10 gallon guppy tank

[LuminousAphid]

Hey everyone, I thought I would share another one of my small tanks, maybe get some advice and maybe give some people some ideas.

I originally got this tank to replace one I had for years which got a crack in the bottom. Yay for $1 per gallon sale! It has been set up for probably almost a year now, and I am finally beginning to be happy with the way it's looking. I was trying to go for a single-plant tank a la Aquarium Co-Op's display tank, which has always seemed nice and simple looking to me. I decided to go for something a little different, and I have always liked the 'spiral' val that I have, so I have been trying to get lots of this species of val to grow. For a long while I was sort of neglecting all of my tanks, not using fertilizer to provide micronutrients, so the spiral val was having a hard time getting going. Now it's finally taken root well and is starting to put out runners more regularly, so it's time to start a journal and see how things progress.

Here's the tank this one replaced, I kind of wish I had set this one up the same way;

And here is the new one as it is today;

Some things I am doing different with this tank-
Substrate is 1/2 black sand and 1/2 crushed coral to raise hardness for guppies. Also much shallower substrate
Siamese algae eater to keep the place clean
A couple of seryu stones in the middle to add interest
Only a couple of types of plants- Spiral val and Java Moss
The HOB filter is off to one side of the tank instead of on the back, i think it provides better flow coverage throughout the tank

I will keep this updated every couple of weeks to see how the plants are growing and everything. I really want to see this tank just filled with that spiral val, enough that I can take the rock w/ moss out and just have the spiral val. Also I might go for something other than guppies at some point--maybe a pea puffer, i have been thinking about getting one of those guys for a while now

edit; i figured out how to get my dumb old camera phone to take slightly better pictures

 

[cichlid-gal]

I don't know much about Vals and haven't had a lot of luck with them. I know Vals supposedly don't like Excel, at least that's what I've heard. I've also read that Vals like nitrates, light, and do well in gravel substrate. Other than that I'm clueless. My low tech tanks have swords, anubias and javas. I struggle with the javas for some reason.

 

[LuminousAphid]

i have had issues with java fern too, i think it likes low light and can get burned with too much light. it really likes being in my single cfl tiny tank, but not in my LED lit 20, so i think that might be the issue.

i have heard the excel thing too, but have also heard it is a myth, and that if you slowly acclimate them to an excel regimen that they will still do ok. someone claimed that the sudden increase in the excel is what kills val, not necessarily just the presence of excel. I haven't done tests to verify either claim, because I don't want my plants to die haha. This species--whatever it is, I don't know-- is more sensitive than your usual jungle val, but now that it is acclimated to lower light it has stopped melting and is now growing and sending out runners. It does seem to like this black gravel, because the roots seem happy, and I don't know whether the crushed coral affects it one way or the other.

 

[pbmax]

Jungle Vals have completely taken over my 20g cory tank. I have to yank them out pretty regularly. They seem to be growing a bit slower in sand than they were before in gravel (I did gradual substrate swap in that tank), but they're still fast growers and seem pretty happy. I add dry ferts in solution once a week and it has a finnex fugeray over it. I do avoid excel in that tank, but I don't have any real algae issues in there so it doesn't seem to matter.

Java fern hates me too. It's doing OKAY in my 29g, but it's a fail everywhere else. This may be due to faster growers around it... I dunno. It just sits and languishes, never quite disappearing all together.

In any case, you're off to a good start! :spoton: you'll be up to your ears in vals before you know it.

 

[LuminousAphid]

Update on this tank;

Got some good growth on the val, it is starting to really take off like I want it to. I also moved the rock with java moss over to one side, but I think I will eventually take that out of this tank... don't know where I will put it, though. I also put a couple of ratty-looking marimo balls in here from my 20 gallon, because they weren't doing well probably due to too much light.

I am having some green hair algae issues, but I believe that is just due to overfertilizing a bit. Also could be a symptom of too little flow, since I have a small HOB filter only on this tank.

By the way, anyone have any ideas on the species of val I have here?

 

[MRTom]

Isn't that corkscrew val?

 

[LuminousAphid]

Yeah it is, but from what I can tell online it's one of those things where the classification is all confused... there doesn't seem to be a consensus on whether there is one species of spiral-looking val, or two, or maybe more. I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as it looks nice! I really like the corkscrew look of it, so that is as good a name as any, Tom

 

[MRTom]

I hear ya on the confusion. Maybe one of the plant experts will pop in for an opinion later on