Help With 5.5 Gal Planted Betta Tank!

Need help with ideas on what to plant and substrate. 1 betta, 1 mystery snail
Already have a few plants that were given to me for free. (no idea what they are)
They aren't doing well because I have no idea what i'm doing.
I have a CFL bulb screwed in. (Says 60 watt but only uses 13 watts) 5000K, lights up the whole tank. Hood only allows for small 15 watt bulb. Came with crappy incandescent bulb.
I want some sword looking plants for sure eventually.
I have basic black gravel bought 1 small bag from petsmart about inch maybe a bit more deep.
Have quite a few river stones (probably size of half your palm I guess)
(tank is 5-5.5 gallons I have a heater and a small internal filter. that works for 2-10 gallons)
*** Need help with substrate, Plant ideas, and fertilizer. ***
Want to keep the bottom black or dark colored. Want to keep this low tech, with no co2, and no crazy Not looking to change my hood.
I'm a newbie to the planted tank thing.
Any info at all would be helpful. Thank you so much!

 

Well, different type of plants have different requirements, and maybe they're not suited to the conditions of your tank. Why don't you post a picture of the plants so we can help you ID it. I personally think for a low-tech tank that a 13w CFL is good enough. I myself have a 10 watt LEDstik running my 5.5 gallon.

With your current setup, if you don't want to change substrates, what you could do is to buy root tabs and bury them in your substrate because black sand has no nutrients and some plants, including swords, are extensive root-feeders that need the root tabs/nutritious substrate. Depending on the type of plants you have, you might want to fertilize the water column too because the bioload of 1 betta and 1 snail is smallish and won't be enough to feed the plants. I'm new to planted tanks and fertilizing, so for now, I'm still doing it the easy way by buying all-in-one macro/micro ferts. All I have to do is pump some into the tank, and that's it.

 

I can totally change or add substrate, I just want to keep it dark colored. If you have any specific stocking ideas and fertilizer ideas then feel free to share. Thank you so much for your input!
Also I would like to add the tank gets a small amount of indirect sunlight throughout the day. It's winter tho so the sun isn't out much here .

Currently i'm not at home but tomorrow I'll send pictures of my plants. I got them in pretty bad shape and they are still in bad shape for the most part, but look better than when I got them.
Also what do you have in your tank? Any suggestions?

 

I don't use a special plant substrate myself, so I don't know much about it, but it seems that eco-complete is what people use. I just have good old sand in my tanks with flourish tabs. I plan to do DIY osmocote soon just because it's much inexpensive compared to buying flourish tabs.

If they look better than when you got them, then hey, you're doing a pretty good job! As far as ferts go, I get them from this website where I purchase my plants, and so far my Ludwigia and mosses have been experiencing increasing rates of growth. If you're looking to purchase plants, the website has a pretty good selection and reasonable prices, except they do such a good business that a lot of things are almost always sold out When I want to order plants, I always wait until they restock and then place my order quick or else I won't be able to get what I want to get

My favorite plant is Ludwigia repens. It's a tall stem plant, and under low light (~1.5 WPG) the upper leaves have an orangeish, pinkish color and the lower leaves are light green, with reddish undersides. These plants grow fast, and I have a history of being unsuccessful with plants, so seeing them grow so rapidly encourages me and tells me that I'm not screwing up.

For low light conditions, mosses are always good. I have Java moss and Xmas moss in my tank, and I prefer Xmas moss because it's a deeper shade of green and its growth pattern is more organized with it branching to the sides. Java moss is a lighter shade of green and grows pretty haphazardly in my opinion and gets messy.

Another one of my favorites is bucephalandra, a type of rhizome plant. They can be pretty uncommon in the hobby and costs more than most plants, but they are stunning. The leaves have an iridescent quality to it, and their wavy, rough leaves add texture to any scape. Their leaves also feature tiny white spots that add to their beauty. I buy mine online because I found a good website, and I haven't seen the LFS near my house sell them. They're slow growers, so it's always exciting to see a new leaf pop from the rhizome.

I have some sword plants that came from my cousin's tank, and for some reason they have really long, skinny leaves. I recently acquired a red ozelot sword, and I find the broad leaves to my liking. It might look too big for your 5.5 gallon, however.

Other plants usually recommended for a low light tank include anubias, crypts (they are notorious for melting all the time though), java fern (this might look too big for a 5.5 gallon as well). I recall that vallisneria and dwarf sagittaria are categorized as low-light plants too, but I haven't had any luck with them.

 

THANK YOU!!! Oh my goodness thank you oh so much! This is exactly what I needed!!
(what does melting mean in terms of plants? lol)

 

A lot of plants melt a little when they're introduced to a new aquarium and is in the process of adjusting to the new water. What happens is the old leaves start to wilt, but new growth should pop up pretty soon. As soon as there is substantial new growth, you want to trim off the old, dying leaves so that the plant can focus its resources towards growing new leaves rather than keeping the old leaves alive. There is some general rule about trimming the old leaves, I believe I read that it was something along the lines of keeping at least 4 green leaves on the plant. Crypts, however, are notorious for melting totally (like until there's absolutely nothing left), but people say that as long as the roots are there, they do make a comeback.

