Help With Planted 5.5 Gal 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 lighting.
I'm a newbie to the planted tank thing.
Any info at all would be helpful. Thank you so much!

 

I've always had good luck with plain old sand! You can get it in black easily.

As for the light bulb you want something that's at least 6500K. 5000K doesn't cover the spectra that chlorophyll responds to.

I would not get swords, except maybe pygmy chain swords. They have enormous root systems and will eat your tank!

 

Thank you SO much for your input!
If you could answer any of these additional questions so would be super grateful.
I know nothing about the planted thing but would love to learn.
Any thing else I can add? Like fertilizer?
Any plants that can possibly grow with my light?
I can handle crazy growth and plants that spread like crazy, the tank is in my room (so I see it every night, I honestly love maintaining the tank) and I can handle maintenance.
Any super easy plants that you know of?
Also any cheap small lights that would fit in my tiny hood that fits fits the basic incandescent light bulbs?
I'm open to any info anyone would like to give. Thank you so much!!!

 

Any thing else I can add? Like fertilizer?
-Yes! But don't add too much or you risk an algae outbreak. I like to use a half dose in low tech tanks and work my way up. I usually just use the micronutrients.

Any plants that can possibly grow with my light?
-Algae

I can handle crazy growth and plants that spread like crazy, the tank is in my room (so I see it every night, I honestly love maintaining the tank) and I can handle maintenance.
-You probably won't get crazy growth in a low tech tank but depending on what light you get you might have decent growth with things like Hygrophila polysperma and corkscrew vallisneria.

Any super easy plants that you know of?
-Hygrophila polysperma, vallisneria, Java fern, dwarf lily, Java moss, Aponogeton...

Also any cheap small lights that would fit in my tiny hood that fits fits the basic incandescent light bulbs?
-I'm bad, I like to order customized "corncob" style LEDs off eBay with the base that fits my fixture and the colour temperature that works for my plants. They're not CSA approved but I can't get them here otherwise

I'm open to any info anyone would like to give. Thank you so much!!!

-You're welcome! If I think of anything else I try to come back and tell you

 

What fertilizer do you recommend? Also any light suggestions for my tank? Just nothing super expensive and they have to fit my basic cheap hood.

 

That will depend on several factors but you can't go wrong with a good micronutrient blend. I used Nutrafin Plant Gro with iron and had good results, even my red dwarf lily coloured up nicely!

What kind of bulb does your hood take?

 

That will depend on several factors but you can't go wrong with a good micronutrient blend. I used Nutrafin Plant Gro with iron and had good results, even my red dwarf lily coloured up nicely!

What kind of bulb does your hood take?

My hood only goes up to 15 Watt and takes a small bulb (the size of the cheap incandescent fish tank bulbs)

 

Great! Because of the higher light output of LEDs and CFLs for the wattage you can put a lot of light on your tank without overloading the circuits.

This is the type that I use, though I tend to go bigger. This bulb is only 5 watts but be careful how big you go. I put a 12 watt of these on a tall 8 gallon and nearly blasted my betta out of the water!

Helps if you add the link...

 

Great! Because of the higher light output of LEDs and CFLs for the wattage you can put a lot of light on your tank without overloading the circuits.

This is the type that I use, though I tend to go bigger. This bulb is only 5 watts but be careful how big you go. I put a 12 watt of these on a tall 8 gallon and nearly blasted my betta out of the water!

Helps if you add the link...

That bulb you linked? Is that the one I should use? Is that the best set up for my small tank?
I'm sorry but i'm close to clueless when it comes to these lights. I know hardly the basics even though i've tried to read on it for hours.
You honestly don't know how much I appreciate your advice on all this. Especially specifics you listed.

 

You're welcome

If you wanted really specific lights for higher tech setups then I would ask some of the other members here. I'm a low tech girl myself and I've tried many low budget options, often involving retrofits of existing hoods. I had decent success with my plants with one of those cool white corncob bulbs and they are very very bright for their size!

