# Is all this necassary for a planted tank?



## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

I am doing a small 10 gallon planted tank.
It has a light fixture with two bulbs in it. (just got it today it wasn't being used in my cousins house so i took it)
I plan to fill it will live plants instead of fake. I want to use that plant that kinda looks like grass and covers the whole tank(dunno know the name but my stores have it so i will get it there)
and maybe 1 or two others (suggestions please!!!)
And i see you have to add something to the gravel for the plants?
What is absolutely necessary? I don't want to spend 100 bucks on fertilizer.
How to i dose? 
I won't be setting this up until October. I'm taking care of some neighbors horses and dogs for the weekend and they're paying me SO then I'll have money to spend.
I'm also going to fill the tank with neons.
(tips on them would be great too, not much experience with them)
My water is well water if that makes any difference? 

THanks in advance!
~zdanio


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

There is really no limit on what you can spend on plants. The 'planted tank' enthusiasts will be all, "you need eco-complete", "you need ferts", "you need CO2". :"you need to drop $x00 on lighting" etc. And maybe you do if you want a carpet of grass and a forest of fronds and a tank that looks like a landscape painting. 

I buy $1/bag plants at club auctions and it they live, great, if not, no biggie. Java moss, java fern and hornwort thrive for me. Anacharis, hygrophila and some others are hit or miss. I only mess with ferts when I am fighting algae. I bought some Potassium something to try. To add more nitrate, I just put in a few more fish or up feeding. I have 2 tanks with 2 bulb fixtures and the rest have one T8 or T12. 

What you need is totally dependent on what you want. If you can't spend a lot, you need to rephrase the question. Ask "I have this and this much $", what can I get? DIY CO2 is fairly cheap, but messy and hit or miss (you can kill your fish or fill the tank with goo).


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

It's called baby tears. In order to get a full carpeting on your floor you will need high light and some sort of co2 system. I have trouble growing the stuff and I have both. On such a small tank high light can be relatively cheap and a simple do it your self co2 could work.


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## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

It really depends on what plants you want in the tank. Just make sure to find out what their requirements are first. There are some low level light plants that would work out well in your 10 gallon. Probably don't need an expensive substrate either. I'd go with a finer gravel, like 8 mesh and fert / root tabs.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

okay... 2 bulbs... you need to be more specific about those bulbs. they just regular bulbs or they flourecents? HILED? HID?..... I'll tell you right now if they are just 100w bulbs you aren't going to be growing much.


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