10g NPT Journal - El Natural

musrusticus · 10-04-2011, 09:55 PM

I recently started a 10g NPT. It's been awhile since I've had an aquarium, I previously had a 29g NPT and a 5g that worked out really well. I since moved a long distance and so am starting over.

For this aquarium I used a typical 10g glass tank. Don't have the measurements on hand, but I can get them if someone really wants to know.

Substrate is .5 to .75 inches of Miracle Gro Potting Mix capped with .5 to .75 regular aquarium gravel from PetSmart. I have planted bacopa (moneywort), green mondo grass (yeah, I know, but it's doubled in size, so tell me it won't grow under water; I'll give you photographic evidence it does), red ludwigia, a dwarf lily (nymphaea), corkscrew vals, hornwort, and green-white acorus (this I'm thinking will not grow).

I recently put in a heater which caused all sorts of trouble. Started the aquarium about four weeks ago and added the heater as the temperature dropped last week here in Florida. This has led to pretty cloudy water, though I thought I was getting it pretty easy up until this point as the water was fairly clear until now. Plant growth has picked up significantly, but it's still in the stabilizing phase. The ludwigia grew well at first but has slowed, the mondo grass is growing surprisingly well, and the moneywort is growing. The hornwort grew well at first, but with the recent fluctuation in temperature has decided to shed, so we'll see how that turns out. The acorus isn't doing much, though one of the stalks is trying to put out a runner. I suspect they will die and be replaced with a sword or something similar. They're just so darned pretty, I had to try. The dwarf lily is sprouting (planted as a bulb) and growing well. The corkscrew vals are putting out new leaves but also losing old ones. Could go either with them at this point.

Pictures will be forthcoming and comments are welcome, of course; that's the point, right?

Michael · 10-07-2011, 06:50 AM

Your acorus might make it if it can grow some emersed leaves. This is normally a bog plant that can grow with the roots and lower part of the leaves submersed.

If the mondo grass survives long term, it will be a first. Propagate it!

--Michael

musrusticus · 10-07-2011, 08:46 AM

I keep forgetting to post pics, I'll try to do that this weekend.

The mondo grass is definitely growing and producing new leaves. When I put the heater in, I had to move some of the plants to make room for it and I discovered that the grass has grown some good roots, too, it didn't want to budge to be replanted.

The tips of the acorus are turning brown. They do usually have taller ones that would stick at least two or three inches above the surface of the water, I may pick some of those up and replace the dying ones. Perhaps they'll fare okay.

I can't tell if the hornwort is going to come back or not. It looks like it might be starting to, but it's hard to be sure. The vals are looking pretty good, still some die off of older leaves but the new growth looks pretty healthy.

The ludwigia growth is picking up and the dwarf lily is doing really well. It's starting closing up at night (I had forgotten they do this, it's really cool), so it's definitely happy. The moneywort is growing like moneywort; that stuff is ridiculous. In previous aquariums I've literally trimmed feet of it at a time.

I realize I forgot to include any lighting info in my OP. Lighting is low and simple. I've got a floor lamp over the top with one 100 W equivalent CFL. It's about two and a half feet from the surface of the water. The aquarium is also in a room with a west-facing window with the shades open during the day. It gets indirect sunlight pretty much all day and direct sunlight for an hour or two as the sun starts to set in the evening.

musrusticus · 10-09-2011, 04:19 PM

I've added inhabitants and a Marina i25 submersible filter. Currently there are five guppies and three ghost shrimp. I also spotted a little white worm the other day. It seems the snails died off when the water was clouded. They did leave a lot of eggs behind, though. I also replaced the hornwort.

Here's a pic! You can see how much the mondo grass has grown from when I first put it in.

nkambae · 10-16-2011, 01:20 AM

You have a good start there. It is definitely a learning process and a lot of fun to boot! I would suggest you lose the mondo grass and acorus as they will eventually fail and rot in your tank. A nice alternative might be a pot of crypts planted where the mondo grass is now. Some of the wendtiis have nice reddish, bronze leaves and they don't grow overly large for a 10 gallon. When we talk about lighting it is best to deal with actual wattage instead of equivalents. Your CFL is what... maybe 25 watts? I believe it is largely ineffective at two and a half feet above the aquarium. Your plants are deriving more benefit from the indirect and direct sunlight they receive form your west facing window. I wish you continued success and hope you have fun.

stu

jerilovesfrogs · 10-16-2011, 06:43 AM

i like it so far! i hope everything continues to do well for you. though, as others have stated, the mondo grass probably won't thrive long term.

i can second the crypt wendtii....very pretty. i have a bronze-y one in my 26g, and while it is a slow grower, it has really gotten pretty large in a year. not sure if i could see it in a 10g or not though. but if you planted a little one, it would take some time to get large....then i guess if it did get too big, you could take it out i suppose.

musrusticus · 10-19-2011, 06:16 AM

I have removed the acorus, but the mondo grass is still there. It seems to be doing well so far, if it starts to deteriorate I'll replace it with something else. I was thinking dwarf sag or something similar.

The lily is pretty out of control, I've had to prune it several times already and it's put up at least four crowns. The corkscrew vals have lost pretty much all of their old leaves and a couple of the clumps completely died, but three of them are starting to grow in decently. The ludiwigia is the same, most of the old leaves are gone now and new growth is slowly coming in.

The ghost shrimp all died since last post and one of the guppies swam behind the filter and got stuck there overnight, so I'm down to four guppies. They seem awfully happy, though!

I also have increased lighting. My fiancee recently moved in and she came with a new floor lamp that has one of the flexible arms, so now there's a 23 (I think) watt CFL about six inches above the surface of the water dead center, as well as the ambient light from the room. The previous lamp is also still there, but it's not on all the time.

musrusticus · 02-03-2012, 04:44 PM

So, it's been a while. The mondo grass did indeed start to rot, and it has been removed. I put in a little rock path of sorts in its place. I just added some HC tonight; keeping my fingers crossed that it will spread and give me a carpet.

The bacopa has not fared as well as I had hoped. Most of it died off, but there are still some significant stems floating. The ludwigia, lily, and vals have been doing great. Here's a pic.

musrusticus · 02-19-2012, 11:51 AM

I just finished doing some cleanup on the aquarium and thought I'd take the chance to grab a pic and post an update. The ludwigia was looking a bit charlie foxtrot, so I removed some of the less attractive clumps and replanted clippings. The HC is still deciding if it's happy or not, I think. I do see some new sprouts, but still a fair amount of die off. I've also added a blue dwarf gourami to keep the guppies from breeding out of control. The current residents are two male gups, four female gups, one juvenile gup, the DG, and an unknown number of tadpole snails. Probably twenty to thirty, I'd guess. I try to pull a few out every so often.

Here's a pic.

cojack22 · 02-20-2012, 07:32 PM

I always had problems with ludwigia. The bottom of the plant would start to rot while the top thrived. I was always replanting.