sarafish

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with a few things. I have a 10 gallon tank that has been set up since Nov. 09 and all my readings are level (no fish in tank). The temp in the tank has been a steady 77. I added 1 bunch of wisteria, 1 bunch of anacharis, and 1 weighted down moss ball today, in hopes of having my first planted tank(just have your regular gravel substrate also). Currently, I have a coralife flourescent 10watt 50/50 bulb and the cheap 15w incandescent "plant growth" bulb that came with the tank in for lighting. Is this too much or too little lighting for the plants? Do I need to add CO2 to the tank? Also, what do you reccomend for plant food or will the waste from the fish (when I add them) be sufficient? Is it ok to have an airator on in the tank with the plants in?
Sorry for the excess in questions but any help would be great, thanks.

Nutter

The first thing I would do is get rid of the incandecent bulb. They produce lots of heat, not much light & use lots of energy. Replace it with one of those 'energy saver' type bulbs. They produce much more light, much less heat & also use less energy. The next thing I would do is replace teh 50/50 flouro tube. Flouro tubes come with different Kelvin (k) ratings. The k rating refers to the colour of light that the tube emmits. Look for a tube with a k rating between 6,500 & 10,000. Tubes in that range are a good compromise for plant growth while still being pleasant to look at. Here's a link to heaps of lighting articles that you may fisnd worth having a read of: http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/g...al_pagesid=308

I wouldn't worry about co2 for the time being. You don't really need it & I think it would just over complicate things for you at this point. It can be a little tricky for a beginer with a small tank. Leave that until you have a bit more experience.

Your fish should produce enough waste to get the plants going for a little while. You may need to add a liquid fertilizer after the plants are established & starting to grow but it is likely that they will get enough nutrients from the fish waste to keep them healthy for a long time. If you do end up needing a fertiliser, I recommend the Seachem Flourish range. You would only need to get the Flourish Comprehensive. No other additives would be needed. Only get a fertilizer if your plants start to show signs of deficiences such as brown spots or patches on the leaves or yellowing of the viens of the leaves.

Having an airstone on the tank is fine with plants when you are not using co2 on the tank.

sarafish

thanks so much

Butterfly

I assume since the tank has been set up since Nov you have been cycling it. what have you been using to cycle it? Without fish waste or other media(fish food, liquid ammonia) the beneficial bacteria won't build up.
Carol

sarafish

I've been using fish food, and some filter media from another tank that I had to cycle then new tank.

Butterfly

OK sounds good Just didn't see a source of ammonia for food.
Carol