# Small Betta Tank Plants



## MysteryWafflez (Jan 24, 2014)

Allo people of the fish community :-D I have a 3.5 gallon fish tank with nerite snail (and soon betta) and I was interested in putting duckweed in there. Right now the tank has LED lights but it is by a window. And I was planning on also adding a moss ball, java moss (on driftwood), and some type of foreground and background plant (which I have no idea about). I'm also planning on adding black sand.

So to sum it up....
1) Can I grow duckweed in a 3.5 gallon tank?
2) What background and foreground plants should I have?
3) And should I get better lighting?
4) Do I need anything extra if I want sand?


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## coreyh (Dec 1, 2012)

*duckweed* is super easy to grow, it's a floater so it has access to all of the co2 in the air and in my experience, doesn't need too much light. It grows SUPER fast and makes it hard to get your hand into the aquarium without looking like a lake monster when you pull it out. But you most certainly can grow it.

With leds, you might want to lean toward low light plants. 

*Anarchis* is really cheap and a good grower as well, but it likes it a little cooler, so I'd keep the betta tank on the lower end of acceptable (76ish) if you decided to keep it. 

*Anubias Nana *This is by far one of my favorite plants for small tanks. It gets to around 6 inches which is perfect for my small betta habitats. It has huge leaves bettas can lie on, and is almost impossible to kill. *knocks on wood* 

*Java Fern* is great too, and you'll have dozens of plants in no time at all. 

One of the easiest plants to grow in my experience is *guppy grass.* I recieved a tiny little bunch (one plant about 3 inches long) and in the span of two months, my 30 tall with a 20watt light is filled with the stuff. I just threw it in as a floater, and it grows toward the subtrate and plants itself. If you plant this, you will be trimming every two days, but it uses up a lot of nutrients, which is good for small tanks.

Both of the mosses you mentioned, should do fine, Java moss in particular is hard to kill, had a bunch turn brown at the bottom of my 48" might-as-well-be-dark monster tank, but I just threw it in my spare plants tank and it came back to life.


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## G26okie (Jan 16, 2014)

+1 for anacharis. This stuff grows FAST.


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## MysteryWafflez (Jan 24, 2014)

Thank you so much  I think Pawn (the nerite snail) will enjoy his plants very much! I will probably get the anarcharis, duckweed, java moss and see how it goes.


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## kman (Dec 10, 2013)

Good recommendations from Coreyh. I'd definitely consider the Anubias as well... my betta really loves chilling under the broad leaves when he feels like hiding. Low light, slow growing. Java fern is another pretty low light plant that's easy care and easy to get. (Note that both prefer to be tied to a rock or driftwood and do NOT want their roots buried in substrate)

Duckweed is super easy, and grows like mad. I scoop it out first during tank maintenance. You'll need to keep an eye on how much you have, and start pulling some out once too grows in (which it will). Mine went from a quarter-sized circle to taking over the top of my Spec in one month. If you have a friend with a goldfish, duckweed makes GREAT goldfish snacks. Very nutritious for them, and they love it. If not, don't pour it down the drain or risk it getting into local water systems, as it's a very aggressive invasive species in most local ecologies, you'll want to kill it dead dead dead before tossing in the flowerbed for mulch.


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## G26okie (Jan 16, 2014)

Here is my spec 3 really low tech as of yesterday. I'm using a 9 watt 5000k cfl for light, flourite for substrate.

I have anacharis, and wisteria in the back, java fern in front of that, and dwarf hairgrass/dwarf sag infront.

The anacharis has added at least 6 inches onto one of its stems over the past week.


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## BulletToothBoris (Jan 8, 2013)

Go with frogbit instead of duckweed. You're welcome.


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## MysteryWafflez (Jan 24, 2014)

OK I went to my local Pet Co and bought some ancharis and a moss ball to see how it would live. Is the ancharis supposed to bend (it was floating when I bought it)? And how do you plant the ancharis cause I just stuck it in the sand XD I have the Petco brand sand and three ghost shrimp (one shed successfully in my tank) and a nerite snail. I put in API Leaf Zone, which made my water real murky. And I saw the anubias but I knew there is a lot of different kind and I didn't want to get a HUGE plant because I have driftwood in the middle going vertical. And I read that anubias like being in driftwood.


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