My 10 gallon planted aquarium build log

[Sean W.]

here is a shot showing where the tank is and whats around it

 

[Lexluethar]

So are you just going to have plants, no fish? I don't see a filter.

 

[acerinpa]

Used to have 3 salt water tanks up and running - a 45 gallon cube and a 90 gallon at home and a 50 pentagram in my office. All had live corals, fish , invertebrate. Lots of fun for me and the kids. We used to go to "coral or frag swaps" = other people growing corals bring pieces of theirs and you trade or buy theirs to grow in your aquarium. Local salt water aquarium clubs "sponsor" or organize them. We would road trip for up to 4 hours away. This way no coral is taken out of the sea so it is both cheaper and more environmentally sustainable , and you get to have different corals growing in your aquarium that were not available in any local store. We also traded/sold fish, invertebrates, and equipment as well. if your thinking of going into salt - let me know- I can help you not make many of the mistakes other do when they first try. Current I have nothing set up and running , saving cash, and awaiting technology to make LED lighting cheaper before i set up my 180 gallon reef. The electric bill kills when you have lighting strong enough to grow coral and several pumps to create enough water flow to keep coral happy in a large aquarium. The LED lights will really help this cost - but they are still too expensive at this time.

 

[PP Mguire]

You just gneed to get some tap water treater, it immediately removes chlorine from tap water. 1 gap full will treat 10 gallons. I have to treat every drop that goes into my fish tanks because my water is from the city, it has all the chemicals the government puts in it, chlorine, florite etc

That's the stuff we used at my place. Didn't work very well for our water.

 

[Lexluethar]

Spot on acerinpa, we had the same thing where I lived, where you would swap pieces of coral so you didn't have to purchase it online. A lot of companies now will actually only sell what they grow - prices are a little higher because there is limited supply but it's nice to know that you aren't taking these items out of nature.

A lot of companies are starting to do this with fish too - a lot of aquarium raised fish now available compared to say 5 or 10 years ago.

I'm waiting for my son to get a little older, we will probably do a small aquarium next year (10 gallons) and see how that goes. If he really enjoys it as much as me we will setup a 30 or larger).

Love aquariums.

 

[acerinpa]

If you are planning to do aquariums for a year or more - just go ahead and purchase a reverse osmosis water filter = $100. You may be able to find one used. The chemical "treatments" - see above -do not work as well as a good RO filter for aquariums. Chances are they just bind the Chlorine- but what about all the other stuff in the tap water now-a-days? That that type of chemical treatment will not do anything for the other chemicals, the casts, particulates, etc.

If you ever wanted to learn about salt water aquariums- this is a great link:
http://www.reefcentral.com/

 

[Joe C]

My wife uses a 10 gallon aquarium every year for her class, never had much luck using the chemicals but last year we used distilled water and had no problems except an issue with hook worms that she never did get rid of. This year she's starting it again with ............

gold fish!

lol

 

[Lexluethar]

Good call on the osmosis filter, I always purchased my water from an aquarium store because there was no easy solution for being in an apartment and installing the osmosis filter.

I agree though, if possible avoid chemicals. Just like the whole 'seasoning' the tank. Some people would buy stuff to actually do this. All you really need is some active live rock and a week and you are good to go. Alternatively you can put some raw shrimp in there for a day.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I always give props to people that do saltwater, or reef tanks, or even just simple planted tanks...

Me, personally, I hate having to deal with planted tanks, mostly because, well, it's enough time taken out of the day to ensure my freshwater tanks are ok, even more so for my brackish tank...

Had a saltwater tank once, now have a brackish 20, a fresh 20, and a 75 fresh... Brackish is far more difficult to handle than plain old salt or fresh, but I doubt it's more complicated than a reef setup... I would hate to have to play with one of those.


@ JoeC, as for using distilled water, NO, NEVER. Distilled water is missing all the minerals and nutrients needed in it for a fish to survive, only way around this is to add them back. Even bottled water is a bad idea. If you use distilled, it has to be very small amounts mixed with normal everyday treated water. If you are really worried about the chlorine and other chemicals in your water, get a carbon filter mounted to the sink that can be turned on/off, or just left on. It will remove most everything toxic like chlorine, then let the water sit for 24-48 hours in the room that the tank is in to let any other gases trapped in the water dissipate.

I personally just use Jungle Start Right, and mix it 10 gallons of water at a time, and let it sit for ~24 hours with a bubble stone in the bucket before adding the water to the tank. Hasn't failed me yet, Nitrates sit below 10ppm, Nitrites sit near zero, never above 0.1ppm, GH is around 85PPM, KH hovers around 140, PH is at a 7.2 roughly, and last but not least, ammonia is always at 0. Numbers haven't changed much at all what so ever in the last two months for any of my tanks, only slightly during a large water change.

 

[Sean W.]

Ive always wanted to do a reef tank, and i have decided a few times to do one and went into research mode and each time ive been scared off. All the equipment, chemicals, lighting, nutrients, live rock, crushed coral, current, timers, controllers, redundant heaters, refugeum, skimmer, salt, test kits, patience and finally cost... i just cant bring my self to do it, as much as i get all googly eyed over the salt water fish each time i go to my local fish store, i just cant justify keeping one, i know ill get frustrated.

I have also considered keeping a brackish tank, one of my favorite fish is the green spotted puffer, ive always wanted one, and the same situation with keeping a reef tank, i go into research mode each time i decide i want to keep one and i get discouraged.

Ive used that tap water purifier yellow bottle for well over 10 years, ive never had a problem with it, i have 4 tanks. my 10 gallon im staring up, a 22 gallon cube, a 30 gallon community and my 120 gallon oscar and red tail catfish tank. They are all fresh water.

I just got this rubber nose pleco the other day, he is in my 22 gallon cube. thought i would share.