# did i over plant my 5 gallon tank



## eldiablo2us (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi everyone, I've been visiting this site for a while and after ready about them I finally decided to take the jump and make my 5G. An Not. Inside the tank is my betta and 2 snails and 4 ghost shrimp. I forgot which plants even though I bought them today. My question is did I over plant it. Also some if the plants are too tall but I don't know how to trim them. So any help with by hat is appreciated. I attached a before picture and then some pictures of the current set up.


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

Looks good to me! I just had an outgrowth of hornwort...started off in the corner of the tank as a bunch looking real pretty, then poof before I knew it it had taken over one whole side within 2 months, I cut it down from about 2' to 6" (hopefully thats what your suposed to do?) and replanted it. Hopefully it regrows in the same manner as previous and I can just keep cutting it down


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## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

The only way to 'over plant' is to have so many there is no room for the fish to swim around, or reach the surface for air.

However, it looks like you have an Amazon Sword (or similar Echinodorus species) which will overgrow that tank all by itself. They get pretty large. If that's what the one in front of the rock is anyways, hard to tell in the picture.

With stem plants, you just pull up the plant, cut the stem, and replant the top. That's all there is to it. It will grow new roots at the lowest 'node'. You can just cut the tops off, which will make the plants 'bushy' if you want, where you cut the stem the top node will send off two shoots. You may not want that in a small tank though, so just cut the bottom section off and replant the tops.


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## eldiablo2us (Dec 19, 2012)

thats for our reply, that is a sword plant... should i remove it ? i dont want it to over grow the tank. Ok just to clarify, lets say if i cut a stem plant in the middle then replant it, it will not only not kill the plant but it will regrow the top part that i cut? thanks guys this was fun setting up this tank...


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

eldiablo2us said:


> thats for our reply, that is a sword plant... should i remove it ? i dont want it to over grow the tank. Ok just to clarify, lets say if i cut a stem plant in the middle then replant it, it will not only not kill the plant but it will regrow the top part that i cut? thanks guys this was fun setting up this tank...


If I were you I would keep it right where it is for now, and when it gets too big, sell or trade it to someone else who has a bigger tank. You'll be able to recoup the cost of the plant at least then  You can do the same thing with clippings from your stem plants.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Wow! I love your tank. How long did it take for that growth??

I just bought approximately 15 plants online for my 29g...I'm scared I bought too many now, lol.


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

Like the others have said, looks good to me! =)


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## eldiablo2us (Dec 19, 2012)

carbonxxkidd said:


> Wow! I love your tank. How long did it take for that growth??
> 
> I just bought approximately 15 plants online for my 29g...I'm scared I bought too many now, lol.


I just put this tank together today. So I can't take any credit for the growth. Do you guys thin i can add more ghost shrimp? I don't want to over populate.

I had the same fear after I got home with my plants.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

eldiablo2us said:


> I just put this tank together today. So I can't take any credit for the growth. Do you guys thin i can add more ghost shrimp? I don't want to over populate.
> 
> I had the same fear after I got home with my plants.


Oh, from the looks of the picture the first one almost looks like a "before growth" pic! I think it looks fantastic.

From what I've read, ghost shrimp don't have much of a bioload. You could probably add a few more with no problems.


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

I read that you can keep your sword small by trimming the roots every so often, it apparently encourages the plant to stay small and have more leaves... not sure if that's true or not though...


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## eldiablo2us (Dec 19, 2012)

Oh sorry for the confusion. The first picture is the before but it has fake plastic plants... i wish i can say it was all me.. BTW I'm loving this site, lots of information.... thanks guys for everything.


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## Shewbert (Dec 16, 2012)

Certainly looks good, as said in earlier post as long as the fish can move freely it is ok, your tank should be healthy enough with all of the natural oxygenating plants.
As stated in another posting,,,not too sure about the sword, it will outgrow the space you have But otherwise job well done.
Ray


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## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

eldiablo2us said:


> thats for our reply, that is a sword plant... should i remove it ? i dont want it to over grow the tank. Ok just to clarify, lets say if i cut a stem plant in the middle then replant it, it will not only not kill the plant but it will regrow the top part that i cut? thanks guys this was fun setting up this tank...


You can keep the sword until it becomes a problem, or you can try to trade it if you bought it at a local store (chain stores may or may not if you have a receipt). As said if you know people near you with larger tanks that would buy it from you, even for a dollar or two, that's an option too.

For stem plants that is correct, cutting them will not kill them. That's in fact how you propogate them as they'll never grow seeds when under water.

Almost all aquarium plants come from regions that flood yearly, so half the year they are emersed (out of water) while the other half they are submerged (under water). In these two conditions the plants take on very different forms, and you will see this with the sword plant. What you have now is the emersed form, nursaries grow the plants that way because they grow much faster in the air than under water, as the air has far more CO2 than the water and it can grow from natural sunlight (or very bright grow lights). You will see the sword grow new leaves from the center of the crown, and they will be much longer and slender than the leaves you see now. As those new leaves come out, the old leaves will start to turn brown from the tips and eventually the whole leaf will go brown. When that happens it is safe to cut the brown leaves off.