 

Oh my goodness I knew none of that, you are a godsend. Thank you oh so much for all this info. My poor plants i'm keeping are suffering because of me i'm sure. Idk what are all the types I have but I have some sort of "banana" I believe it's called banana plant, and a moss ball. I'll try to ID the others.

 

I begun my planted tank journey just about two months ago, and I'm so glad that I can help you out! It's exactly what forums are for Banana plants are supposedly low-tech plants too, but make sure that you don't bury the green banana-looking thing because I read that the plant can die if you bury it. Moss balls are adorable. I've always wanted some, but I hear that they don't do so hot in higher temperatures and prefer cooler ones. Also, if you ever decide to dose carbon in the form of seachem excel, mind that it may kill the moss ball because the ingredient in excel is a derivative of glutaraldehyde, which some aquascapers like to utilize as an algaecide. The moss ball, contrary to its name, is not actually moss; it's a ball of algae and as such, will not fare well with excel dosings.

 

Oh wow, my poor little moss ball could die. That would be upsetting! Yeah i've had the thing for awhile in my other tank (that tank is a mess to be honest, but that's a discussion for another forum). The moss ball hasn't done anything since I got it. No growth yet no death. It just chills at the bottom.

 

Moss balls are real slow growers. They only grow a couple of mm a year or something. I wish all algae grew that slow! My 5.5 gallon and 10 gallon is always manageable when it comes to algae; there's only a negligible amount that doesn't really bug me, but my 20 gallon is always overrun with algae. I have to scrub that thing every week and every time I brush it down, the water will be so cloudy with algae I can't even see my fish.

 

I have been experimenting with plants for a few months now, and the easiest so far has been java fern. It makes babies all the time and I've started tying them to my driftwood and it's pretty cool. I just got a lacy java fern and it's doing great as well. I love the banana plants and apparently some bettas like to push them around, Mine just likes to hang around it. My dwarf lily is taking hold and is another fav. Lastly, I wanted to give a crypt plant a shot (the especially melty ones when newly transplanted), so I got a brown wendtiI and it just opened a third leaf. I was sure I would kill everything, but so far so good! Good luck!

 

thank you so much! what do you use for fertilizer or substrate (or both)?

 

The tall plant is anacharis, and it's an easy plant. It's a fast grower, I believe you can propagate it by trimming the top and replanting it. It's also known to be effective in absorbing excess nitrates. It can be grown rooted, but it can also be a floating plant.

The second plant is some type of a root-feeder. I want to say that it's some type of a crypt, but I can't be sure because tbh I've never been the best and identifying plants, and yours look quite different than pictures I've seen of crypts. It might be a different species I've never seen a picture of before, who knows That plant could use some root tabs!

After doing a reverse search, it is a crypt! Cryptocoryne wendtiI bronze

 

thank you so much! what do you use for fertilizer or substrate (or both)?

I have plant substrate in my large community tank, but in my betta tanks I have recycled glass rocks (quite smooth) and java fern and anubias are both just as happy with that.

Oh and I was thinking that was a pic of a wendtiI but I didn't trust myself!

 

Tomorrow I can properly post pics of my actual tank.
You don't fertilize?
Also I would love to see a pic of your planted betta tanks!

 

Need help with ideas on what to plant and substrate. 1 betta, 1 mystery snail
Already have a few plants that were given to me for free. (no idea what they are)
They aren't doing well because I have no idea what i'm doing.
I have a CFL bulb screwed in. (Says 60 watt but only uses 13 watts) 5000K, lights up the whole tank. Hood only allows for small 15 watt bulb. Came with crappy incandescent bulb.
I want some sword looking plants for sure eventually.
I have basic black gravel bought 1 small bag from petsmart about inch maybe a bit more deep.
Have quite a few river stones (probably size of half your palm I guess)
(tank is 5-5.5 gallons I have a heater and a small internal filter. that works for 2-10 gallons)
*** Need help with substrate, Plant ideas, and fertilizer. ***
Want to keep the bottom black or dark colored. Want to keep this low tech, with no co2, and no crazy Not looking to change my hood.
I'm a newbie to the planted tank thing.
Any info at all would be helpful. Thank you so much!

I skimmed through, but some of the plants already listed are going to be much too large or invasive in a 5.5g. Plants that are going to work well and fit in such a small tank are going to be

Java Fern Narrow (By taking all of the small ferns that will grow on the leafs and tying their rhizomes to a single rock or piece of driftwood will make a sword-like plants as it bushes out without taking over your tank)
Java Fern Needle (Less sword-like, more grasslike except bigger in a small tank)
African Fern (Bolbitis heudelotii)
Anubias BarterI Nana
Anubias BarterI Nana Petite (smallest Anubias plant 1/4" - 1/2" leaf)
Java Moss
Christmass Moss
Weeping Moss
Flame Moss
Cryptocoryne Parva (Needs fertilization to the roots either from substrate or root tabs. This plant may do well for you, or it may not. Some have trouble growing under lower light, but I haven't)
Rotala Green

I can post a picture of what I mean when I say the Java Fern Narrow will resemble an amazon sword without being too large if you'd like, and remember with whatever plants you do decide on to look at their maximum height - same as when stocking fish - because plants like Ludwigia Repens will quickly outgrow your tank, same as most amazon swords, although at a slower pace.

