Multiple questions about 5.5 gallon tank

[Mickeybags]

Hi all,
I am planning to buy a 5.5 gallon planted aquarium. I really want it to stand out. Already have a 10 gallon planted tank which is doing real bad. The fish are fine but the plants are not. My other is a 1.5 planted which is doing fantastic. I'm quite proud of it. So I want to replicate the 1.5 on a slightly larger scale. I'm in a dorm room otherwise I would jump up to another 10 or even a 20. I have several questions and I would also like to hear the communities opinion as you guys have helped me so much along the way. I thought it would be easier to put all my questions in one post.

1) Stocking
I know my options are incredibly limited. I originally wanted to go with a dwarf puffer until I researched them some more. I was thinking a betta and some neon tetras? Or maybe a male and several female bettas. I would like to go with something you normally wouldn't get in a fish store. Ordering online is not an issue I have friends nearby who's houses I can have them shipped to. I've been fooling around on aqadivsor but would like to hear your opinions.

2) plants
I want the plants to be the center piece. I was thinking of getting a small piece of drift wood or some rocks. I know nothing about plants so your help would be awesome. ( I've been using flourish in both my tanks)

3) substrate
My other tanks are sand but I would like to change it up and use gravel this time. But what else should I use to help the plants flourish? How should I layer it?

4) filtration
I have a Marineland penguin 100B that came with my ten gallon which is no longer in use. Is that too much or should I go with an undergravel filter?

5) lighting
Again I know nothing about this. Any help would be great

Sorry for the long post but your advice would be very helpful in aiding the tons of research I have been doing since the moment I got my first tank. Thanks in advance guys!





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[lilme]

maybe some cherry shrimp and neon tetras or guupies

 

[trennamw]

Welcome! Great questions!

A few thoughts ...

For a 5 I'd just do a betta. Or a handful of nano fish, which would be unusual. The Wet Spot is a great source for nano fish, I'm told (and my favorite local LFS but they have a good online presence). I've recently heard that paradise fish are good alone in a small tank too, but haven't researched it.

You might want to talk to everyone over in the planted tanks threads about your 10 gallon and your 1, so you know why one is succeeding and the other isn't.

There are some gravel like substrates especially for plants. Theories abound on which are worth it and which are overkill.

Since you're learning it's probably best to keep the light a little low.

Azmodan might happen by with much better plant specific advice ...


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[azmodan]

Hello! I always love new planted tank builds!

1) Stocking
A 5.5g does not leave you with a ton of options but here are some that I think could work ok:

Scarlet Badis
Clown Killies
Chili rasboras
Pygmy sunfish
Sparkling gourami

I would do any of those fish with a healthy batch of red cherry shrimp. In a slightly larger tank you'd have options like celestial pearl danios, dwarf emerald rasboras, gertrudae rainbows, pygmy cories, ember tetras, etc but in a 5.5 that might be pushing it a tad bit. Personally I'd avoid any neons or similarly sized schooling fish as they need a bit more room. I'd also avoid more than one betta.

2) plants
Do you know the sort of lighting you'll be using? Let us know if you need any suggestions. Seeing as how you're new to plans let's assume you're keeping this simple and lowtech. Remember that a 5.5 gal is not very large so preferably we want to target plants that have smaller leaf structures. Ideal lowlight plants are anubias, java fern, java moss, and crypts. Going with our smaller leaf structure theme you could look into anubias 'nana' or 'nana petite', java fern 'trident', 'narrow leaf', or 'Philippine', crypt wendtii, parva, undulata, lutea (and quite a few others depending on what you have available), and for mosses I'd skip java moss (it gets a little too unruly for my liking) and go directly for Christmas, Taiwan, Peacock, or Flame moss. There are a number of other plants that may work but we can get more into that when we've narrowed down what your lighting will be.

Just a few tips:
a) Anubias, java fern, and mosses do best when tied/anchored to something. For anubias and java fern the rhizome must be above the substrate or it may begin to rot.
b) Crypts are heavy root feeders and will significantly benefit from fertilizer root tabs placed under them.
c) Get a timer for your light and aim to have your lights on from 6-10 hours, otherwise expect algae.

3) substrate
I'd go with EcoComplete. One bag will be more than enough (you'd probably only need around half of it) for 2-3 inches and it does not need to be rinsed like flourite does (which IMO is worth the slightly higher price).

4) filtration
Not familiar with the penguin but I'd assume it should be fine. I would avoid any sort of undergravel filter as they're a major pain with planted tanks and honestly a little outdated now days.

5) lighting
First off, what are your goals and what is your budget? If you'd like to keep it simple and want to purchase a light we can recommend several quality LEDs that could suit your needs. But if you're on a tight budget you could also look into a simple CFL bulb set up. Let us know.

Hi all,
I am planning to buy a 5.5 gallon planted aquarium. I really want it to stand out. Already have a 10 gallon planted tank which is doing real bad. The fish are fine but the plants are not. My other is a 1.5 planted which is doing fantastic. I'm quite proud of it. So I want to replicate the 1.5 on a slightly larger scale. I'm in a dorm room otherwise I would jump up to another 10 or even a 20. I have several questions and I would also like to hear the communities opinion as you guys have helped me so much along the way. I thought it would be easier to put all my questions in one post.