 

You're welcome

If you wanted really specific lights for higher tech setups then I would ask some of the other members here. I'm a low tech girl myself and I've tried many low budget options, often involving retrofits of existing hoods. I had decent success with my plants with one of those cool white corncob bulbs and they are very very bright for their size!

What kind of plants can I grow with this?
I also want to keep my tank low tech.

 

Anubias, Java ferns, java moss, moss balls, Hygrophila (polysperma and difformis), Aponogeton natans, Vallisneria, crypts, etc

 

Anubias, Java ferns, java moss, moss balls, Hygrophila (polysperma and difformis), Aponogeton natans, Vallisneria, crypts, etc

Do you know how much brighter this will be than my current 13w (curly looking) CFL?

 

Probably a fair bit! It's really hard to say exactly because there are so many factors involved. If you just get the 5w then it may be just equivalent to the 13w cfl but if you got a larger LED then it could be a lot brighter! How much room do you have in the hood? What I did was measure the dimensions of the space so I could ensure the bulb I ordered would fit.

 

Here's a better link to show you some of the options available!

 

I'm just unsure of which one to buy. For my little 5.5 gallon. Those descriptions are a bit hard to understand. They don't say anything about growing anything.

 

When you get a plant, see if it's a root feeder or not (just google the name, and look for a care guide). If so, you can buy root tabs that you just stick in the substrate near the plant. Do that once every few months and you're in business.

For example, crypts and swords are heavy root feeders, while anubias and java fern aren't.

I think a 13w bulb like that should work, I use one on my 5.5g but it is 6500K. I use them on both my 5.5g and my 10 gallon in my picture.

 

When you get a plant, see if it's a root feeder or not (just google the name, and look for a care guide). If so, you can buy root tabs that you just stick in the substrate near the plant. Do that once every few months and you're in business.

For example, crypts and swords are heavy root feeders, while anubias and java fern aren't.

I think a 13w bulb like that should work, I use one on my 5.5g but it is 6500K. I use them on both my 5.5g and my 10 gallon in my picture.

what exact light do you use in your 5.5 gallon? and what plants? and what fertilizer? (so I can set mine up identical or get some idea)

 

In my 5.5, I've got some anubias coffeefolia, and some crypt wendtii. The anubias isn't a root feeder, and you don't need to bury the roots, so I just weighed it down with some rocks and driftwood. Crypts are root feeders, so I buried it, then I put a root tab right next to it. I don't use any other fertilizer, but others might have ideas for you.

The root tabs I use I got from amazon, here's the link:



I use a grow light over the tank, so I don't know what your hood will fit, but here's the bulb I use:

 

If you can't find the Kelvin rating then cool white, full spectrum or daylight should work for low light plants. There are no exact answers, sorry

 

my light is labeled daylight but also says 5000k

 

Try to get one at least 6500K. Your plants need more of the blue end of the spectrum. Does only one bulb fit in your hood?

 

Does only one bulb fit in your hood?

Yes only one. It fits a basic lightbulb screw in. Nothing larger than a basic light bulb. Up to 15Watt. The bulb I have is pretty bright. I don't know much about bettas when it comes to their preferences, can too bright of a light be bothersome to them?

 

Yes, but that's easily remedied with floating plants or broad-leaved ones that they can hide under.

 

Yes, but that's easily remedied with floating plants or broad-leaved ones that they can hide under.

I have some duck weed, but the filter pushed it down and sucked up most of it...

 

current plant situation

 

better pic



not sure what that is but it isn't the long things growing


1 of 3 bananas


dunno what that is


and I have that

I also have a moss ball

 

I got the plants in terrible condition, they are still bad but i've only had them less than a week and they are looking better than before

 

The last picture is a Cryptorcoryne, possibly wendtii 'Red'.

Was the other plant you weren't sure of the feathery looking one next to the Elodea? That might be hornwort...

I've had the same trouble with keeping floaters in a tank with a HOB. You might have better luck with floating a stem plant like Hygrophila polysperma or you may have to get creative and make a floating "wall" out of air hose so the plants can't get near the flowing water

 

I agree that at least 1 of them is a crypt, so it's a root feeder, so if you're looking to fertilize it, add a root tab!