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If I were to put together a 5 gallon tank for just a betta, using Eco-Complete Substrate, what kind of lighting would I need to grow Micro-Sword? What kind of light would go over a 5 gallon that would be appropriate for the intensity needed?

I don't want to use any kind of CO2 on such a small tank. I prefer to use Excel. With higher lighting and plants that demand higher lighting, will daily dosing of Excel work?

What other plants should I consider for such a tank? I like the carpet effect of MicroSword.

The main issue IME with lighting tanks that small is that the WPG rule becomes useless - a 1 watt christmas bulb over a liter of water, although technically 4 wpg, isn't quite what I'd call high light!
So the best bet is to start with a good bit of light and be prepared to augment a bit. You can easily retrofit a 13 watt bulb into the hood, which is a good place to start to keep new-tank algae at a minimum. From there you can point desk lamps with screw in PCs at the side of the tank or retrofit another strip if you can find a way to put it on the tank. For microsword I'd get to at least 40 watts with a bit of an aged substrate. However, you could do dwarf hairgrass with much less and it's a better height for a small tank, I think.
Excel's fine, just be careful of overdosing.

Small tank plants:
Stem plants get old FAST when you have to clip them daily, but better ones include H. micranthemoides, Rotala wallichi, and H. zosterifolia.
Dwarf hairgrass is a particular favorite, but other good carpet plants include Glosso, Marsilea, riccia (it should pearl pretty well with Excel), etc.
Crypts can be striking in small tanks, but I'd keep away from even the smallest swords (even E. tenellus looks a tad absurd in a small tank, IME). A. nana is great but A. sp "Petite" is even better, and can make a great carpet though it'll take some time.

Last edited by LittleMousling at 14-Dec-2004 20:42

-Molly
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Ahhh - Riccia, - that was another I really wanted to plant.

I'm thinking if I experiment in the 5 gallon, I'll learn more about how to handle it with bigger tanks. I can't go bigger right now and am limited, but I'm dying to work with other plants.

Thanks for the comment about stem plants. I don't want to have stuff in there that couldn't handle me being gone for a week an coming back to a jungle.

What I like about Microsword is that it looks like grass. I like that effect. Isn't the dwarf hairgrass more stiff/spikey? Can you post pics of what you have?

Which anubias are you speaking of. I have one species of anubias, but not sure which. I think it was just called anubias nana.

Dwarf hairgrass isn't really terribly grass-like but it carpets beautifully. I didn't manage to get any good shots of my lawn when I was running my 5 gal minibow, but the [link=AGA contest]http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org" style="COLOR: #4040FF[/link] is full of lovely examples. But if you prefer microsword, that's fine as well.

Anubias nana is good, but the rather new A. sp. "petite" is an even smaller type - it's sold on Aquabid with pretty good frequency these days.

-Molly
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Another thing, they now have the mogul (screw in) type fluorescent bulbs, that are as high as 20 watts. They have them as high as 60 watts actually, but just normal wave lengths, not the wave lengths for plants. I have used both the aquarium 20 watts, and the 60 watts over 5 and 10 gal tanks. They work very well. The only problem with the 60 watt is that I had a good growth of hair algae. So you might try a rosy barb in there is you want to try that way. They also make a 40 watt, not aquarium type. You might even try that.

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There is always a bigger fish...

I started another thread on the topic, because I wanted to include discussio of the tank itself and what options I would have.

I also found this compact light I'd like you to look at and tell me what kind of tank this would go on based on the dimensions. I need to stay 8 gallons or less for the dresser it is going on.

Here's that other link - we can carry the discussion over to that thread:

[link=http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Getting%20Started/51607.html]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Getting%20Started/51607.html" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]