10 Gallon Planted Aquarium For Under £100!

[BenVernon]

I am currently in the beginning stages of creating a 10 gallon planted aquarium within a budget of £100. The aquarium I have purchased is a low light 10 us gallon (37 litres) aquarium with a maximum light wattage of 14 watts giving me 1.4 watts per gallon. I am hoping with the addition of some nutrient rich plant growth substrate topped off with some gravel, I can create a fully planted aquarium which will be home to 8 neon tetras and a few red cherry shrimp.
 
The plants I am considering so far:
 
Dwarf Sagittaria 
Anubias Nana
Cryptocoryne Parva 
Cryptocoryne Wendtii
 
 
I have done my research into these plants and they are all suitable for low-medium light aquariums and will benefit from nutrient rich substrate in which I will have. I will further be creating a DIY CO2 system which will hopefully give these plants a boost. 
 
As mentioned previously, I am on a tight budget of £100. Here is a list of the things I will need to buy:
 
Tank and Stand
Heating 
Filteration 
Tank Lights
Plant Growth Substrate
Gravel - Black Aquarium Gravel
Plants
Water Testing Kit 
 
So far I have bought the following:
 
Tank and Stand - £30 (Second hand found on a forum and collected in person)
Heating - Hidom Submersible Aquarium Fish Tank Heater (50 watts) - £6.75
Filteration - Interpet PF1 Internal Filter - £12.90
Tank Lights - SunGlo T8 14 watts - £10.00
Water Testing Kit - King British 6 in 1 Test Strips - £9.80
Plant Growth Substrate - TetraPlant Complete Substrate (2.8KG) - £12.99
Gravel - Black Aquarium Gravel (2mm-4mm) - £3.95
 
Total so far: £86.36
 
This means that I only have a total of £13.64 left to buy the plants. I will be purchasing the plants online as this is a cheaper option. 
 
Here are some pictures of the tank and the items that I have bought so far:
 
 
 https/imageshack.com/i/np9ynzj
 
https/imageshack.com/i/nea2nhdj
 
 
Later on today I will be rinsing the gravel and putting down about 3/4 of an inch of plant growth substrate and a further inch of gravel. I will be constantly updating this thread with pictures and information on how this project is going!

 

[catfish4ever]

What is plant growth substrate?is it vital, or is normal gravel fine? Sounds good though, goof luck

 

[BenVernon]

What is plant growth substrate?is it vital, or is normal gravel fine? Sounds good though, goof luck

 
It basically provides nutrients such as iron to your plants. It's not vital for plant growth if you use fertilisers however for a healthy planted aquarium it is highly recommended. 

 

[Mamashack]

hi Ben
Don't use the test strips and exchange them for liquid tests if you can - they will not give you accurate results and may ending up costing you more money in the end.
You can get a decent master test kit such as API for less than £20 incl p&p on eBay.
I know it will eat a bit more into your budget, but those test-strips are essentially worthless.
I've got the Interpet PF mini in my 30L tank - it's perfect for the job.and easy to maintain.
Good luck with setting it all up - looking forward to more pictures as it progresses!

 

[BenVernon]

hi Ben
Don't use the test strips and exchange them for liquid tests if you can - they will not give you accurate results and may ending up costing you more money in the end.
You can get a decent master test kit such as API for less than £20 incl p&p on eBay.
I know it will eat a bit more into your budget, but those test-strips are essentially worthless.
I've got the Interpet PF mini in my 30L tank - it's perfect for the job.and easy to maintain.
Good luck with setting it all up - looking forward to more pictures as it progresses!

 
Thanks for the suggestion @mamashack. Unfortunately, I have already gone out and bought the test strips. Woops! Never mind, I just need them to get a rough idea of what my water parameters are. When they expire after 6 months I will buy the drop test kit. Thanks again!

 

[BenVernon]

I've just ordered 4x bunches of Crypt Parva and 2x bunches of dwarf Sagittaria which cost £17 altogether meaning that I am slightly over budget. The plants will arrive on Tuesday, updates when they do! I have put down the plant substrate as well as a layer of gravel however I have discovered that I need another bag of gravel the layer is too shallow. I will get that tomorrow which will set me back by another £3.95. More pictures tomorrow.

 

[BenVernon]

I have put down a second layer of gravel so that I now have about an inch of gravel on top of the plant growth substrate. Here is what is looks like so far: https/imageshack.com/i/mrr29nwj
 
Plants will arrive tomorrow. I will be planting them tomorrow and filling the tank up with water and I will also start cycling the tank. More pictures soon.

 

[akainechu]

It looks like a great start! I'm thinking of putting some sand over my initial substrate (which has ferts mixed in), let us know how it goes!!! 

 

[Mamashack]

Ben, you can post the pictures directly in here by right-clicking on your picture on image shack and then copy, then paste into the script box on here. 
Looking forward to seeing it planted!

 

[BenVernon]

Sorry I haven't updated this for a while. The tank has been planted for 12 days now and everything is looking great. The dwarf sag has grown about an inch already and I didn't get crypt melt however the Parva is growing extremely slow. There is an empty space in the back of the tank where I am planning on putting some Crypt Wendtii or some Anubias Nana. The filtration has been running smoothly and quietly. My only issue is that the gravel has quickly become discoloured and is now brown rather than black. At least it looks more natural. The tank is set at 28 degrees centigrade (82 Fahrenheit).
 
Here's a picture: 
 

 
More updates to come!

 

[Mamashack]

Your greenery is looking nice and, well, green! lol
You could turn the temp up a notch to about 29 if you want to speed the process up a bit.
Looking forward to further updates.