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Today I bought a 10 gallon tank for my dorm (going to pick it up on Saturday), and my sister is going to breed me some Tanichthys micagemmae to put in it. Unfortunately, however, I don't know how I want to set it up. Here are the specifications:

Size: 10 gallons
Lighting: two 11 watt compact fluorescents
Fish: Tanichthys micagemmae (6-10)
Filter: It came with some Bio-Wheel thing on it, but I'm worried it might not be big enough.
Substrate: Fluorite maybe?

I want the minnows to be able to breed in there and have some of the babies make it to adult hood, so I'm going to need some low, bushy-type plants. I'm also going to have some driftwood in there to soften and acidify the water.

So can anyone recommend some plants that would be good for growing fry to hide in? And maybe some larger plants that the adults could swim in? I'm not too good with identifying plants or anything. Thanks for any help...

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

A good low plant is the tops of the Serated Java Fern I have a lot of it tied to a long piece of DW. It grows extremly easy and grows very thickly as you can see.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Attached Image:

Serated Jave Fern on DW

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So the tops will grow on their own if you cut them off and tie them to something? That's interesing. I've never heard of that before, but I'll look into it because they certainly have a unique appearance.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Natalie,

Your tank will be reasonably bright with 22W of CF lamps over 10 gallons of water. It will tend more toward a "high" light aquarium than a "medium" light aquarium due to the depth of the tank.

You are fortunate to find the fish as it is a very new import that appears very similar to Tanichthys albonubes.

I would consider Ceratophyllum demersum, Hydrocotyle leucocephala and Hygrophila difformis, as "easy" plants that will provide great hiding spots for small fish. f you want a floating plant, use Ceratopteris thalictroides.

Both Microsorum pteropus 'Tropica' and Windelov will do well in the set-up but may not provide all of the hiding spots that you would want for a spawn.



__________
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Well, unfortunately I wasn't able to find those plants at the LFS around here (it is quite literally a hole in wall). I did get some Riccia fluitans and some Lysimachia nummularia (I thought that would be good because it's a larger plant but grows rather slowly), though.

I also have a shoal of six Trigonostigma espei in there to help cycle the tank. They are doing really well so far, but I am going to return them once I get my White Clouds.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Actually, they are Trigonostigma hengeli...

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hi Natalie hope all is well

Moss and Java Ferns would be perfect, with zero maintenance. I'd pull out the 2nd bulb and keep it for a spare. I have the same setup and it's doing great. The only way I could think of to improve it, it so switch the bulb to the other side every couple weeks. The mts snails clean the tank and there's no algae. I don't have to vac even, just do my water changes. Perfect setup for a dorm.

Infusoria will flourish in the moss, providing a constant secondary source of food for your fry.

Java ferns propagate in 2 ways, one is by rhizome which you can cut at will to make more plants (tie or rubber band the rhizome till the roots take hold). The 2nd is by forming baby plantlets on the leaf. You can either let them grow to a couple inches in size then remove, or let em fall off and settle into other places in the tank. Fish fry love to hide in the leaves while the youngest ones will hide in the rhizome/root area, coming out to feed.

Hornwort is good for fry tanks, but a litte messy.
Sections of the plant will shed needle-like leaves, adding to the maintenance and can gunk up the filter. You can add a pre-filter easily enough but that adds something else you'll have to rinse clean as well as vaccing the gravel more often. Post some tank pics when you're done



The Amazon Nut...

Yeah, I'm thinking of getting some Java Moss if the Riccia doesn't take off.

Now I know how Sham feels... The water around here is pretty much liquid limestone, and comes out of the tap with pH of at least 8.5. Luckily, the people at the LFS spend a lot of time adapting their fish and plants to the local water. The Hengeli Rasboras had bright colors and everything despite the high pH, and the Riccia appeared to be thriving in their tanks.

I've managed, through the liberal use of driftwood and blackwater extract, to bring the pH down to about 7.8. I still don't know if my minnows will breed at that pH, though.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.