New 5 gallon - Help a girl out!

[Iris135]

I had that “Must-start-a-new-tank” itch, since my dream reef tank is at least a year from being setup; I decided to go with a small 5 gallon planted tank for my bedroom. I picked up a Fluval Spec 5 yesterday and I plan to begin the setup later tonight. I chose this tank because it has 7500°K high luminosity LEDs, and I figured that that would be enough to grow most plants. I also ordered a 25w Fluval heater and a piece of Mopani wood; they should be here in a few days. I am going to go to the LPS later and pick up some eco-complete and some plants.
I am going for a low-tech set up. I have been researching planted tanks for the past few weeks and the whole CO2 thing just makes my head spin. It does not bother me if the plants grow more slowly, I might even prefer it, since that means less trimming and pruning.
I will be filling the tank with water from my 29-gallon non-planted community tank. I also will temporarily add some rocks and fake plants from that tank as a source of bacteria. There is one lonely moss ball from the 29 that I will be placing in the 5 gal. It is not doing too well at all since the 29 gal basically doesn’t have a light.
Firstly, I would like to know what plants would be good to place in the tank, especially for a beginner. I have been trying to familiarize myself with aquarium plants but I am not keeping up very well. I will be purchasing from a large chain pet store and I know that they are notoriously clueless about anything fish related. I want to know exactly what I am looking for while I am there because I will not be asking for any advice (I learned that lesson already). I read from another thread that the following are suitable low-light plants:
Java Fern
Java Moss
Anacharis
Watersprite
Wisteria
Are there any other suggestions for this type of tank?
Also, this tank will be for a Betta, but I would like some thoughts on suitable tank mates. I was thinking ghost shrimp, zebra snail, or dwarf frogs. Any advice?
And lastly (for now), I am a bit confused on the lights, so any advice on the type of lights included with this kit would be much appreciated. What can I grow? Should I be looking into adding CO2 down the line? Can I expect algae problems?

Thx!

 

[Deftpunk79]

Ok... Where to start. The 7000k light is just out of the best range for lighting for freshwater plants. 5000k-6500k work best. You have a good list of plants selected for low light, which should be fine. Watersprite will probably have some problems growing. The anarchis may have some issues but should survive. African water fern, anubias, or amazon sword variant would be better alternatives. The moss ball will actually be a really good source for a transferred BB. If you leave out the watersprite and anarchis, you should not need CO2. It actually hinders some low light plants. You can try Flourish EXCEL liquid CO2 and see if it helps or hurts. Get a couple snails for your betta, they'll help in getting rid of algae. It probably won't be a problem. In 5 gallons there isn't much else I would put in there... maybe a few ghost shrimp. I hope I helped, feel free to ask if I missed anything.

 

[Iris135]

Ok... Where to start. The 7000k light is just out of the best range for lighting for freshwater plants. 5000k-6500k work best. You have a good list of plants selected for low light, which should be fine. Watersprite will probably have some problems growing. The anarchis may have some issues but should survive. African water fern, anubias, or amazon sword variant would be better alternatives. The moss ball will actually be a really good source for a transferred BB. If you leave out the watersprite and anarchis, you should not need CO2. It actually hinders some low light plants. You can try Flourish EXCEL liquid CO2 and see if it helps or hurts. Get a couple snails for your betta, they'll help in getting rid of algae. It probably won't be a problem. In 5 gallons there isn't much else I would put in there... maybe a few ghost shrimp. I hope I helped, feel free to ask if I missed anything.

Thanks a bunch! I will look for those plants later. I'll look into the inverts in a couple weeks or so. I will have questions about fertilizing sooner than later.

