# My first planted 10 gallon



## airickj

The following are pictures of my very first freshwater 10 gallon planted aquarium. I am thankful for the resource this forum has been. I have read a lot of advice here in the past week and I am intrigued by this new hobby. 

For those wondering about the plants, I have: Anubias Congensis, Acrostichum heteroclitum, microsorum pteropus, Water wisteria, Needle leaf Ludwigia and Bacopa Caroliniana.

For lighting I have a 15 watt T8 Aqueon bulb, i think its something like 8,000K.

The fish are two plattys, I would like to get a guarami plus more.


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## Cory1990

your links do not work, try using photobucket instead... other then that welcome to the forum.


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## ZebraDanio12

Looks good. 

Cory, they do work.


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## Fuzz

Looks pretty good so far. Give it a few weeks for your plants to acclimate. I didn't have any luck with the "needle leaf ludwigia" from petsmart, but that doesn't mean you won't either. the left side looks good, though. Once those plants start growing, you're probably going to need some replanting. The Anubias looks good where it's at right now, but it will get hidden behind the Wisteria....Then again it is only a ten gallon tank and should be really easy to maintain. Keep us posted


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## airickj

Just FYI, all the plants are from Petsmart. I bought a bulb pack from there too and after only 4 days two of them have started growing. I am pretty sure it is the onion, it is taking off fast. I'm using Flourite substrate so maybe that is helping them along.


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## VanishingWolf26

Tank looks Good!


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## Cory1990

Doesn't work for me, says I need to download something.


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## airickj

There, I fixed it, I think.


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## Redhead305

i'd change the background out for a plain black it will cause the plants and fish to "pop" out more


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## grogan

Good start. All of those plants should grow just fine. Is the light on a timer?


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## Cory1990

airickj said:


> There, I fixed it, I think.


Thanks, it looks good. I like the "clustered" look on the left. I would change the background to black that would make everything pop out more. 

Thumbs up.


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## airickj

grogan said:


> Good start. All of those plants should grow just fine. Is the light on a timer?


Yes the light is on a timer, its on for 10 hours a day. Is that a good light cycle?

Good idea about the black background, will do that to.


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## airickj

*2+ weeks*



















Petco bulb in right hand corner, growing like crazy, is that an onion?










About 2-3 weeks in, everything going good so far in my low-tech setup.


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## VanishingWolf26

Sorry not really sure about the plant bulb but your tank looks awesome good work for sure.


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## Mystery snail

Lookin good.


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## ZebraDanio12

Very nice! Great looking fish too! I love the bulb, whatever it is. Might have to see about adding one to my tank...


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## BettaGuy

man I wish my 5g would look that cool. It looks really futuristic with the dark background


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## airickj

Thanks for the compliments!

I think I might get another anubias and java fern to fill in the right hand side.


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## airickj

I got more plants! Anubias, a sword and Alternanthera reineckii 'cardinalis'. I'm addicted to plants.


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## BettaGuy

very nice, even though I must say i prefered the version with less plants. But it still looks great.


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## ZebraDanio12

I like it!


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## VanishingWolf26

Tank is looking good


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## lohachata

great looking tank..the bulb plant appears to be Aponogeton Boivianus.....it can grow to more than 3 feet tall...none of the aponogetons are suited to a small tank...the deeper the better...and they grow fast as well..
here is a pic of one of mine...just over 3 weeks from bare bulb....


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## ZebraDanio12

Cool plant...I wanttt.


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## Cory1990

Wow John yours is huge!! Iv got one about 3ish feet tall. Iv had to trim it down. They will also grow out of the water and do fine. I have a few smaller ones in my ten gallon. They grow fast as well. Here's mine.









They are vary pretty when they are bright green like that, they also get brown and still live and grow brown. Iv found out that only happens really when they get moved around.

Here's a crap picture of the taller one that I have.










You can sort of see it taking over the front of te tank. It gets big fast. 


Anyways I like your tank with all of the plants. Im new to plants and iv found that they are super easy to grow and a great beginner plant. And if your not willing to cut them down every now and again, then they are not for small tanks. A 55gallon tank would be perfect for it because I think a 55 is about 3 feet deep and it would look great taking up a corner of it.


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## lohachata

i don't think that your plant is an aponogeton...looks more like an onion plant..calimistatum....they will grow to more than 5 feet....awesome plants..
55 gallon tanks are about 21 or 22 inches tall..pretty good for taller plants..
there are several of the aponogetons that are great for tall tanks...
these are my favorites.
boivianus..darker green bubble textured leaves..
crispus....light green rippled or crinkly edged leaves.
ulvaceus..light green wavey edge leaves..to me they are the most beautiful and graceful of all aquatic plants...
madagascarensis.....lace leaf..darker green leaves that look like lace or fish netting...
the lace leaf prefers a little more light and a little cooler temps..probably best in the low to mid 70s..
ok..i forget the name of this one but it is a cool little plant...kind of like a lily but red and has arrowhead shaped leaves..

arrowhead...









boivianus...









ulvaceus...

















madagascarensis...

















crispus...google pic..
http://www.google.com/imgres?start=...&tbnw=128&ndsp=42&ved=1t:429,r:26,s:343,i:336


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## lohachata

i am actually thinking of building a special plant tank for outside..either 3 or 4 ft. tall..
4 ft. wide and 8 ft. long..strictly for growing aponogetons and swords and maybe some calimistratum....i will grow them out all summer and sell them in the fall...


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## ZebraDanio12

Loha, I have that arrowhead plant. Grows so many dang leaves. Ha.


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## airickj

After much google search, I have come to the conclusion that my bulb is actually a Crinum thaianum.


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## airickj

airickj said:


> After much google search, I have come to the conclusion that my bulb is actually a Crinum thaianum.


I'm actually not sure now. Here are a few more pictures:










Some kind of flowering tip came out of the water, attached to the plant in question:


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## Cory1990

I have the exsact same plant, where did you get it from? I grabbed mine from a river near by. And mine is flowered much more then your pictured. I'll get photos when I get home.


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## airickj

I got it as a bulb from petsmart. Its growing very fast in low light (1.5WPG)


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## iViziiFy

Nice planted aquarium, you should add more plants on the other side it will be like a jungle for the fish to hide in.


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## airickj

*Update*

The tank has been up and running for about a month now. Everything is looking good thankfully. Thought you all might enjoy some pictures of flora/fauna.

New Sword, Echinodorus uruguayensis









Background plants grew from bulbs









Endler Guppy









Gourami









Angel









FTS


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## BettaGuy

Very nice, I wish I could get my plants to grow like that.


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