1) Stocking
I know my options are incredibly limited. I originally wanted to go with a dwarf puffer until I researched them some more. I was thinking a betta and some neon tetras? Or maybe a male and several female bettas. I would like to go with something you normally wouldn't get in a fish store. Ordering online is not an issue I have friends nearby who's houses I can have them shipped to. I've been fooling around on aqadivsor but would like to hear your opinions.

2) plants
I want the plants to be the center piece. I was thinking of getting a small piece of drift wood or some rocks. I know nothing about plants so your help would be awesome. ( I've been using flourish in both my tanks)

3) substrate
My other tanks are sand but I would like to change it up and use gravel this time. But what else should I use to help the plants flourish? How should I layer it?

4) filtration
I have a Marineland penguin 100B that came with my ten gallon which is no longer in use. Is that too much or should I go with an undergravel filter?

5) lighting
Again I know nothing about this. Any help would be great

Sorry for the long post but your advice would be very helpful in aiding the tons of research I have been doing since the moment I got my first tank. Thanks in advance guys!





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[trennamw]

And then I went against all that type of advice and put an ozelot sword in a 3 gallon Marineland/Tetra kit with a stock light ... I like the drama of the big plant in the small space, and several months later it's fine. Low light, low tech, just a root tab, ADA aqua soil under sand ... It's healthy and doesn't grow quickly at all. Same with the microsword and crypt parva. Brazilian pennywort is floating. I've had to do almost no maintenance. I keep the lights on 12 hours and don't have algae.

But Azmodan's advice is more likely to work and to be very pretty. I like to ask questions then do it all wrong to see what happens.




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[Mickeybags]

Azmodan,
My other tanks use incandescent bulbs. I wanted to go with something basic. I didn't know LEDS could be used on planted tanks?


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[FWFishTanks]

Azmodan,
My other tanks use incandescent bulbs. I wanted to go with something basic. I didn't know LEDS could be used on planted tanks?


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Finnex planted plus is supposed to be a great low/ medium light led fixture for plants. I'm actually gonna get on for my 75 low tech here soon.

 

[Mickeybags]

I really like the clown killfish. Is 5 pushing it?

 

[azmodan]

Azmodan,
My other tanks use incandescent bulbs. I wanted to go with something basic. I didn't know LEDS could be used on planted tanks?


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Yup, there are LED lights that are specifically made for plant growth. If your case though you could just replace your incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs. You'll want to get daylight 6500k and I'd prob start with 13w.

Finnex planted plus is supposed to be a great low/ medium light led fixture for plants. I'm actually gonna get on for my 75 low tech here soon.

Great light although on a 5g tank (which is much more shallow than a 75g) it'd be more like a med/high light, which is likely too much for the OP.

I really like the clown killfish. Is 5 pushing it?

5-6 would be fine as they have very small bioloads. I'd aim for 2 males and 4 females.

 

[azmodan]

And then I went against all that type of advice and put an ozelot sword in a 3 gallon Marineland/Tetra kit with a stock light ... I like the drama of the big plant in the small space, and several months later it's fine. Low light, low tech, just a root tab, ADA aqua soil under sand ... It's healthy and doesn't grow quickly at all. Same with the microsword and crypt parva. Brazilian pennywort is floating. I've had to do almost no maintenance. I keep the lights on 12 hours and don't have algae.

But Azmodan's advice is more likely to work and to be very pretty. I like to ask questions then do it all wrong to see what happens.

View attachment 253598


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Great looking tank! Large plants can certainly work in small tanks. That's the great thing about planted tanks -- there are so many ways one can have a really beautiful aquascape.

 

[trennamw]

Regarding LEDs, my tank above just has the LED that came in the kit, which is officially stated as not for plants. The room is pretty bright though.

The question is really which chances you want to take, and where you want to spend your money.


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[Mickeybags]

I looked into the finnex lights and they seem real high quality and what I'm looking for. Definitely gonna go with those on the 5.5


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[azmodan]

If you go with the Finnex and want to keep it lowtech I'd recommend the Finnex Stingray. It will be enough to grow most low light plants without the worry of a ton of algae. The Planted+ and Ray2 will put you into high light and be pretty challenging without pressurized CO2. I have a regular Finnex Fugeray on my 5.5g and I'd even say that's pretty strong too. I only run the lights 6 hours a day and have to keep up with a very high daily dosage of glutaraldehyde to keep algae from taking over.

Another LED light you can look into is the Current USA Satellite+. It also has a very good spectrum for plants and also has a built in dimmer so you can adjust the light intensity output. I have the Satellite+ on my 10g and am very satisfied with it as a lowtech light.

 

[Mickeybags]

Alright so it looks like I got everything figured out. Now it's just a matter of picking out the plants putting everything together. Thanks everyone for the help I seriously appreciate it. I'll be sure to update my progress as it comes along


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