# 10 gallon planted ?



## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

I searched and didnt find ny thing specificaly about tank sizes.
I like a 10 gallon because I can keep it on my kitchen counter well I could do a 20 long as well, but I like the 10 gallon kit with a 15w flourescent hood I can get 

I just want to know would 15 watts be ok for a lightly planted 10G with maybe a couple of dozen cardinals ?

I was thinking along the lines of a med tech planted tank, ada soil what ever goodies I can get for a small planted tank .


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## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

I found a few decent web sites devoted to planted tanks, what Lfs stores have the best selection of planted tank equipment/suplies ?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

You're going to put a couple of dozen cardinals in a 10 gallon? CO2/Excel? 15 watts of what kind of lighting? If you're planning on really "light" for planting with low light plants I would say you'd be fine. But plants take up O2 in the dark and you may find yourself losing your cardinals a few at a time until it stabilized. I had a 10 gallon dosing Excel with 28 watts of PC lighting and was growing crypts and java fern in plain gravel. I had a dozen cardinals and felt that was already too many.

Hopefully one of the sites you found was plantedtank.net. Lots of people with nano/pico tanks there.


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

I wouldn't put "a couple dozen" cardinals into a 10g as it may be a tad on the overcrowded size (re: bioload). Try 10-12 at max, and I would definitely wait until the tank has completely cycled before putting them in. Good luck!


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

believe me when i say this, don't over stock a 10 gallon.

Planted tanks give you more headroom, but you'll definately want to try to obey the stocking rules. Look in the sticky for stocking calculator and put in your stats (filter, 10 gallon) select cardinal, and start with 6-8, see what it says  Start with 4 fish then work from there

another thing you need to take into account is you're going to need to provide some cover to the cardinals, they can be quite skittish if stressed or in a high traffic area of the house. Good news though, i work near newport atm, and i just removed a ton of hygro ceylon from my tank, its yours if you want it. It was given to me to get my wife's 10 gallon started and it is indeed a very fast grower, when it reaches the water line, trim away 5 inches and plant that next to it. Your first goal is not to make it look pretty, it is to get plants in there, and fill up the tank with lots of stems, fast growers and floaters so theres less stress to the fish.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

15 watts will be enough light for an easy-care 10 gallon tank. You can put in java ferns, anubias, amazon swords, water lettuce, actually quite a few things. I've got 15 watts over my 12 gallon Eclipse and everything grows well in there.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Yea its definately enough, watts per gallon rules don't apply to nano tank (imo nano is 10ish gallons or less) due to the reduced depth of the tanks.


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