# Video - First 10 gallon tank! CO2, gourami, tetras, shrimp!



## rdale2 (Nov 16, 2011)

My first aquarium - 10 gallon freshwater aquarium after 2.5 months. Having a blast with it! 

Stocked with:

-5 bloodfin tetras
-5 glowlight tetras
-2 amano shrimp
-1 oto
-1 dwarf gourami

Tank is definitely stocked to the max, but I do very regular water changes and have a 15 gallon filter on a 10 gallon tank. No problems as of yet.

For lights I have the Hagen Power Glo 18000k (which is very pink), so I also added an Ikea Dioder LED strip inside the canopy. The LEDs make the lighting even brighter and help take away some of the pink colour from the powerglo bulb.

A note about the CO2:

I really wanted a CO2 system to help the plants grow. One of the red plants seen earlier on actually died after the first month. Thus, I made a DIY system using 2 bottle of yeast and a bubble counter. I used an elite mini filter as a diffuser. The system worked great. However, there was too much CO2 and the pH dropped too fast. The fish started acting crazy. One jumped out of the tank (which never happens) and the shrimp started having "seizures" on their backs. I disconnected the hose and left it overnight. Unfortunately, I had taken the check valve off my CO2 system because it wasn't letting the gas through. At 4am I woke up to gurgling which was the filter pumps running dry because 80% of the tank water had siphoned out onto the counter! Fortunately all the fish survived. I've since disconnected the DIY system and added the Fluval Mini CO2 which works amazingly. The DIY system was great, I suppose all I need to do is add a valve to adjust flow, but after my bad experience I decided to go with a proper setup.

I've just planted a lawn of glossostigma, I'll post another video in a few weeks when it fills out!


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I wouldn't add a valve personally, but rather regulate the yeast\sugar mixture. At either rate, you've got your co2 system worked out and are happy with it. It looks great. That glosso (?..tired) should carpet nicely.

Cheers,
Chris


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## rdale2 (Nov 16, 2011)

effox said:


> I wouldn't add a valve personally, but rather regulate the yeast\sugar mixture. At either rate, you've got your co2 system worked out and are happy with it. It looks great. That glosso (?..tired) should carpet nicely.


Yeah that's totally true. With a regulator valve I might generate too much back pressure in the yeast bottles. That would be a bad scene! Maybe I'll give the DIY another go some day...

Thanks for your comment!


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