 

[Tetra1990]

I had that “Must-start-a-new-tank” itch, since my dream reef tank is at least a year from being setup; I decided to go with a small 5 gallon planted tank for my bedroom. I picked up a Fluval Spec 5 yesterday and I plan to begin the setup later tonight. I chose this tank because it has 7500°K high luminosity LEDs, and I figured that that would be enough to grow most plants. I also ordered a 25w Fluval heater and a piece of Mopani wood; they should be here in a few days. I am going to go to the LPS later and pick up some eco-complete and some plants.
I am going for a low-tech set up. I have been researching planted tanks for the past few weeks and the whole CO2 thing just makes my head spin. It does not bother me if the plants grow more slowly, I might even prefer it, since that means less trimming and pruning.
I will be filling the tank with water from my 29-gallon non-planted community tank. I also will temporarily add some rocks and fake plants from that tank as a source of bacteria. There is one lonely moss ball from the 29 that I will be placing in the 5 gal. It is not doing too well at all since the 29 gal basically doesn’t have a light.
Firstly, I would like to know what plants would be good to place in the tank, especially for a beginner. I have been trying to familiarize myself with aquarium plants but I am not keeping up very well. I will be purchasing from a large chain pet store and I know that they are notoriously clueless about anything fish related. I want to know exactly what I am looking for while I am there because I will not be asking for any advice (I learned that lesson already). I read from another thread that the following are suitable low-light plants:
Java Fern
Java Moss
Anacharis
Watersprite
Wisteria
Are there any other suggestions for this type of tank?
Also, this tank will be for a Betta, but I would like some thoughts on suitable tank mates. I was thinking ghost shrimp, zebra snail, or dwarf frogs. Any advice?
And lastly (for now), I am a bit confused on the lights, so any advice on the type of lights included with this kit would be much appreciated. What can I grow? Should I be looking into adding CO2 down the line? Can I expect algae problems?

Thx!

Be warned, the water wisteria can grow like a weed under the right conditions. I've water sprite in my 10 gallon. It's takes awhile to established, but when it does, it fills out nicely and can also get outta control. Good luck.

 

[aqua_chem]

Don't worry about the color of the light, 7500K is fine for plants. I would be more worried about the intensity. I'm dubious that they'll be very bright, so you'll probably be in low light territory.

 

[Deftpunk79]

The wisteria shouldn't grow that insanely with the amount of lighting available.

 

[Deftpunk79]

The thing about low light plants, is that maintenance is relatively easy. I use "API leaf zone plant" for fertilizer in my low light tanks once a week and keep my plants trimmed nicely. Everyone seems happy. I have a couple low-moderate light plants that I use the flourish excel liquid CO2 on every other day. I never really noticed much change in my low light plants with carbon.

 

[Iris135]

I found Java fern, Wisteria, and Amazon sword and put them in last night. I am going to look at another store later because the plants were half broken and not looking too good. I just read that carbon is a no-no in the filter. I will take the carbon out tonight and replace it with the polyester fiber from my dogs toy that she tore to pieces yesterday.

I am also going to the beach today to find some driftwood to supplement the piece I ordered, maybe some rocks too. Hopefully I find some good stuff!

 

[Rivercats]

In a 5g tank don't get any swords unless it's something like Micro Chain Swords. The other get too big overall. If you could find some Crypts, Wendtii or Parva they would be great in that size tank and in low light. Water Sprite or Wisteria would both work. I have water sprite growing in 2 small Fluval Edge 6g tanks and it grows quite well. The only thing is the leaves are smaller and more delicate than when it's grown in higher light. If you want to use liquid carbon (Excel, API CO2 Booster, or Glutaraldehyde) don't get any anacharis as it is sensitive to liquid carbons and tends to melt.

In a tank that size all you would need for ferts is something along the lines of Flourish Comprehensive dosed 1x weekly after WC's. Plus using a liquid carbon would help alot IMO. Glutaraldehyde is very economically priced.

 

[Iris135]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. This is what I have so far: Wisteria, Java Fern, Amazon Sword (tucked behind a rock), Anubias, and a moss ball. A piece of Mopani wood will go in the middle.