Setting up 5g Corner tank with Betta, Input Desired

[HooKooDooKu]

I've got one of those Marineland Eclipse 5g corner tanks that I want to setup for a betta.

The things I know are that the tank comes with a 15watt incandescent bulb, I want sand for a base, and live plants.

I'd like input on suggested plants, suggested modifications to the tank, suggested tank mates (besides the obvious of 'none', and perhaps specifically along the lines of a cleanup crew). I want the tank to have something of a natural look, is there any tank decorations you can think of that will fit such a tank to add hidding places, or should I just load up the plants?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I would get 2-3 ottos for the algae clean up crew. Corkscrew Val is a very cool plant for bettas, it will eventually grow tall and start floating across the top and bettas love floating plants. I suggest replacing the bulb with a spiral flurcent one. All that incandescent bulb will do is light up your tank. You need a fluorcent bulb to give actual daylight to grow plants. I suggest a 20W 6500K one. Other plants would be javafern and some javamoss on some rocks or something.

In a 5 gallon tank, I would not suggest any other tank mates unless you got some pygmy cories, you could prob. fit 3-4 since they stay VERY small.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Interestingly enough, the light cover indicates to use a 15Watt max incandescent light, or 11 Watt max florescent light. (I'm also not sure there is enough room for spiral CFLs.)

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

That maximum stuff is only heating warnings. My fixture says max 15W incandescent and I have a 25W Spiral CFL in it.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

The thing I was trying to point out... and what I found odd... was that the light cover had a rating specifically for florescent bulbs, and that rating for CFL was LESS than the rating for incandescent.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

But CFL actually gives off daylight that your plants will use. All the incandescent light does is give off light and thats it. The plants will not benefit at all with the incandescent and will kind of benefit off a low 11W CFL bulb that gives off 6500K

 

[jsoong]

The thing I was trying to point out... and what I found odd... was that the light cover had a rating specifically for florescent bulbs, and that rating for CFL was LESS than the rating for incandescent.

That is because the light output of the incandescent is much less than the fluorescent. A 13W fluorescent put out the light of a 60W incandescent ... so even though the Watts is less for the CF, you have more light.

<The rating itself is based on average heat output of the bulbs, the CF might put out a bit more heat per W, but it is also generating 5x as much light per W, so heat per light output is actually less.>

BTW, I would not be too quick in exceeding the rated W on your hood. A mini 13W might be OK .... it is just a little over the rated W, but a 22W might just melt something or start a fire.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

...BTW, I would not be too quick in exceeding the rated W on your hood. A mini 13W might be OK .... it is just a little over the rated W, but a 22W might just melt something or start a fire.

Yea, my plans are to set this up at the office, so I definitely don't want to do anything where if something goes wrong, I get the blame. So I might have to stick with about a 10 Watt (at least that's all I can find with quick internet searches looking for "common" cfl that is a daylight bulb at or below 11 watts (it seems that soft whites are around 13 Watts that equal the light output of a 60 Watt incandescent, but it's the wrong color temperature... the daylight bulbs I've found so far are 10 watt for 40 watt equivalent or 15 watt for 60 watt equivilent).