Wondering if planting my first aquarium is a bad idea.

[Rastus]

Hey all,

This is my first post. I'm not much for introductions.

I just bought my first tank, its a 5 gallon, easy set up Walmart tank. Probably not the best way to start, but I'm simply not sure if this is a hobby I'll enjoy.

That being said, I've set it up complete with light, filter, gravel, and spongebob characters. (Go figure) I understand that smaller tanks can be harder to work with, but I'm low on space and I consider myself to be a studious person, so I think it'll be alright. Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, here are my questions.

Would it be a bad idea to plant a carpet style plant in my tank? How will this affect the fish?
Right now I'm looking at getting one loner fish, (betta? Guppy?) Some shrimp, and a couple African dwarf frogs. How compatible would these be? From what I've read it should work. But I wanted some opinions from more experienced people. Thanks!

 

[siva]

Welcome to AA!!

Plants is a great idea. If you haven't already, replace that bulb it came with for a 10-13watt CFL, just a regular household one will work as long as it's 6500k or better. However, most plants that will create a real carpet won't work in this type of lighting.

A betta would be a great idea. Guppies are social fish that should be kept in groups of 3 or more in a tank of 10 gals or more.

IME the vast majority of bettas will make a quick snack out of shrimp, so if you want to try to add some, I would go with ghost shrimp since they are very cheap.

IMO ADF's do not belong in this type of tank set up. Bettas are fairly aggressive feeders, and the frogs are nearly blind, so they would have a hard time competing for food. This is the main reason they do better in a species tank. There is also the potential they will damage the betta, or the opposite can also happen. I recommend a sponge filter for them, as they can become caught in the filter intake tube on HOB(hang on back) style filters, and drown.

 

[Snowfire]

Hi Rastus,
I'm new too and by no means an expert but thought I would reply as I've done what your suggesting.
My tank is 7g and I have had a few different species living in it. They usually end up being moved to my larger tank as they grow but I like having some little fish to chat to on my desk!!
It is pretty difficult to maintain a tank this small but you can definitely plant it!

I think the easiest thing I've kept in my small tank is shrimps. they don't require much in the way of feeding and eat algae so help you keep the tank clean. They are really busy little creatures and lots of fun to watch

I'm currently thinking of putting a couple of dwarf puffers in my tank!

 

[jetajockey]

Planting is never a bad idea, unless you stock fish that eat plants. Siva gave good advice, good luck with your build.

 

[Rastus]

Great answers guys. I really appreciate it. I'm a softy for pets and id rather not kill half a dozen before I get it right. xD

If that light isn't sufficient, would I have to buy a different fixture enturely? It seems hard to nail down info on that.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

You can definitly grow something in a 5 gallon tank. But you will need to do some research and some trial and error before you find what you can grow for your conditions.

Me, for example, I found that I just couldn't keep vilisnera or wisteria alive (would just eventually die). I tried Anuba, but the leaves would grow a layer of alge and kill the leaves. Java moss grew well, but painfully slowly. I personally have had great experience with Water Sprite (despite some instuctions I've seen saying it can be difficult to grow).

But all that is just my personal experience.

Perhaps the single biggest piece of advice I can offer before you get started... research any plant before you buy it. There are plently of fish stores (including the big box stores) that sell some plants that are NOT ment for an aquirum.

However, don't get hung up on finding the 'perfect' plant or following someone else's example. There are plenty of plants out there that are cheap enough that it can be worth getting several different plants and just trying them. Just don't get hung up one any one style of plant.
But otherwise, there are many plants that are prices cheaply enought that

 

[siva]

Speaking of not killing them, are you familiar with the process of cycling your tank? It's something that can be done with or without fish already in the tank. Since it's your first tank, and you don't have fish yet, I would recommend doing a fishless cycle. Here's a guide: The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

Jeta may be able to recommend a better fixture for the tank.

