Hi From Washington new to hobby

[Sorceress]

i have one ? i just went across the border and a guy tried to sell me a 5.5 gallon i think eclipse tank with a nineteen watt bulb is that too much for a 5.5

as i am also going to put live plants in the tank besides the current white clouds and upcoming betta

[JustOneMore20]

Welcome to AA!


Nope, I think 19 watts is fine for 5.5g with plants, if its a daylight bulb.

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA! 19w is fine

[Sorceress]

ok the bulb is white is that a daylight bulb? anything else i should do like heater? to keep both the betta and white clouds happy and can i get more then the white clouds and the betta? what plants should i get that are very hardy for someone just starting out

[Menagerie]

WELCOME TO AA

[Sorceress]

thanks

[runninwoof]

Wecome to aa!

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard

[JohnPaul]

Originally Posted by Sorceress

ok the bulb is white is that a daylight bulb?

Not necessarily. You need to look on the bulb itself for its "K" rating. For example, it might say 2200K, or 6500K. In order for the bulb to output light that plants can actually use to grow, it needs to be somewhere between 5000K and 10,000K. If it is not somewhere between those two values, then it will be of no use to your plants. It also needs to be a flourescent bulb; standard "normal" light bulbs (incandescent bulbs) are worthless for plants as well.

anything else i should do like heater?

Well here is where things will get little tricky. White clouds prefer cooler water, in the 65-75 degree range or maybe just a tad higher. Bettas in general prefer warmer water than that, something more in the 78-82 range. You could probably try to find a happy medium between them (76-78 degrees) and both would be fine. So if you get a betta, yes, you need a heater. If you have only White Clouds, you can probably get by just fine without a heater.

to keep both the betta and white clouds happy and can i get more then the white clouds and the betta?

In a 5.5 gallon tank? No way. One betta plus 3-4 White Clouds would probably max out what the tank could hold, other than perhaps some small snails or ghost shrimp to help with cleaning up leftover food that drops down to the substrate. If you skipped the betta, you coud probably do about a half dozen White Clouds.

what plants should i get that are very hardy for someone just starting out

Java moss, java fern, any anubias, most varieties of crypts and vals and swords, hornwort, anacharis, brazilian pennywort, probably dwarf sagittaria. A pretty good variety actually. Most (good) stores as well as online places that sell plants normally divide them into "low," "medium," and "high" light plants. You could certainly grow anything in the low category, and probably would have success with at least a good percentage of plants in the medium light category.

The one thing I noticed you didn't mention at all is your filter. What sort of filtration are you planning on running on this tank?

[Sorceress]

oopsy sorry i got a tetra whisper in tank filter for a 2 to ten gallon tank and am waiting on the delivery on that ok then the store where they where giving me quote was wrong about adding more than the white clouds and betta as i also asked about an otto cat for the cleaning fish

[Ziggy953]

Welcome to AA!

[JohnPaul]

Originally Posted by Sorceress

... i also asked about an otto cat for the cleaning fish

IF you get the tank set up and down the road find you are experiencing problems with "brown algae" (actually diatoms) or green dust algae (GDA) on the tank glass or on the sufaces of broad-leafed plants, then yes, you could add one Oto catfish without much worry.

But I would only do that if you run into the algae problems I described. If there is not enough algae for the oto to eat, he will likely starve. And if you have algae but it is other kinds of algae (e.g. green spot algae, hair algae, etc.), the oto will not eat it so it's the same as if you had no algae, he'll likely just starve.

[Sorceress]

could i feed the oto algae wafers or other food if he not getting enough for his type of algae

[JohnPaul]

Originally Posted by Sorceress

could i feed the oto algae wafers or other food if he not getting enough for his type of algae

My experience is otos are finicky in this respect. Over my years with tanks I've probably had 20-30 otos, and of them, I can think of two that would ever eat more than a passing bite from a wafer. Some people report luck with otos eating blanched cucumber (seeds removed), I've never tried that so I can't say for sure. I'm a little doubtful, though, that cucumber would have the range & quantity of nutrients necessary to keep an oto alive long-term.

I know preferences are always subjective, but in my mind, otos are a functional fish--you put them in your tank because they accomplish a given purpose (cleaning flat surfaces of soft algaes). If your tank doesn't have enough of that sort of algae to keep an oto alive, then I don't really see why you would want an oto in there in the first place.

[Sorceress]

then how about a cory or are they to large for a 5.5 gallon which am having friend in canada go get as i type this having him check the bulb for for the proper k rating if not will have to read if bettas will eat the cleaning guy i get ie shrimp or a snail

[Sorceress]

ok the bulb has an 18.00 k rating now what type of plants can i get for that

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA!

[mike47517]

Welcome to the sight!!!