new 5 gal set-up in my dorm room :)

[removedastars]

Hey all!

Well I've been away from aquarium keeping since I moved back to school and I've missed it a lot. So I was in my LFS the other day and I finally broke down and bought a cute little 5 gal acrylic tank. I have decided to do mostly plants and a male betta fish. I am so excited to have even just a little baby aquarium again. So here's my set up:

5 gal acrylic tank w/ built in filter
mini heater under gravel
pebble gravel
misc plants with in-gravel stick fertilizers
1 male betta

I am tempted to add another small fish or two like cory cats maybe...or shrimp? what do ya'll think? ideas or suggestions? also I need help with what other plants to add. Thanks!

 

[neilanh]

Welcome back!

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those "sword" plants you have (with the white edges) are not true aquatic plants. They'll do okay for a while, but eventually they'll rot.

Check in the classifieds section, I seem to recall seeing several people lately posting with some easy plants for sale cheap - you might be able to find something you really like.

As for other inhabitants, I don't know anything about betta's so I'll let someone with experience speak for that.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those "sword" plants you have (with the white edges) are not true aquatic plants. They'll do okay for a while, but eventually they'll rot.

I totally agree, it also looks like you have an anubias with the rhizome completely covered... if it is an anubias, you need to have the rhizome on top of the substrate or it will also die

 

[BigJim]

+1 on changing plants. Those white ribbon plants will slowly die. I bought a few in ignorance about six months ago and the last one finally died and got eaten by the snails. Try some java ferns. They should do well with the limited lighting you have and will provide a nice bed for your betta. My bettas love sleeping on the leaves of my amazon swords.

You could add a few of the small cory varieties. Pandas and skunks stay small enough. Get at least three though. I'd stay away from small shrimp. Bettas like shrimp for snacks. I'm in doubt that your tank is big enough for a filter-feeding shrimp.

If that's an Eclipse tank, I've found that making your own DIY filter cartridge is a great modification. I took an old cartridge and ripped away the material to get a bare frame. I cleaned out the old carbon, cut a filter sponge into strips and placed them in the frame. The filter moves a lot more water that way.

 

[Mystery]

A nice apple snail would go well in there too

 

[BigJim]

Make sure to get a mystery snail, not a regular apple snail. Mysteries are part of the apple snail family, but they stay about the size of a golf ball. Other apple snails grow to the size of a baseball or a good-sized apple, hence the name.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

You could go with some RCS (red cherry shrimp) but im not sure if the betta will pick at em. Your pretty much limited since you A)have a male betta and B) only have 5 gal. I wouldnt go with any other fish unless you put a divider in there and add another betta.

 

[DragonFish71]

+2 on the plants. Those are dracaena sanderiana, the leafy tops of lucky bamboo. Not a truly aquatic plant. However, if you can get the stalks of lucky bamboo they can be used in a tank. You just have to make sure the leaves and the cut section of the stalk are out of the water.

Here's a few links:

this one is for the dracaena sanderiana:
PlantGeek.net - Dracena sanderiana

this one is a non-aquatic plant guide:
PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide

and this one is for the whole site:
PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide

 

[removedastars]

I totally agree, it also looks like you have an anubias with the rhizome completely covered... if it is an anubias, you need to have the rhizome on top of the substrate or it will also die

Thanks for the tip, what would be the best way to anchor it? on a rock or something? can I bury the roots in a softer substrate?

If that's an Eclipse tank, I've found that making your own DIY filter cartridge is a great modification. I took an old cartridge and ripped away the material to get a bare frame. I cleaned out the old carbon, cut a filter sponge into strips and placed them in the frame. The filter moves a lot more water that way.

It's actually a aqueon tank but it has the same type of filter cartridge so I can do exactly that!

Thanks for all the comments! I am having a hard time finding aquatic plants at my LFS because the only ones closest to me are a small store that doesnt have much and then petco and petsmart...has anyone had any luck find good, true aquatic plants at petsmart or petco? [the current plants came from the tubes at petsmart] :[

 

[mfdrookie516]

you can take some thread, fishing line, pretty much anything (thread being the easiest imo because by the time it rots, the roots have taken hold) to tie it to something like a rock or piece of wood in the tank. you can anchor the roots in the substrate, you just have to keep the rhizome above the substrate (i always struggled doing that)

 

[meegosh]

I've seen some decent plants in the tanks at petsmart. I was there the day the got a shipment in and I was tempted to pick up some more Red Ludwigia. I would stay away from anything in those tubes with the gel in the bottom. Some are not true aquatic plants, like you found out, and the others are grown with the leaves above the water which will take some time for the plant to adapt to growing submersed.

 

[BigJim]

The Petsmart by me carries anacharis and the tube plants, but only a few tube plants are actually aquatic. Petco actually has a decent selection, but you have to be careful to make sure you only get aquatic plants. I bought an assorted bunch from them when I'd just started with plants and I think the only truly aquatic plant I got was some pennywort.

 

[removedastars]

So how about these plants? I got the two small ones and the little coconut shell with moss growing on it at petco. All three were in tanks already [nothing out of a tube!] I'm not sure what the little green ones are can anyone ID them? Thanks.

 

[BigJim]

Pictures aren't showing up for me.

 

[removedastars]

 

[dkpate]

The plant on the right of the first pic will be fine in the tank. I got the same one, in the gel, at PetSmart in August, and it's my best looking plant in the tank! My BGK used to use it as his Lay-Z-Boy LOL.
I also got some really nice fully aquatic plants at Petco. They were green on top and purple on the bottom. (Sadly I had to take them out because I had to dose salt, and they died).

 

[BigJim]

Your plants look good to me. I think the one in the middle is some kind of anubias. The one on the right, I don't know, but it looks aquatic to me.

 

[HeathB]

Don't feel too bad, because my betta setup is practically identical and I made the same mistakes, and I work at petsmart (not petcare so I think I'm allowed a bit of slack, yes?). I'm not sure how the weather is there, but if the heater is one of those little black pad things, I know mine sure didn't make much difference and I took it back for a hydor theo. I even got those same plants, and I was so (am still so) bugged at those jerks at Top Fin. Now I have four "Golden Ribbons" sitting in little flower pots seeing how they do. Plants in and out. Ahh. Haha

 

[HeathB]

If you do have to rely on Petsmart for any more plants, either make sure to google the scientific name they list, and make sure the label just says aquarium and not terrarium and aquarium.

 

[mgamer20o0]

If you do have to rely on Petsmart for any more plants,

just have to order online like in the classified section and not have to worry about it.