[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Very Small Tank questions (10 litres)
Jon Hammond wrote:
>I have a few questions about a small tank. The tank is actually my
>girlfriend's and it holds 10 litres (very small). At the moment it has a 9
>watt compact flourscent (home depot type.. but rated 5000K so should be ok
>for plants), undergravel filter, course gravel and 2 platties, a swordtail
>and 2 danios. In summer its a constant temperature of about 25 degrees. I
>want to set it up as a little planted tank but have a few questions.
IMO a large fish load for this size tank. Keep up on water changes.
I have a tank this size but I found a bulb that is 20 watts (I think) at
around 5000K, equivalent to 75 watt incandescent.
>1. Do any of you have a suggestion of how to keep the tank warm in winter
>when the temp drops to around 16-17 degrees in the tank. Its kinda costly
>to buy a heater that small and it looks ugly to.
I don't heat mine. I live in Minnesota and we allow the house temperature
to fall to 16-17C during the day when we are at work. I have an Otocinclus
and a baby American-Flag Fish in there that don't have a problem with it.
>2. Should I pull down the undergravel filter and put in a fine substrate
>with some enrichment and have no filter at all.
Kind of up to you, but to me an undergravel filter takes up precious space
in a tank this small. I have Substrate Gold laterite under 2-3mm gravel,
only about 3-4cm deep. I have a small internal Penn Plax (I think) air
driven _filter_ if you can call it that. It's just a plastic perforated
cartridge. Air gets injected at the bottom and exits at the top. I set it
so the top is above the water line to minimize surface turbulence. I have
run the tank without it too, but it does seem to create just enough
circulation to prevent surface scum from accumulating. With Platies you
wouldn't have this issue.
>3. Should I add DIY c02
I have played with this but no longer _deal_ with it. By that I mean you
have to be careful. I submerged a _bell_ at the rear corner, just under my
_filter_ and ran a piece of airline tubing down to it which allowed me to
occasionally fill it manually. I used a small CO2 device normally intended
to fill bicycle tires. The trigger on this device was generally either full
on or full off so I would blast some CO2 into a plastic bag through a
drinking straw first, then slowly squeeze that into the airline tubing using
the straw. I tried direct injection once but the fish didn't appreciate the
whirlpool bath effect :) It worked fine and there was a noticeable increase
in plant growth, even pearling. If I were to use DIY yeast CO2 I would
still use the bell concept so excess would bubble off.
>4. What plants should I put in (I thought of some pretty hard low light
>ones like some java fern, anubius, java moss... but she does like riccia on
>little stones).
I tried Riccia but if I didn't keep up on the CO2 it didn't keep the _look_
that we are after, and if you do keep up on the CO2 you will be in the tank
trimming often. It was too much work so I switched to Java Moss. Mine is
planted with a Java moss foreground (tied to flat rocks), Anacharis, and a
baby Ozelot sword which interestingly has remained a healthy baby for many
months now despite my intent to just let it grow out a bit in there. I also
have one large (relatively) black rock and several tiny driftwood branches
randomly stacked. A nice, natural, Amano-like scene. I have grown to
appreciate Anacharis in a setting like this. Grows slowly with nice tight
internodes. About once a month I change about 75% water and replant the
longest Anacharis shoots. The roots are usually 4-6 inches long! One of my
favorite tanks :)
I have a very nice photo if anyone is interested.
Mike Grace