First time, low-tech/budget planted, advice welcomed

[jirunta]

Hey guys,

So, after having gone cold turkey from my MTS about year ago, finally stumbled across a beautiful planted tank picture about a month ago which forced me to relapse and want to get another planted tank set up again. But this time I wanted something a little more challenging. I'm done with java moss on driftwood :P My new setup is going to be super low budget (full-time student) but hopefully I can get decent results :S.

I'm planning on doing DIY CO2, with maybe a glass bell if I can find one cheap, or make one myself if I can find a place in the tank to hide it :P.

Lighting I'm aiming to do 30-40Ws, maybe 2x 15W or 20W bulbs? I wanted to do 20W bulbs cause its a 10 gallon but I don't know if that'll be too much light, and I don't want to deal with algae X_X.

This part is the part I'm most concerned about. I'm planning on doing the Walstad type substrate, with just like an inch of potting soil and another inch of maybe play sand, or white sand if I can find it. And maybe try to scape with some big rocks/Manzanita if I come across it.

And that's pree much as far as I've gotten on the pre-planning. Now my question to everyone is... Does anyone see potential problems in my plan if I'm trying to grow a carpet of HC and maybe Fire moss/Riccia? I'm trying to keep to low-moderate level difficulty plants. Any suggestions with pictures of other plants would be very much welcomed too. Or any suggestions or comments about anything else too :P.

Thanks for looking!

[neven]

2x13 watts is wht id recommend with co2, without co2 stick with 1x21 watts

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[liquid_krystale]

I've been successfully growing Java fern in my low tech tank (no soil, just gravel, aqua glo 20 w and no frets). Might want to look into that since they're nice small-med sized plants.

[TomC]

I would dose with flourish excel (or metricide) instead of DIY co2.

[jirunta]

I would dose with flourish excel (or metricide) instead of DIY co2.

Pardon the noob question but what is Flourish Excel or Metricide?

[Momobobo]

Liquid Carbon which you dose like liquid fertilizer supplements as a carbon source for your plants.

[jirunta]

Is that expensive? Will I know how to keep track of how much I dose the tank with? Will it be safe for shrimps I may want to have in the future?

Barrage of questions ended :P

[cdsgo1974]

I just switched to pressurized CO2 so I have a big bottle of yeast that I no longer need. You can have it if you wish to go with DIY. I'm also getting rid of some stem plants that I bought from King Eds when I started in the summer. These plants were what I used for my trial & error period. I can give them to you for you to do your trial & error. From my experience, the tank stabilizes after about a month. In short, you may lose some plants in the beginning so I would suggest not investing on expensive plants just yet.

Anyway, PM me if you're interested in my offers. I'm being generous now because people in the forum have been generous to me too so I'm simply passing it on.

[neven]

jirunta, in the co2 sticky in this section there is a write up about both metricide and excel.

personally i bought a medicine syringe from save on foods, comes with a bottle stopper that perfectly fits an airline tube to help draw liquid from the bottom of a bottle. that way i dose the exact amount needed

[bigfry]

I would dose with flourish excel (or metricide) instead of DIY co2.

Ditto.

Boxing day/week is the best time to buy flourish excel and other stuffs.