One thing you haven't mentioned is if you bought some fertalizer to go with your plants? You will want to pick up some Seachem Flourish Comprehensive fertalizer (check the label as there are lots of products under the Florish line), the smallest bottle if they have it (250 mL). In a 5g like that it will last you literally years (that's why I say smallest bottle). You will also want to get a baby's medicine dropper as the dose will be quite small (0.4 mL per week). You add the fertalizer the day after your weekly water change each week. That will ensure your plants grow nice and healthy as flourish contains most the nutrients plants need in the correct proportions.


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## eldiablo2us (Dec 19, 2012)

Geomancer said:


> you haven't mentioned is if you bought some fertalizer to go with your plants? You will want to pick up some Seachem Flourish Comprehensive fertalizer (check the label as there are lots of products under the Florish line), the smallest bottle if they have it (250 mL). In a 5g like that it will last you literally years (that's why I say smallest bottle). You will also want to get a baby's medicine dropper as the dose will be quite small (0.4 mL per week). You add the fertalizer the day after your weekly water change each week. That will ensure your plants grow nice and healthy as flourish contains most the nutrients plants need in the correct proportions.


I didn't buy anything for the plants. I didn't know that I had to. I will look into it today. Thank you for all the information.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Your tank looks great! The only problem is your hornwort- it is not supposed to be buried in the substrate- it will rot. Hornwort can be tied to a rock or just float.
Looks like you have a bunch of Water Wisteria, too. I love that stuff- I just bought some for the first time recently. The leaves look different from the ones you will see in pictures online, but I read that it's because they grow the plants not fully submerged so they grow a different type of leaf. I've read that you should be prepared to lose a lot of leaves and it will regrow the more typical underwater leaves.
I don't think your plant in the front is an amazon sword- they usually stand more upright and have longer, more narrow leaves. It does look like some kind of sword, though. There are a lot of different types of sword. My favorite sword is Rosette Sword. It stays short and spreads outward and the leaves are much more round than a lot of other sword plants. I got it in a tube at Petco and I've never seen another one since...


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Sorry to partially hijack this thread, but Geomancer - do you recommend adding ferts immediately after planting or waiting a bit? I have eco-complete substrate in my tank, and have ordered the Flourish complete (which will arrive with my plants) but am unsure when to start dosing. Thanks!


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## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

carbonxxkidd said:


> Sorry to partially hijack this thread, but Geomancer - do you recommend adding ferts immediately after planting or waiting a bit? I have eco-complete substrate in my tank, and have ordered the Flourish complete (which will arrive with my plants) but am unsure when to start dosing. Thanks!


Right away.

Eco Complete will only help substrate rooted plants, you need nutrients in the water column for non-substrate rooted plants (Anubias, Jave Fern, etc), steam plants, and floating plants.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Geomancer said:


> Right away.
> 
> Eco Complete will only help substrate rooted plants, you need nutrients in the water column for non-substrate rooted plants (Anubias, Jave Fern, etc), steam plants, and floating plants.


Thanks! Do you recommend root tabs in the Eco Complete too, or is the Flourish Complete enough?


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## Geomancer (Aug 23, 2010)

carbonxxkidd said:


> Thanks! Do you recommend root tabs in the Eco Complete too, or is the Flourish Complete enough?


You shouldn't need root tabs, just the liquid is fine.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Geomancer said:


> You shouldn't need root tabs, just the liquid is fine.


Awesome, thanks!


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## PaulO (Aug 13, 2012)

Eldiablo beautiful tank, I had the same decoration (large rock cave from pet smart) and after about a month when I was cleaning I happened to decide to remove the decoration. I happened to catch a whiff of the water that was spilling out of the decoration to empty it for storage and it was PUTRID. I would find a way to either seal off the decoration so no water can get in like sand and silicone, as the water can get stagnant and can become a cesspool of bacteria, also my silly mollies were constantly scratching their eyes on the "bushes". This decoration is one of the biggest reasons why I am moving all my tanks from hollow plastic decor to nice natural driftwood though slowly as it does lower ph. That was just my thought take it as you will but overall I gotta say you have a gorgeous tank and one happy betta.


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## eldiablo2us (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks... I did have one of my snail get stuck on the plastic plants which combines on the rocks before I planted it. Wouldn't mind changing it with a natural piece ad long as I can get one with lord of hiding spots . I think my betta might have eaten one of the shrimps since I can only find 3 out of four.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

When you trim your stem plants do not remove them out of the substrate, especially with dirt. The more often you take more and more plants out, you will have a nasty looking substrate as the dirt will be up on top, when I had to redo my tank there was dirt everywhere. Simply cut the stem plant where it leaves healthy leaves still on the plant and replant the clippings. Once you have no more space you can sell the trimmings as long as they are decent sized, like 4+ inches, and sell them in bunches (4+ stems) or you can just give them out for free as long as the other person pays for shipping.

Tank looks great though!


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