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I was able to pick up a 5 gallon tank with 2 working HOB filters for $5 at a local thrift store, which I plan on placing a single male betta in.

As I'm very inexperienced with live plants, what would be good hardy plants for this setup? No CO2, gravel substrate with flourite? Let's say 1 to 2 watts per gallon.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

The most important thing with plants in a small tank is to avoid ones that will outgrow it and eventually have to be ripped up, or plants that have big leaves - makes the tank look cramped.

Easy plants that work in a small tank are Anubias Nana, Java Moss, or Wendelov Fern (this stays smaller then normal Java Fern). Most crypts make good background plants for a 5 gal they get to just the right height. Some wood or rocks (which you can tie the Anubias and Fern to) will create a natural look and the Betta will have a ball with them.

I have a planted 5gal with a Betta and some WCMM's and they love it. The betta is always nosing around at something.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

I've got mostly crypts and anubias in my five gallon tank, with a few baby java ferns from the mother plant in my ten gallon. I believe I have anubias nana, crypt willisi and lutea... something like that. I stuck mostly to smaller crypts and they work pretty well. Depending on the light fixture you get, you could stick a screw-in compact fluorescent in there and get a decent amount of light.

Last edited by Kitten at 03-Mar-2005 20:20

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

banana plants work well for the bottom too

Hmm... I dunno... my banana plant got HUGE. The floating leaves were 3-4" across and the underwater leaves were only slightly smaller.

And then I reaquascaped and it didn't like that and my beautiful banana plant died.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Thanks for the info.

I'm looking at having as much as a total of 28 watts of lighting, or is this too much, would I be better off with just 14

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Go with less lighting. IME having that much light over such a low bioload with plants is just begging for cyno to move in.
My suggestion is Alternathera reinekii and a blue or dark colored betta....it'd be stunning !

^_^

[hr width='40%']"There’s an emptiness inside her. And she’d do anything to fill it in.
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now. It's more like cold blue ice in her heart.
She feels like kicking out all the windows. And setting fire to this life."

Yeah, cyano WILL attack in this tank with too much lighting. I shoved a screw in compact fluorescent, which gives a decent amount of light, then put in slow-growing low light plants. If you go for more light, I'd suggest adding in something that can grow more quickly than the crypts and anubias I mentioned earlier.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Go with low light. In a tank this size you don't want plants growing too fast.

A 5 gal is usually less then a foot tall. Most stem plants would outgrow this in a week or two.Also in a small tank you don't want to be messing around with supplying nutrients to a high light tank, with only 5 gals of water the tiniest slip on dosage and you've got a mess.

Depending on the plants you choose a 5gal can either look a lot bigger then it is or a lot smaller. Small leaved plants will make it look bigger, big plants and leaves will make it look cramped and small.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Thanks for the info. I'll stick with the 14 watts.

Is the flourite a good idea or would it cause to much or to fast growth? Or do you suggest something else?

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Hi,

For a year now i've been experimentig with small planted tanks, what iv'e come to find is that since they can't have a large light source if you put really rich nutrient substrate, at one point or another you can end up with an excess nutrient in the tank, causing an algae bloom.

I recommend a neutral substrate like fine pea gravel and dose ferts on plant demands, you can always get tabs or liquid and they will work just as well as a high nutrient substrate.