# Plants for a 5 Gallon?



## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

I recently ordered the two-pack cichlid stones from Underwater Galleries for the medium size stone. I'm planning to use it as a hide in my 5.5 gallon tank that currently has a betta and a nerite snail in it. I have a hydor theo 25 watt heater and a TOM mini internal filter. I've attached a picture of my tank as it is now, pre-cave (which should be coming in Saturday).

Anyway -- I was thinking about buying some more plants for my tank. As it is, all of the plants I have in my tank have been bought from either Petsmart or Petco. I tried to grow some water wisteria once, but it died. My amazon swords aren't doing too well either, and I've had to throw one of them out. Of the three crypts I originally bought, one of them has survived, and I added some new ones recently that are looking way healthier than any of my originals did. Those crypts are in the middle of my tank, and are about as tall as my anubias nana. Other than these I have a java fern, a moss ball, and some recently-added moneywort.

I want to add a floating plant, but I can't decide between frogbit and duckweed. Frogbit is currently out of stock, which is making me lean towards the duckweed. I also want to get java moss, and possibly a dwarf tiger lily, myrio, and Brazilian pennywort. If I don't have enough room in my tank (which I'll be able to tell better after I add the cave), I'll probably not get the tiger lily and the pennywort. Mostly I want some fast growing plants that will help soak up the nitrates in my tank and provide hiding places for the ghost shrimp I hope to add.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

Don't get duckweed, it'll drive you crazy. Frogbit seems like a better option in my honest opinion. You could also try dwarf water lettuce (I personally haven't had luck with that one, it died on me but I'm notorious for killing plants), red root floaters (gorgeous plant) or Salvinia Natans - it's what I've got in my tanks right now and I love the look of it but it grows almost as fast as duckweed :/ 

The reason why your amazon swords aren't doing well is because they're heavy root feeders: while those stones you have there are very pretty, they're not ideal for plants. You'd be better off with small grain gravel or soil if you're up for a challenge. Do you have root tabs in there? 

Java ferns are honestly my favourite plant, especially the narrow leaf variety I have in my 3 gallon: everyone will tell you that java ferns are slow growing plants but this stuff grows like crazy! I even have some in my 15 gallon platy tub which doesn't have any lights, ferts and what not, and it's still growing. You could get some more of those, they're great!


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## katydidmischief (Aug 19, 2012)

Water sprite is also a great floater. I bought some 2 years ago off aquabid on a whim and boy, was it worth the 10 bucks. All the bettas that have lived with it have enjoyed getting into it at night to use as a hammock and grows well in medium light.

Although it does grow fast so you'll be doing regular cuttings on it. I've supplied a friend and three tanks with it.


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

@Kisiel — Thanks for the feedback! Of the floaters you mentioned, I can only find duckweed, frogbit, and red root floaters at Bamaplants. Planted Aquariums Central doesn’t have any of them, I think. The frogbit is also out of stock — but since I’m probably going to wait until the weather gets warmer before I order any of them, it might come back in stock by then. The red root floaters seem like a good option too, but I’ll have to buy some different fertilizers for them, I think (trace and iron).

I don’t have any root tabs in my gravel right now, but I’ll probably get some soon. When I first got the gravel I didn’t have any live plants, and when I did eventually get some, it was just anubias and java fern. Now that my tank is cycled, though, wouldn’t changing from the gravel I have to a more suitable substrate upset it?

I might get some taller java ferns for my tank if I don’t get myrio or any other tall plant. I just feel like I need something in the background to spread things out.

@katydidmischief — Thanks! I’ll look into water sprite more, too.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

I've had red root floaters and the salvinia natans choked it out haha. Oh well. I know that red root floaters are a little more demanding than other floating plants: generally they'll only turn red and flower under high light, but they'll still grow under lower lighting conditions, only green not red. Either way, it's not as invasive as duckweed and chances are, it won't prevent your other plants from getting enough light  

Changing the substrate _can_ upset the cycle, but the bacteria should catch up quickly enough. Most of it lives in your filter: the amounts in the substrate and on decorations is usually quite insignificant. If you're afraid of the cycle crashing, what you can do is this: over a period of a week or two, slowly swap out the old substrate for the new. Just take a few handfuls of your rocks, dump them in a bucket and throw in the new substrate into the tank. 

Can I just say that I killed a bunch of wisteria cuttings a while back, I honestly need some plants that won't die on me haha.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Be aware if adding soil it can leech ammonia for a few weeks. I have rescaped a 16gallon over a few weeks, as Kisiel has advised, and had no real issues, but had to do water changes every other day while the bacteria caught up. 

