Beginning Aquarium

[r.w.girard]

The tank has been set up for a little over a month now. It is my first fish tank since we had a family one as a kid. That one did not end too well, if I remember correctly.

Anyways, I have a 10 gallon tank with a 14w bulb and marina s15 filter with a purigen insert to remove the tannins from my small piece of driftwood. The substrate is a smaller gauge natural colored gravel. So far, I have planted in it:

2 cryptocoryne wendtii
1 anubias nana
1 [small patch] fissidens zippelianus [put in yesterday, attached to a rock]

I am waiting to add:

1 anubias nana [to driftwood]
1 [small patch] star moss [which I am growing emmersed on a lava rock tunnel]

The tanks inhabitants include

1 crown tail betta [currently in a hospital tank]
1 african dwarf frog
1 clown pleco
1 ivory mystery snail
3 ghost shrimp

I intend to add shortly:

6 green neon tetras

I feel like I might need to upgrade to a better lighting system.

There are a couple of things that I would like to see happen with the tank and some advice would be nice. I would like:

-some sort of short grass-like ground cover for part of the tank [something that will grow and spread quickly without CO2]
-something tall for the back left corner for the neons to hide in
-some sort of floating plant with a cool root structure would be awesome

 

[Joshwainwright]

How about Java Moss for the carpet plant, it's a fast growing low-maintenance plant.

 

[r.w.girard]

How about Java Moss for the carpet plant, it's a fast growing low-maintenance plant.

The Java Moss won't root will it? I think I want something that will root. It is for the left foreground, if that is any help.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Oh, I see.

What about Pygmy Chain Sword, it can form a luscious carpet and forms roots. It does grow in low light however the growth is relatively slow.

 

[lljdma06]

The anubia should be attached to the wood, not buried in the substrate.

I like the look so far, though I will say, you'll probably need some more plants. fissidens is a beautiful, beautiful moss.

Anubias, crypts, mosses, bolbitis, saggiteria, Vallisneria, amazon swords (go for smaller ones)

Lighting is fine, if you keep the planting not too dense, you won't need to add ferts for CO2 for your lighting level. If you go densly planted, you won't need CO2, but a good fert that doses Macro nutrients (Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and micro nutrients may be needed. Make sure you have good filtration or flow.

Welcome to planted,

Liz

 

[r.w.girard]

The anubia should be attached to the wood, not buried in the substrate.

The anubias in the picture is planted in a potter with its base exposed [so that it does not rot]. That said, should I pull it out and attach it to a rock or something? I attached my second one to the driftwood. I was wondering how long it would take for it to root. 2-3 weeks? And the fissidens on the rock, any ideas? I am planning of growing my star moss emmersed for the same amount of time before beginning, slowly, to immerse it. I hope it works. I have heard/read that it should.

I love the idea of saggiteria. Tell me though, are Dwarf Sags and Narrow Leaf Sags the same? It seems like they are.

I was also wondering about Sunset Hygros. They are lovely but it seems like there might be questions of legality. Any comments?

 

[r.w.girard]

I bought an awesome piece of malaysian driftwood yesterday. It would be perfect for the clown pleco to hide under and great for planting on. I boiled it, rinsed it, and it floats. I know that you can tie it down or attach it to slate with a stainless steel screw. But when the wood seems a lot softer than my mopani and I know that soft wood rots and is no good for a tank. I thought it was aquarium safe but if I scratch it, my nails turn black, like I've been digging in the dirt. That is the tell-tale sign, no?

Is it worth trying to saturate it or is would it be better in the garbage?

 

[ian]

have you got a pic of the wood in question?

 

[Jenste]

Wonderful looking tank, have to say I do not think a clown pleco is suitable for a 10 gallon tank. I do believe that 20-30 gallons is the minimum for one pleco. Yes, they do not grow large, but they do need their own space.

 

[Joshwainwright]

You should upload a pic of the wood...

 

[r.w.girard]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get to posting this picture. I have been meaning to since I purchased it but never had the time.

As for the clown pleco, I am aware of that. We are planning on keeping him for a while longer, since he is still very small and seems to be doing well, but then we plan on finding him a good home and giving him away. We replace him with an oto (or do you need at least a pair of them?). The guy at the fish store knew what size tank I had and recommended it to me. I found out only latter that I should have done my own research first ...

Anyway, I don't think there is any place to get green neon tetras in St. Louis and so I was wondering if anyone can recommend a web-site to buy them from. Or is that just a generally bad idea to begin with?

 

[r.w.girard]

And so the planted tank continues to develop and change.

Our last african dwarf frog died a few days ago. On external sign of sickness or strange behavior. He was molting. And then, one afternoon he flipped over. Later that night I looked and the mystery snail was sucking on his head. Very sad. I suppose that was the last of that.

I believe to have found a new home for the clown pleco, so he should be gone in a few days. Which is sad. But good for him/her.

Yesterday, we picked up three otocinclus and a dwarf sagittaria for the tank. Overnight they cleaned the glass up perfectly, amazing. And that dwarf sag is a great addition to the tank. I put it in the front corner. I have taken both of the mosses out to grow emmersed in a separate tank. One of the them is starting to send out new growth. I am hoping that the new week or two will really make the difference. Then I can put them back in the tank. But we'll see, huh. I wonder if I have enough light or not to grow them.

Planting has proven a little difficult lately. The anubias that I was trying to root to the driftwood died within a few days, leaf by leaf. We had purchased a cardinal plant but the snail ate the whole thing. I had to take it out to prevent leaves from clogging the filter! The same day, also the same as we got our second piece of driftwood, we got some giant hairgrass. We trimmed it a little and all the parts that were trimmed died off. But I looked it up and that seems normal. No trimming the giant hairgrass. The third addition that day was a narrow leaf chain grass, which has continued to thrive and has even sent out a runner or two. Very exciting. As for the other piece of driftwood, we have given up hope for it. The tank we will fine as is.

I will add a picture later. But I have a couple of questions maybe people could answer.

Can you trim a dwarf sagittaria? They spread via runners as well, no?

I have another anubias growing in the tank, on a rock and it seems to be dying too. Why would that be? Should I try to grow it emmersed as well? Does that work better? I still have on anubias unattached to any in my emmersed tank. Could try tying a rock to it.

Finally, to close, I just wanted to state my new goals for the tank, since they have changed pretty significantly from the beginning:

3 ghost shrimp
1 ivory mystery snail
3 otocinclus
7 green neon tetras
1 betta

 

[r.w.girard]

As promised here are some pictures of the tank and its inhabitants

The new dwarf sagattaria:

One of my three little otocinclus - they are all alive still after the first water change:

One of my three ghost shrimp:

My ivory mystery snail zooming about as usual:

Sadly, the my clown pleco, as usual, was hiding in its little cave. It seems like I have found some people who might be interested in it, so that good. Onward and upward (through water levels that is: bottom is stocked, now onto fish that swim).

 

[Biulu]

Do you have any pics with the driftwood in it? The picture of the driftwood looks like it is appropriate to use for a tank...

 

[r.w.girard]

We had it in water for two weeks and it was still floating. The wood splintered under the nails and the corners got really soft and bent when touched. Decided the log I have in the tank is enough. Especially since the clown pleco is being re-homed [this very weekend, I hope]. Thanks for the comments though.