New aquarium: too bare/cloudy?

[eggyyes]

Hello! I have a 5 gallon tank with one female betta and two snails. I was wondering if the tank looks cloudy/is it too bare? As in are there enough decorations and plants? I know there’s probably a lot of things wrong with it but I’m trying to do the best I can so if you could give me some insight that would be amazing

 

[DuaneV]

Id definitely add some more stuff. Maybe a nice piece of driftwood and a large plant. We all start somewhere.

 

[eggyyes]

Alrighty thank you sm! I’ll definitely look into that

 

[Guy25]

Not a bad start! I can't quite tell, but what kind of light do you have? It looks like a simple lamp from the photo, maybe try getting a nicer one of amazon - the aquaneat aquarium lights are super cheap, and can do "okayish" at growing plants. They're quite bright so it might help spruce up the aquarium.

You can probably fix the fogginess with a water change too. My opinion would be to add some hardscape ( natural rocks or driftwood ) that can fill some of the empty space and make your tank look really nice! I'd also caution against adding more plants, the substrate ( gravel ) you have isn't the most conducive for plant growth.

Another tip - painting the background black ( or blue or another color really, its up to you ) can help isolate what is IN the tank and make certain aspects really pop Good luck!

 

[eggyyes]

Yea I really need to get a new light because I’m using the LED that came with the tank at the moment. Thanks for the advice!! I’m going to buy some more stuff next week!

 

[mimo91088]

Yea I really need to get a new light because I’m using the LED that came with the tank at the moment. Thanks for the advice!! I’m going to buy some more stuff next week!

Any LED light will grow 90% of plants quite well. The worst LED on the market today is better than the best lights money could buy from 25 years ago, and people kept plants then.

Also, I disagree with above post. You can absolutely add more plants, gravel is fantastic for plant growth.

If you want to load that tank up to the brI'm with plants the only problem you might have is needing to add some ferts once in awhile since you only have the bioload of a betta for natural fertilizer.

 

[eggyyes]

Okay, good to know. That makes it easier hah lights are a tad expensive!

 

[mimo91088]

Okay, good to know. That makes it easier hah lights are a tad expensive!

Yea. Bluetooth apps and changing colors are neat, but it's just extra stuff. Any regular old LED are just fine.