The other option is to presoak the soil before hand. Pop it all in a bucket, cover it with water (I go a few inches above), perform a few water chnages on the bucket, stir up the soil so none is trapped. Should be stable within a week or three.


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

I don't think I'm feeling adventurous enough for soil yet. I'm looking into a smaller gravel though. There's a substrate that I think is made by Seachem that's composed of clay, which is supposed to be good for plants. Would that be okay?


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Even gravel is fine, so long as you can get the plants deep enough they dont float off and you provide some form of nutrition for the plants. Makes such a difference to their growth, even in gravel a lot of plants flourish. 

Clay will probably provide some nutrition, though so if you want to try it go for it!


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

Don't forget to check out the classifieds on this site too. In the past 24 hours I've arranged for plants from 3 people. I'm kind of worried that the plants will choke out the fish!


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

Here's the substrate I'm thinking of switching to: http://www.petsmart.com/fish/plant-...6-5049883/cat-36-catid-300010?_t=pfm=category

I'll also get some root tabs, and eventually I may also get iron and trace fertilizers. I'll do what you suggested, Kisiel, and slowly replace my gravel with the fluorite. Thankfully my gravel will probably be big enough that I can easily separate it from the fluorite. And if not, a few stray pebbles here and there won't hurt.

My new cave just arrived yesterday, and I just added it to the tank this morning. It takes up a lot more space than I thought it would, but with the plants around it, I don't think it looks too strange.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

I keep dwarf lily in my 5.5gal. I like them because it's a reddish plant that doesn't take much work since like practically everything else that is red needs way more light or ferts. My bettas blow bubbles under the lily leaves once they grow to the surface which is fun to look at.


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

I took the plunge and ordered the red root floaters and java moss from Bamaplants. I also recently received the Seachem fluorite that I ordered, so I'll switch out some of my gravel for that today during my water change.

Next up, once my gravel is all switched out, I'm going to order some taller plants from Planted Aquariums Central like myrio and/or brazillian pennywort. I'll also make sure I get some root tabs if I get any rooted plants. Mostly I just want something to fill in the corners where I have my heater and my filter, so the tank looks a little more natural. I'm really excited to see how it will look.


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

So today I ended up just switching out all the gravel in my tank, because I only really had time to do this once. I rinsed the new gravel before adding any of it to the tank, but my water's still cloudy. I don't want to add Edmond back into the tank until I'm sure it's not cloudy anymore, because I don't want it to harm him somehow. How long should it take for the cloudiness in the water to settle?


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

So I just did a bunch of research on fluorite... And boy, do I wish I had picked something else! The cloudiness has died down some, but it's still not completely gone. I think it's good enough now that I can acclimate Edmond, though. Today or tomorrow I'm going to go buy some Seachem Clarity to hopefully help this situation even more. I'll also be doing more frequent water changes, and I'll be cleaning the filter sponge.


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

Turns out I won't need to buy the Clarity, after all. The cloudiness has completely died down now, but I expect some of it will come back whenever I add new plants. I'll try to avoid vacuuming the gravel from now on.

My moss and red root floaters should be arriving soon, along with them some forceps to help me plant everything. Since changing out the gravel, a lot of my moneywort has been uprooted, along with the crypts. I'm hoping that the forceps will make re-planting them a little easier.

Anyway -- I've included a picture of what my tank looks like right now. I'm not entirely sure where I want to put the moss, but I'll decide that once it arrives and I know how much of it I have to work with. I'm also considering buying narrow-leaf anacharis, myrio, brazilian pennywort, and rotala rotundifolia. I wanted to try out ludwigia, too, but it's out of stock. I'm still not sure about the myrio, since I've heard that it grows really quickly. I do want some bushier plants to put in the far corners of my tank, though, and camouflage my heater and filter somewhat. I figured the myrio and the anacharis would be good for this. I may just get one or the other, not both -- I don't think my tank could fit both of them. One way or another, I definitely want to get the rotala rotundifolia. The pennywort is a maybe -- I'm not sure where I would put it, but I love the way it looks.

Thoughts?


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## IntrovertEJL (May 30, 2014)

My red root floaters and java moss came in today! The red root floaters weren't in the best condition and lost a lot of their leaves, but I'm hoping they'll perk up in the next few days. The java moss, on the other hand, looks very healthy. Gary's crawling through it as I write this. 

I think I'm going to order some more plants from Planted Aquariums Central soon. I'm leaning mainly towards the narrow leaf anacharis and the rotala rotundifolia.

I also added a patch of my old gravel to the front of the tank today. I'm hoping to someday cover the rest of the fluorite with plants.

Here's hoping the red root floaters survive!


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