5gal Unfiltered Planted Betta Tank?

HaiiI frens! I just joined here yesterday and I don't rly know what I'm doing lol. So just recently I found my old hermit crab tank and it's 5.5 gal and I cleaned it (with no soap obviously lol) and set it up for my male betta in the smaller tank (I have an 8.8gal with my other betta,four tetras and snails) and he's rly enjoying it. I was wondering if I could put live plants in there because I have read in a few places that they do some filtration and you can put them in an unfiltered tank. Is that true? And what plants would be the best? I'm also going to buy a little heater and a light. So please if anyone could help me lol thx

 

If you were to go with live plants as filtration you would need a BUNCH of them like probably enough to almost cover the entire tank.Also how strong is your light?I would recommend water wisteria,very easy ,fast growing,hardy plant

 

I agree with MrCoryCats. You need to cover the entire thing in plants if leaving it unfiltered. Also if you do unfiltered and are not using any sort of pump for water movement, you will need a really nutrient rich gravel like eco complete or clay so the plants get what they need to flourish. Low light plants I've had success with in tanks with standard low light are ludwigia, ferns, moss, Hygro willows, some swords (but they are too big for a 5g) and duckweed. Although duckweed has a bad rep of clogging filters and growing out of control but it eats up nutrients like mad. I personally love the stuff but most people seem to hate it. I have 2 tanks without filters; a 10 gallon shrimp and a 55 gallon community. It took a lot of patients and a few errors before I managed it.

Also with an unfiltered low light tank, you need to be careful with adding extra nutrients for the plants to the water column. It will cause a huge algae outbreak. I personally don't add any at all but I use nutrient rich soils for the stem plants and my fish give off enough waste for the column feeders.

 

Honestly, I'd recommend getting at least a small sponge filter and an air pump/air line to go in the tank. You'd be better off that way, than trying to guess how many plants you'd need and what kind, etc. You could still do a heavily planted tank with a small sponge filter as well.

 

Honestly, I'd recommend getting at least a small sponge filter and an air pump/air line to go in the tank. You'd be better off that way, than trying to guess how many plants you'd need and what kind, etc. You could still do a heavily planted tank with a small sponge filter as well.

I agree. Plus you can totally camouflage the filter behind plants. If you already have cables (light, heater) you might as well add a small filter.

 

HI welcome to FishLore!

 

If you were to go with live plants as filtration you would need a BUNCH of them like probably enough to almost cover the entire tank.Also how strong is your light?I would recommend water wisteria,very easy ,fast growing,hardy plant

Okei! thank you soooooo much!