# 10G Starfire Journal



## gtgwin (May 4, 2014)

This is my first planted tank ever. I've only had a little betta bowl back when I was in elementary school lol. I've always wanted to start one, kinda lurked /r/plantedtanks for about a year and a half and then decided to start a nano Fall of 2014. I'm currently attending university so I'm coming to realize that going high tech may have been a mistake, but so far not so bad. I have been taking some pictures almost every week, but with my crappy phone camera so the pictures aren't great.

I am happy with how it's looking so far, I'm just trying to have a variety of species and going for a jungle look. I wish I had a bigger tank/more room to work in but for now this will suffice. I plan to get a larger community tank in the future and saltwater in the late future!

Current Pics(*07/02/2015*):

















My inspiration:

__
https://www.reddit.com/r/2f7zg6/hard_to_watch_tv_with_this_sitting_next_to_it/%5B

*Fauna:*
•	Apistogramma borellii
•	5 Sparrow Rasboras
•	2 Otocinclus
•	4 Amano Shrimp
•	1 Horned Nerite Snail
•	3? baby Apistogramma borellii

*Flora:*
•	Limnophila Hippuroides
•	Limnophila Sessiflora 
•	Pogostemon Erectus
•	Rotala Macrandra
•	Rotala Macrandra 'mini butterfly'
•	Echinodorus Tenellus
•	Hydrocotyle Verticillata
•	HC - Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'
•	Bacopa sp. 'Japan'
•	Anubias nana petite
•	Phoenix moss
•	Ammania sp. 'bonsai'
•	Jungle val (not looking so good)

*Hardware:*
•	10G Rimless Starfire AI tank (16x12x12)
•	Aquaclear 20
•	Aquatek CO2 Regulator mini with 24oz Paintball Tank
•	Finnex Fugeray 'Planted+'
•	Netlea Lambo substrate
•	50w heater
•	Cheap glass diffuser (not so good)

Lights & CO2 are on 6 hours a day for now. I'm dosing dry ferts 2-3x a week and Seachem Flourish+ Seachem Flourish Iron 2-3x a week. 30-40% water changes weekly.

Let me know what you guys think, any advice/tips are always welcome.


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## gtgwin (May 4, 2014)

*Progress of Tank*

http://imgur.com/a/4YOZb

I will update later.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Looks awesome !
Hard to believe that is your first planted !!!


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## Dee2010 (Mar 26, 2013)

Looking good there for your first planted, keep it up!!


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## gtgwin (May 4, 2014)

Bullet said:


> Looks awesome !
> Hard to believe that is your first planted !!!





Dee2010 said:


> Looking good there for your first planted, keep it up!!


Thanks!!I feel like rescaping but I think I'll hold off for a while


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## cb1021 (Sep 21, 2009)

Looks like you've got some healthy growth. A 10 gallon is pretty small but the plants you have in there are pretty big. You can try creating a sense of scale (make your tank look bigger, right now it looks like a 5 gallon) by choosing plants that have finer textures, meaning smaller leaved plants. Also add some red plants.


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## tonytwist (Feb 12, 2015)

What type of plant is that carpeting the bottom?


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## gtgwin (May 4, 2014)

cb1021 said:


> Looks like you've got some healthy growth. A 10 gallon is pretty small but the plants you have in there are pretty big. You can try creating a sense of scale (make your tank look bigger, right now it looks like a 5 gallon) by choosing plants that have finer textures, meaning smaller leaved plants. Also add some red plants.


Actually most of plants have small leaves except for the Rotala Macrandra which I want to replace with sp. butterfly once I can get it nice and bushy. Any suggestions for other narrow/small leaved plants?

And yeah I wanna add some red plants too but I think I need better light. The marcrandra's tips only get red once it grows up to the water line. I'm think of putting some A.R. mini near the front somewhere.

Thanks for the tips!



tonytwist said:


> What type of plant is that carpeting the bottom?


That is Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'


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