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Well I am getting a five gallon tank (maybe hex or maybe not ) Anyways I have never owned a planted tank before, or even a live plant, and I would want the least amount of maintenance as possible, or I might just throw in a few fake plants and some fish and call it a day . Or not. I want to look into planting some plants that don't need a lot of light at all, (is that possible ) And what kind of substrate would I use, and this is kinda how I wanted the stocking list to be:
~1 sparkling gourami
~3 long finned leopard danios
~1 guppy (maybe)

Would those fish tear up fake plants? I LOVE long finned leopard danios (the kind that don't exceed two inches ) and if possible would love to have them in the tank, so if they are aggressive to live plants, I would rather just have fake plants.

So in short, um how do I go about planting a five gallon tank? Thanks in advance for future replies

um anyone there?

I personally wouldn't put the danios in a 5g. I think a 10g is too small for them, since they are so active, so to me a 5g is definitely too small...especially a hex.

I'd go with a trio of sparkling gouramis and plant the tank.

I would use either Eco-Complete or Fluorite. You'd only need a bag (probably not even a whole bag) or either. Fluorite must be rinsed many many times to prevent cloudy water (still will probably be cloudy though). Eco doesn't need rinsing and IMO looks better.

For plants, you are pretty limited in that small of a tank. Seriously, if you haven't got the tank yet, I'd go with a 10g instead. Its easier to upgrade the lighting in a 10g with screw in bulbs. If you get around 3 watt per gallon (means 15 watts over a 5g or 30 watts over a 10g of compact fluorescent lighting), I think dwarf hairgrass is a great plant for smaller tanks. Java fern would work on some driftwood. In a 10g, you could get some stem plants in there such as Ludwigia repens, Rotala rotundifolia, and maybe some Ambulia, but you'd have to trim pretty often. I wouldn't put any stem plants in a 5g.

Since you love the danios, I'd go with a 10g. It would be a better choice for them, since they are active.

Here is a quick list of plants that are good for smaller tanks with medium lighting:
*dwarf hairgrass
*pygmy chain sword (echinodorus tennellus)
*rosette sword (echinodorus parviflora "tropica)
*cryptocoryne parva
*cryptocoryne wendtii
*crytpcoryne lutea
*HC (Hemianthus callitrichoides)
*java fern
*anubias nana
*anubias nana petite

Those are just some quick plants I could think of. Go on AquariumPlants.com to look at them. I think they have most of them...they don't have HC though. Then you'll have a picture of what they look like.

I'd pick one foreground plant, a few midground plants (maybe a couple different types of crypts), and 2 or 3 background plants.

Check out Nowherman's thread on his 4g tank. Also there is a 10g thread on here that I think is slick's. They will give you some ideas. Think seriously about a 10g..

*Kristin*

I already have a ten gallon ^_^ Actually in my garage because I couldn't keep it clean, but I find cleaning my 2 gallon much easier. Spending hundreds of dollars on trying to keep that thing clean has pretty much driven me from fishkeeping forever, so I don't think I will be dragging it out anytime soon, unless someone can recommend a CHEAP way to siphon the gravel without sucking on it with your mouth.

um update: looks like I can't get the five gallon now either. Even if I buy it. My parents are so pissed off of at the money I wasted on that stupid ten gallon that they won't let me get another fish tank.