Re-aquascaping 10 gallon ... advice please

[depthC]

Well its been over a year since i had my first tank and now i feel it needs to a HUGE change. Im sick of the blue gravel and the fake plants. Its a 10 gallon Hawkeye Aquatank X with a custom made hood so i cant put anymore watts on it. But besides that it has potential to look great just as any tank does. What i plan on doing is getting some sand from HomeDepot and maybe some flourite if it isnt too expensive. Then i would emty the tank and throw all the gravel, water, and the filter on my spare 10g and throw all the fish in there. They are all hardy fish so i expect them to survive if not, o well i dont really care for them anyways. Then once i redid the other 10 gallon i would throw them all back in it with the established filter and let the tank cycle. And with the 1.3 watts do you think it would be possible to grow java fern on driftwood? Also what are some more really low light level that will survive in my tank?(sorry everyone asks that question but i never paid much attention to what was answered)

Then will the spare with all the gravel and water i would put on a new filter probably from walmart and use it as a glowlight spawning tank. Just to try it out. And see if i can actually get them to spawn. They have done it several times in my community 45g but none ever survive. So does this plan even seem like a good one or not?

Thanks for any tips or advice.

- depthC

 

[catfishmike]

well yes you can grow some real nice java ferns with that amount of lighting.try anubuis,or some apto.bulbs you can get them a wal-mart.good luck on spawning any tetra and raising fry.try checking out last months aquarium fish magazine.there is an article that would be very helpful to your spawning project.

 

[depthC]

Alright thanks, ill check that out i got a subscription to AFM so that just makes it easier. Ill be at Wal-mart tomorrow anyways so ill try and look for those plants. But im not to sure, they dont carry many plants anymore so well see.
Thanks

- depthC

 

[geoffgarcia2]

Its my understanding that Flourite only comes in 15lb bags? I could be mistaken. But a 15lb bag in your tank would be more than enough, so you could forget about buying a 50lb sack of sand

A 15lb flourite bag will run you 15-19$ at most local fish stores.

In that amount of light (I'm assuming its a 15watt regular bulb)
Java Fern would be fine, as would java moss, anubias nana, possibly chain swords, and definatly most crypts and wendetii plants.

That should be a great start for you.

 

[fishman0]

you could devote your tank to madagascar i think I spelled it right it's light requirement is verylow-very high but it sheds it's leaves alot I took mine out because it kept shedding it's leaves.

 

[catfishmike]

do you mean madagascar lace?thats not an easy plant altogether.thats why it's shedding its leaves. or the bulb could be going dormant,apto bulbs do that.at any rate not a begginers plant

 

[depthC]

Well i went out and got 1/2 cu. ft. of premium play sand for less than $3. So now that ive got the sand what is the best method to rinse and clean it? Ive heard of putting some into a pale and using a hose and the light particles will float up and over flow the pale. Is this the best method or is there another great method?

Also i dont have flourite or laterite do you think the low light plants will do just fine in just sand? Thanks for the responses.

- depthC

 

[depthC]

Well I went off and did that swap. Here is what i did step by step:
1) Filled up a 5 gallon pale half way and catch all the fish and put them in there. But first i used a 2.5 gallon pale and they were jumping out like crazy so ha ive learned my lesson.
2)Drained the tank and put all the gravel in my other 10 gallon.
3)Then I added the water to the 10 and put on the filter. 4)Then added the fish to it. But to bad one died. i have no clue why but it had no eyes.
5)Then i went and cleaned out the sand and put it in my other 10 gallon and added water. So now for the past day its been real cloudy and i expected this but for how long will it be cloudy?
Thanks

- depthC

 

[geoffgarcia2]

depthC, leave your powerheads and filters off and it'll clear up a whole lot faster.....