Planted Aquarium Setup

I been considering dwarf hairgrass or dwarf baby tears for my carpeting plant for my 5 gallon aquarium. The tank will have 1 betta in it. I was wondering, which is a better option for me? I heard using flourish excel will help the plant grow much better since I have no way of getting CO2. I will be using eco complete for my substrate.

How much inches of the substrate would I need?
Any tips on how to grow a thick carpet?
Dwarf hairgrass or dward baby tears?

 

I would suggest at least 2" of substrate but more won't hurt especially if you decide you want to add some other plants with more extensive roots (say 2 at the front sloping up to now at the back). Both of those plants require fairly strong lighting along with the excel. You may also consider fertilizing. IME dwarf hair is a tad easier to grow, though baby tears may be easier with the shallower water allowing higher PAR at the substrate level.

 

I would suggest at least 2" of substrate but more won't hurt especially if you decide you want to add some other plants with more extensive roots (say 2 at the front sloping up to now at the back). Both of those plants require fairly strong lighting along with the excel. You may also consider fertilizing. IME dwarf hair is a tad easier to grow, though baby tears may be easier with the shallower water allowing higher PAR at the substrate level.

if I were to use the excel, can I use it while the fish is still inside? what are some DOs and DONTs with using products like excel

 

Yes you'll want to use the excel daily/or every other day, it doesn't bother fish so long as you don't use more than required for plant growth. With such a small tank you will want to get a dropper marked with ml as you'll probably need less than 1ml especially if you're only putting the carpet in. Your beets would appreciate a taller plant too to hang around. You can also use Excel (or hydrogen peroxide)for spot treatment of algae.

 

Yes you'll want to use the excel daily/or every other day, it doesn't bother fish so long as you don't use more than required for plant growth. With such a small tank you will want to get a dropper marked with ml as you'll probably need less than 1ml especially if you're only putting the carpet in. Your beets would appreciate a taller plant too to hang around. You can also use Excel (or hydrogen peroxide)for spot treatment of algae.

the direction of the excel says, 5ml for every 10 gallon for a newly setup tank, so I should be putting 2.5ml on my brand new tank. Since according to the direction, it should be safe for me to put 2.5ml of excel onto my new tank with fish in it on day 1 right?

 

Ah, yes if that's the case. I think I was thinking of prime with the smaller dose. Other seachem products often seem to be at 5 to 50 or more like prime but if your Excel label says 2.5 that would be safe. If you've got driftwood or large rocks I would knock it to 2 as those plus the substrate are reducing your tank water volume. But are the directions different for a stable tank (you mentioned this was the amount for a new setup?

 

Ah, yes if that's the case. I think I was thinking of prime with the smaller dose. Other seachem products often seem to be at 5 to 50 or more like prime but if your Excel label says 2.5 that would be safe. If you've got driftwood or large rocks I would knock it to 2 as those plus the substrate are reducing your tank water volume. But are the directions different for a stable tank (you mentioned this was the amount for a new setup?

yea so the direction says 5ml for 10 gallon on the new tank and 5ml for every 50 gallons which is roughly .5ml for my 5 gallon tank

 

If you want babe tears, you could go with Monte Carlo. It is very similar, just it has larger leaves and is less demanding.