'Living tank'

[GooGirl]

My 10 gallon fish tank is really boring (see signature). I want to add something really cool, but I'm not sure what. At the moment, it just has the 4 fish and the snail, a couple plastic plants, white gravel, and a couple decorations.

I was thinking along the lines of driftwood and living rocks. I can't buy any more fish, and with the 3 mollies in there, the tank is already pushing overstocking.

Is it possible to, like, make my own living rocks? BTW, what EXACTLY are locking rocks? I'm going to look it up...

What kind of driftwood could I use and how do I make it safe for the fish? I heard something about boiling it...?

Thanks ahead of time!

 

[Kiara1125]

Live rocks are more for saltwater tanks. Driftwood would take up a lot of space and leach tanins, which turn the water brown. Plus, it messes with the pH and tajes time to completely sink. I say add live plants. In my 10g I have rotala rotundifolia, wisteria, amazon sword, amazon frogbit, java fern, java moss, dwarf green hygro, and duckweed. It adds a lot to the tank. I'll have to send you a pic of how it looks. Hope this helps!

 

[GooGirl]

My 5.5 has 2 aquatic plants that I can transfer to the 10g...

 

[Kiara1125]

What types are they? Plus, they need light. I have CFLs over my tanks.

 

[GooGirl]

Aquatic onion and aponogeton

 

[Kiara1125]

Yeah ... I would suggest getting some plants that fill out a lot like java fern. They're easy to find, cheap, and they have little babies that pop off the leaves and spread. I had one java fern and now I have that large one with several other medium and small ones in all of my tanks.

 

[GooGirl]

I have tons of bulbs in the tank, but only 2 sprouted... Any tips for sprouting the others?

 

[Kiara1125]

Nope. I bought 2 packages of aponogeton bulbs and only 2 sprouted. Now, they're just bulbs and lay dormant. They might randomly sprout and grow quickly, but they only last a week before they wilt.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Driftwood is a good option, you just have to soak it for a while to 1) make sure it sinks, and 2) get the tannins out (what tinges the water brown). But there are a lot of different types to make some interesting setups. If you purchase driftwood specifically for an aquarium, you don't need to boil it or anything just soak it until it sinks and doesn't turn the water brown. If you are collecting your own driftwood, I would think boiling it would be fine, but it may need to soak some afterwards to make sure all the tannins are out.

Java ferns are great low light options, and hard to kill (a bonus for me!).

Although actual live rocks are saltwater, there are a lot of other cool looking rocks that can be either saltwater or marine. Texas holey rock comes to mind - cool shapes and all. And nice nooks and holes for fish to swim through.

 

[exhumed07]

i use the holy rocks as well and all my tanks have driftwood. i have realy hard water and the driftwood tends to buffer the water a bit. as for the tannins i think a piece of driftwood big enough to go into a 10 gallon wouldn't take long to leech out completly. as for my huge chunk in my 55 it's been a year and still leeching tannins into the water. it's not harmful but brown water don't look real good.

 

[Dan Steveo]

Second that on the Driftwood leeching for a long time, mines been leaking 2 years now... It's a lovely bit of wood though... Well worth it. Carbon in the filter helps somewhat. Another easy and amazing plant is anubias nana. I've had that and java fern for years and never have i got bored of it.