research on AquariumPlants.com Largest online sales / service site for the live aquarium plants & aquarium products community. Not only do they sell the plants, but they have really good information on the plants they sell and their light requirements and level of difficulty.


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## soccergod2203 (Feb 4, 2011)

the tank that i have was given to me with pretty much everything. could i just get compact fluorescent light bulbs to put into the normal size socket do you think?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

soccergod2203 said:


> the tank that i have was given to me with pretty much everything. could i just get compact fluorescent light bulbs to put into the normal size socket do you think?


Do you have a hood for your tank, and a light for it already? If you have a light fixture, it should say what the maximum Wattage the fixture can carry is. CFL's are great, but a nice 8000K or less daylight bulb would be the best.

I grew a tiger lotus, wisteria, and sword (not easy plants to grow) from bulbs in a 10 gallon with regular aquarium gravel, regular fluorescent hood light, an undergravel filter, and fertilizer root tabs, LeafZone chelated iron "plant food", and Jungle CO2 fizz tabs.


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## soccergod2203 (Feb 4, 2011)

the hood is 25w, you used an undergravel filter and it didnt bother the plants? is it hard to clean under the filter with the roots all in it?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I never cleaned the filter, until the day I broke down the tank and overhauled it. The plants grew up nice and healthy, but it took a year to grow them from bulbs to 2x the size they sell most plants at in the pet store. I put the same plants in my 29 gallon with a 48W T5HO light, pressurized CO2, and dry fertilizers, and they absolutely exploded. I've trimmed the plants, planted the trimmings, and grown equally massive plants from the trimmings in the same amount of time.

Plants are notoriously tough. When they get a great root system and adjust to their environment, they turn an ordinary tank into an amazing tank.

There are a million ways to set up your tank, but I definitely think an undergravel filter is worth considering. If worst comes to worst and you don't like the undergravel filter, you can just cap the tube and let the plate collect gunk under the tank.


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## soccergod2203 (Feb 4, 2011)

i think i will have to get an undergravel filter


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## snook413 (Jan 5, 2011)

I've had good results with anubias, java fern and java moss in my 15 gallon. I am learning a lot about plants as I go, but and these three seem to be hardy and good growers. One note, my java moss exploded and I had to take a lot of it out of the tank - it was growing like crazy. I do have eco-complete substrate in my tank, but most of the plant I have I actually started growing in a 10 gallon with just plain gravel. They did pretty well in there. If you use plain gravel in your tank, you may want to do some research on root tabs and other "plant food" additives. Good luck and have fun picking your plants!


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