Also, all the plants I listed will be tied to either rocks or driftwood so you don't have to change your substrate aside from Cryptocoryne Parva and Rotala Green. These you would want to push root tabs into your substrate. It would probably not be a good decision at all to use a planted tank substrate as all of these plants feed from the water column except for those two and require very little aside from sparse nutrient dosing 2x a week to look their healthiest, and for the first few months you wouldn't need to dose any nutrients so long as you changed water weekly. If you do still wish to change substrate use Eco Complete for a tank that's already established and monitor your pH for a slight increase over the first week, performing small water changes. Using Eco Complete in this case would be ideal as it isn't a complete substrate, as it contains no macro nutrients and won't spike nitrates or phosphates.

 

I skimmed through, but some of the plants already listed are going to be much too large or invasive in a 5.5g. Plants that are going to work well and fit in such a small tank are going to be

Java Fern Narrow (By taking all of the small ferns that will grow on the leafs and tying their rhizomes to a single rock or piece of driftwood will make a sword-like plants as it bushes out without taking over your tank)
Java Fern Needle (Less sword-like, more grasslike except bigger in a small tank)
African Fern (Bolbitis heudelotii)
Anubias BarterI Nana
Anubias BarterI Nana Petite (smallest Anubias plant 1/4" - 1/2" leaf)
Java Moss
Christmass Moss
Weeping Moss
Flame Moss
Cryptocoryne Parva (Needs fertilization to the roots either from substrate or root tabs. This plant may do well for you, or it may not. Some have trouble growing under lower light, but I haven't)
Rotala Green

I can post a picture of what I mean when I say the Java Fern Narrow will resemble an amazon sword without being too large if you'd like, and remember with whatever plants you do decide on to look at their maximum height - same as when stocking fish - because plants like Ludwigia Repens will quickly outgrow your tank, same as most amazon swords, although at a slower pace.

Also, all the plants I listed will be tied to either rocks or driftwood so you don't have to change your substrate aside from Cryptocoryne Parva and Rotala Green. These you would want to push root tabs into your substrate. It would probably not be a good decision at all to use a planted tank substrate as all of these plants feed from the water column except for those two and require very little aside from sparse nutrient dosing 2x a week to look their healthiest, and for the first few months you wouldn't need to dose any nutrients so long as you changed water weekly. If you do still wish to change substrate use Eco Complete for a tank that's already established and monitor your pH for a slight increase over the first week, performing small water changes. Using Eco Complete in this case would be ideal as it isn't a complete substrate, as it contains no macro nutrients and won't spike nitrates or phosphates.

Thanks you so much!!! That was really quite detailed information and i'm very thankful!
Would you happen to know if my light is okay? or any cheapy bulbs that could fit in my unfortunate hood?

 

Your CFL light should grow the plants I listed. I've used similar CFL lighting to grow plants. If you don't already have, you'll want a timer that would would then plug your light into so it runs automatically because I can promise you'll have algae like mad if you aren't using a timer, then set it for 6 - 8 hours.

Other than that LED lighting is what I primarily use.

 

current tank situation



I got the plants in terrible condition, they are better than they were for sure.. but still bad

 

Plants usually do look worse before they look better. I'd move them towards the back left, towards the corner, as Anacharis will be more a background plant. Well, I'd do that after you make up your mind on what plants you're going to get.

Cool rocks!

 

Plants usually do look worse before they look better. I'd move them towards the back left, towards the corner, as Anacharis will be more a background plant. Well, I'd do that after you make up your mind on what plants you're going to get.

Cool rocks!

Honestly i'm not sure what i'm going to plant and do in this tank yet, I do want to add more plants and add some drift wood. These plants were free and really torn up when I received them. It's a trial run with these.

 

That crypt looks like it's going to float away any time now do root it. The plant in the front right-hand corner doesn't seem to be doing well at all

Other than that, I must note that your heater is not fully submerged. Some models of heater can overheat if not fully submerged, make sure yours will be okay with the top protruding out of water!.

 

That crypt looks like it's going to float away any time now do root it. The plant in the front right-hand corner doesn't seem to be doing well at all

Other than that, I must note that your heater is not fully submerged. Some models of heater can overheat if not fully submerged, make sure yours will be okay with the top protruding out of water!.

It's roots are under a rock, sort of... Still a work in progress...
The plant in the right corner was given to me when it was fully brown, it's actually grown a little in my tank.
My heater is an odd one (elite brand) I got from a breeder along with this used tank/hood. The heater hangs on the back, sometimes I worry about it, but it's used so if it goes out I can quickly pick up a new one, before any damage is done to my betta, Petsmart isn't very far from me.

(my other tank the heater suctions on the side (like normal ones lol) and I push it to the middle of the tank, it's fully submerged but thank you, if this heater would have been the same kind you could have saved me some real time and money