In my 5 gal tanks with the stock fixture and a CFL, and a little ferts here and there, I grow pennywort, banana plants, anacharis, java fern, java moss, micro sword, pygmy chain sword, and anubias nana.

 

[Koikid88]

Research your plants, then live and learn. Even with great advice, every tank is different when it comes to certain aspects such as plants. You have to find your happy medium with growth, health, and algae.
My first aquarium I bought a bunch of plants without researching. Sure enough, the more advanced ones dwindled away, some others I still have. With each tank re-arrangement or set up, I learn more about the plants I have and what suits them best in my situation, and get better results each time. Listen to these guys though, they know what they're talking about.

 

[Rastus]

Sivia, I'm currently doing a fishless cycle, but that guide had several things I seemed to be missing. Thanks! That also answers pretty much all my questions so far about getting started. I'm very excited about it all, even though it'll take a while. One thing the guide didn't mention is how long the fishless cycle takes?

 

[senemedar]

Sivia, I'm currently doing a fishless cycle, but that guide had several things I seemed to be missing. Thanks! That also answers pretty much all my questions so far about getting started. I'm very excited about it all, even though it'll take a while. One thing the guide didn't mention is how long the fishless cycle takes?

The cycle can take anything from three weeks to couple of months, depends how lucky you are
As for the tank inhabitants, you may consider some snails. They may not be the fastest creatures to watch, but there's quite a few colourful and they may be fun as well!

 

[siva]

Sivia, I'm currently doing a fishless cycle, but that guide had several things I seemed to be missing. Thanks! That also answers pretty much all my questions so far about getting started. I'm very excited about it all, even though it'll take a while. One thing the guide didn't mention is how long the fishless cycle takes?

Awesome! It's varies, but prepared for it to take a few weeks.

 

[Rastus]

So, I've been going through the process. I've tested and tested my water, and before/stressin adding ammonia (4ppm) my test kit says nitrite and nitrate are at good levels. (Also chlorine, Ph, hardness..) everything is fine! I know something must be wrong. I even had my room mate check the colors because I'm sort of colorblind. What's going on here?

 

[siva]

Ok, so you just started adding ammonia right? So you don't yet have the bacteria that turns the ammo in nitrite, and the bacteria and that turns the nitrites into nitrates. The trites/trates are at good levels because they don't exsist yet. You'll go through a nitrite spike, and then nitrates will start showing up as well, and the water won't be safe for fish until the nitrites are completely gone. Nitrate levels of 20ppm or lower are good for most fish. Once the cycle is complete, you should pretty much always have zero readings for ammonia and nitrite, and keep the nitrate level where it needs to be with regular water changes. Are you using a liquid test kit?

 

[Rastus]

Roger..so the nitrites/trates are naturally low. Their rise and fall is a yardstick for the necessary bacteria growth.

No, I'm using test strips. Seemed like it would be easier to get started with. Bad?

 

[librarygirl]

Hi there. It can take a while. Typically ammonia will start dropping significantly in the second week, nitrites show up after that around week 3. These are just averages though; every tank is different. This is the updated version to the fishless cycling guide: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

Strips aren't very accurate. A liquid test kit is best; the API Master kit is very good and will contain all the tests you need.

If you can get some seeded media from an established tank it'll help the cycle along. Angels plus sells "active" seeded sponge filters from their fish tanks and have helped many on here, myself included, with their cycles; make sure you get one that says "active" next to it otherwise you're just getting a plain filter. You'll need an air pump and some airline tubing to set it up.

 

[Rastus]

Update: everything is going swimmingly (no pun intended) the nitrite is converting to nitrate already. Despite the wiser thing to do, I got two mystery snails (Gary and Larry, but I'm sort of concerned Larry is a girl..) I picked snails because I know they're pretty Hardy and, frankly, it was either that or give up and get fish.

I've fed them half an algae cube and they seem more interested in munching on/falling off of the sea shell in my tank.

Anyway, all is going well. My micro swords will be in Friday, and everything is Ready for them. It seems like I've got it all together now! Thank you all so much.