Florida 10g Native Aquarium Journal

[ArthurLK11]

I'm hoping to use this thread as a live journal as my 10g Florida native aquarium continues to take shape and grow. The goal is to have it be a heavily planted tank that mimics some of the marshy conditions I regularly fish at. I'll try to update it regularly as changes occur. 

 

Last Saturday (9/14) I set everything up. It has a small sponge filter, black sand as the substrate, a piece of driftwood, Helanthium tenellum, Bacopa caroliniana, and Mayaca fluviatilis. I also added some fertilizer for the plants and bacteria to give the nitrogen cycle a head start. 

 

The plants are struggling a bit, but I hear that's normal as the plants adjust to new water conditions. I've kept some aquariums before, but never anything with live plants. My last experience with aquariums was a 2.5g betta aquarium about 15 years ago. I'm hoping the plants take off and can really cover a lot of the aquarium, especially the filter and back wall. I'd like to add some invertebrates first and hope they can start reproducing before I add any fishes. It would be great if some of the invertebrates could become naturally sustaining, but I don't have high hopes for that. I'm thinking some Palaemonetes paludosus would be great as well as some amphipods. 

 

As far as fish stocking, I'm still not sure. My original plan was a single Enneacanthus gloriosus with a small group of Heterandria formosa. Then I thought of replacing the Heterandria formosa with some Lucania goodei due to their larger size. I'm worried the Enneacanthus gloriosus will eat the Heterandria formosa. Now I'm thinking of doing a group of Heterandria formosa and Lucania goodei with a duo of Etheostoma fusiforme. There are too many decisions here, but I still have some time. 

 

Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome. I'd particularly appreciate any suggestions about the plants as that is something completely foreign to me. I've never even kept houseplants. 

[Beach Cruiser]

Welcome to the hobby! 

As far as advice: get a good all in one fertilizer (some are made for fish heavy tanks & assume you have plenty of nitrogen and phosphate).  Check yours & make sure NPK are all covered. 

Do weekly 25-50% water changes. 

Have your light on a timer & no more than 8hrs to begin. Go down if algae gets bad. 

It will take a few months for the plants to really fill in.  Cut the top couple inches & plant that too when they hit the surface. 

Heavily browse the journals here to see what works in similar tanks. Florida water tends to be pretty hard. You may need to add iron if you see plants turning pale/yellow.

Patience is key! Nothing good happens fast in a planted tank. Change one thing at a time & wait a few weeks to the effect.

Best of luck from a Florida native who left years ago! 😁

Edited 20 hours ago by Beach Cruiser

[Lynaea]

Cool tank, you might want to add an ammonia source if you haven’t already.  That will speed up the cycle and help your plants some too. Here’s a good primer on Fishless cycling.
Good luck!  Looking forward to updates.