10gal Idea

[ptran]

Cardinal and neon are doing okay for me so far. I'm thinking they are born here in Houston.

[Beth777]

in my 10g planted tank i went cheap and did a standard incandescent strip (the two screw in ports). i put a daylight CFL bulb in each (6500k spectrum) which is good enough for low light plants. some flourish and root tabs and you are good to go.

I saw some lights at walmart that I could just lay on the tank, can't remember what they were for. Some kind of little untility lights or something like that. I had a light like that before and it was fine but it croaked.

as for cardinals in our water, if they were bred and raised here they should have adapted to the higher pH and hardness. neons and cardinals are a little more touchy i agree. they typically like softer water and more neutral pH, but trying to make a soft water tank in houston is an uphill battle. can be done, just takes maintenance.

I've always liked neons and cardinals a lot but was never willing to try them again after my first ones all died. But who knows...now that I know to slow acclimate and not to put them with the wrong fish, maybe they would make it. What color background would you go with? Black or a deep blue?

I'm just not willing to have fish that I have to try and change the water. If they can't thrive in our cement them I won't have them.

[Beth777]

Oh so you're not messing with the water chemistry other than the plants and wood? I'm willing to try anubias and some of the moss like you have.

Cardinal and neon are doing okay for me so far. I'm thinking they are born here in Houston.

[Beth777]

Let me know if you try it and what happens. I'm thinking real hard about trying it myself.

I doubt the LEDs would last long. But for only $9 its worth a try. Not much specs on it. Now I'm tempted to try it.

[Beth777]

Thank you for taking the time to point that out. :emt_thumbs:

Be aware, the spec not indicate is 120v or 220v. If you lucky, 100v-240v that will work for US.

[sfasu]

Just an observation: A 10 gallon tank is what, 20 inches long? That light is only 7" (18cm according to the ebay listing). Even for low light plants I would think you would need something longer than that to get a decent spread.

Edit: I keep cardinals with no problems

[Beth777]

Thank you! Thank you for letting me know about the light and the cardinals. I've always liked the cardinals better than neons.

At this point I think I'm deciding between cardinals or puffers. I had to go out today so I stopped by Extreme and while everything looked great, they really didn't have any little guys. Oh, but they had tropheus, made me drool! They had an adorable F8.

Stopped by Ultimate and I counted 5 pea puffers. They looked skinny but they were all swimming around looking for food. One little guy was scoping out the gravel. It's so cute the way puffers use their tails like rudders, and I love the way it's little eyes were looking around. He was studying the gravel real hard. One had some really nice markings.

Just an observation: A 10 gallon tank is what, 20 inches long? That light is only 7" (18cm according to the ebay listing). Even for low light plants I would think you would need something longer than that to get a decent spread.

Edit: I keep cardinals with no problems

[Beth777]

Wow, look at this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt2B7OYqBho

[ptran]

Yup that's a 10 gallon planted tank. Very nice looking neon.

[troy tucker]

At first planted tanks are a little intimidating but after it starts taking off. You wonder why didn't I do this sooner.
I love my planted tank.

[ptran]

Troy, can you share a picture of your planted tank?

[morpheus]

yeah my green thumb isnt as great. i ran out of flourish a ways back and some plants kinda widdled down. the rooted plants with tabs are still ok. and the stupid duckweed i scoop out often.

overall i think the plants would make cardinals stand out more. the red on green is a brighter contrast

[ptran]

yeah my green thumb isnt as great. i ran out of flourish a ways back and some plants kinda widdled down. the rooted plants with tabs are still ok. and the stupid duckweed i scoop out often.

overall i think the plants would make cardinals stand out more. the red on green is a brighter contrast

Agreed on the cardinals on green contrast. I always see a big school of cardinals in a planted tank. Their vibrant red color really adds more livelihood to the plants.

[troy tucker]

Full tank shot.

[ptran]

Your tank looks so green. Is there any fish in there?