Starting a freshwater planted aquarium from scratch as a beginner! What plants, substrate, or water fertilizer should I get?

Hi! I am starting a live aquarium in a 5 gallon tank completely from scratch for a male Betta fish! I just got my new tank in the mail and will be purchasing plants today. From the limited amount of research I have done, I am planning on getting Java Moss, Java Fern, Amazon Sword, Anacharis, and/or Anubias. I am definitely a novice aquarium/fish owner, so I need all the help I can get! (I have a decent amount of experience with gardening on land though) Don't hold back on critiques/advice/information!

Java Moss:
I want to get Java Moss to attach to a plastic pineapple decoration that my Betta loves because I'm afraid the fronds on the pineapple are too sharp for his delicate fins! What type of glue can I use to attach the moss? I have all purpose Krazy Glue that contains cyanoacrylate and KDS nail glue that also contains cyanoacrylate. Will the moss even attach to the plastic decoration? Should I also get a water fertilizer for this plant?

Java Fern:
Does this plant need to be attached to a decoration or can I bury it in substrate just below its rhizome? Does it need a water fertilizer? Root tabs?

Amazon Sword:
Does this plant need an active substrate or will it do fine in an inert substrate? What about root tabs? I read that this plant has an extensive root system, so how deep should my substrate be?

Anacharis:
Does this plant need an active substrate? Root tabs?

Anubias:
Does it need an active substrate? Root tabs?

Overall Questions:
If an active substrate is needed for any of these plants, do you have suggestions for what brand I should get, preferably cheap and available at a pet store?
If I can get by using an inert substrate, what type should I purchase? Rough gravel, sand, pebbles?
Do I need a water fertilizer?
Do I need root tabs?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

You'll want water fertilizer for all of the above, except the sword will benefit a lot from root tabs.

They will all do fine in plain inert gravel, as long as you put root tabs under your sword. The sword is the only one that will care about substrate, and it will prefer gravel over sand. The active substrates could be slightly better, but your fertilizers (and fish poop) will provide the necessary nutrients for your plants to grow in inert substrate, especially if you're not using co2.

Java moss: super glue with cyanoacrylate will work

Java fern: Preferably attached but you could have it on the gravel, better to just weigh it down on the gravel so it can root itself.

Amazon sword: at least 2-3" of substrate, root tabs

Anacharis: You can let it float or plant it, but sometimes it rots where you plant it.

Anubias: You can attach it or plant it below the rhizome.

 

Anubias and Java Fern both have ribosomes, and need to be exposed. You can attach them, or let them float free. A good way to find more plants, I've found, is go on a site that sells aquatic plants and have a look at their low-light plants. (For me, lighting is 100% the hardest part, and most low-light plants are very easy.)

Sand, dirt, or small pebbles are best for substrate, and there's no plant that 'needs' an active substrate - as they're going to wear out eventually, I'd just go with root tabs. I'm going to use black diamond blasting sand, because it looks good, is inert, and is heavier than most sand, which makes it easier to plant in. It's made from coal slag, is safe for aquariums, and you can get it at places like tractor supply. It's very cheap on the east coast, (around 8$ for 50lbs, 4 times what you need for a 5 gal) but might be more expensive on the west coast. I know someone said they couldn't get coal slag out there.

The need for ferts depends on the amount of plants, how fast they grow, and how high the tank's bioload is. More plants/fast plants = more ferts, high bioload = less ferts.

I think everything there except for the amazon sword would be perfectly happy just free-floating, and I think(????) it might get too big for a 5 gal, so you might need to do a lot of trimming with the amazon sword.

Right now I'm in low with the dwarf lily, with is a bulb plant, although it will also get big. Crypts are always fun, and they can make a 'carpet' sometimes. (Although, in a 5 gal, a plant that gets 5 in high isn't usually called a carpet.)

From what I've seen, almost every plant is kinda easy, as long as it stays smallish and doesn't need co2 or high lights.

 

You'll want water fertilizer for all of the above, except the sword will benefit a lot from root tabs.

They will all do fine in plain inert gravel, as long as you put root tabs under your sword. The sword is the only one that will care about substrate, and it will prefer gravel over sand. The active substrates could be slightly better, but your fertilizers (and fish poop) will provide the necessary nutrients for your plants to grow in inert substrate, especially if you're not using co2.

Java moss: super glue with cyanoacrylate will work

Java fern: Preferably attached but you could have it on the gravel, better to just weigh it down on the gravel so it can root itself.

Amazon sword: at least 2-3" of substrate, root tabs

Anacharis: You can let it float or plant it, but sometimes it rots where you plant it.

Anubias: You can attach it or plant it below the rhizome.

What can I weigh the Java fern down with?

Thank you so much! This was very, very helpful!

 

No problem!

Depending on how big the rhizome is, you could jam it under a rock or shove it into a crevice, use the plant weights that come with the plants when you buy them, or bend a paper clip into a U-shape and pin it down. After a while it should anchor itself down and you can remove the weight.

Also, as umI said, some of the plants can get too big and poke out of the water. The swords can grow pretty fast, so be careful.

 

DO not put a sword plant in a 5 gallon tank. You might be able to get away with a rossette sword or melon sword but a 5 gallon tank is pretty small... many sword plants can grow 20 inches high and nearly a 1 foot wide.

 

Bolivian sword could work, I'd think. If I'm remembering the right plant, it only gets about 6 inches tall. It's a bit taller than the micro / pygmy swords.