Imagination Time: Scaping a 5g betta tank for a friend

[Ben_RF]

Hey you wonderful folks,

If you were going to scape a 5g aquarium for a betta and were to pick plants from Aquarium Co Op.  What plants would you choose?

I am working on setting up a new tank for a dear friend to have her first fish buddy.  I do have about 8.8 lbs of fluval shrimp stratum on hand I was thinking of using. Not only because our water tends to be hard here, but because I just want to get rid of it as it has been under my bed for about two years.  The color is brown.  I also have quiet a bit of dragon stone available to be used also, mostly brown in color. So that should make up the hardscape.  I will be getting her a co op sponge filter.

So with all that being said how would you imagine an aquarium with fluval stratum and dragon stone?  What plants would you go with for a complete noob that are available on the Co Op website 🙂 I know its not the biggest selection but I like spending my money with them. I am hoping to keep plant cost under $150.

Plants that I have readily on hand that I am overflowing with and can use include:  water lettuce, red floaters, frog bit, dwarf sagitteria, and pogo. oct. 

And I am sort of leaning towards crypts to be perfectly honest too. Just fyi.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Ben_RF

[Jennifer V]

I just scaped a 5g with mostly coop plants. I'm a total newbie, so I got various anubias and java fern and love the way they look. I love crypts too, so I have them in my 10g. The only issue with them is melt, which can be a big bummer for new people who don't understand that's part of the process. And even if they do, it's still hard to see plants totally disintegrate. Here is my tank. 

[FrozenFins]

I have a few ideas for you!

I created a scape on Scape it with some dragon stone a well as with a nice peice of wood and plants the co-op has is stock.

It has some...

• Anubias Nanna Pettite (Plant next to the hard scape)
• Bacopa Caroliniana (Background Plant)
• Hydrocotyle Tripartita (Plant to the far left)

This next Idea does not include the dragon stone but is my current scape of my betta tank:

• Cool looking drift wood (no idea what kind)
• Hygrophillia Compact (Co-Op does not have in stock but could be replaced easily)
• Anubias Species wedged into the drift wood
• Red Flame Sword

Heres my old scape of my betta tank that included Dragon Stone. All it had for plants was Monte Carlo. If you want the Monte Carlo to carpet you will need co2. But I had monte carlo in this tank for a couple months and it even pearled. It never melted back and always remained its bright green color. It was very happy without co2, no carpeting. It did grow though just not in the carpet format!

 

 

[Jennifer V]

@James Black very cool! I didn't know I could have swords in such a small tank. Would it be ok in sand? I feel a co-op purchase coming on! 

[FrozenFins]

6 hours ago, Jennifer V said:

@James Black very cool! I didn't know I could have swords in such a small tank. Would it be ok in sand? I feel a co-op purchase coming on! 

I currently have swords in sand in my communtiy tank. Just make sure to purchase some easy root tabs for the swords.

[Fish Folk]

Here's how we scaped a 5.5 for a female we special ordered from MoMo Bettas. Java Moss, Java Fern, Wisteria, Rotalla Indica, Bronze Crypt. A few Ghost Shrimp. Wood Emerged, with Pothos sprouting from behind. Single sponger filter. I think this one was just black Diamond Blasting Sand substrate.

 

[Ben_RF]

You guys are amazing. Some great ideas here. Thank you!

[Georgiapeach88]

Makes me want to redo my betta tank 😂 love all of these 

[ARMYVET]

On 4/22/2021 at 8:40 AM, Fish Folk said:

Here's how we scaped a 5.5 for a female we special ordered from MoMo Bettas. Java Moss, Java Fern, Wisteria, Rotalla Indica, Bronze Crypt. A few Ghost Shrimp. Wood Emerged, with Pothos sprouting from behind. Single sponger filter. I think this one was just black Diamond Blasting Sand substrate.

 

Love this video and the music....very relaxing and fun to watch.

 

[ARMYVET]

Thus is a 20 gallon for our future betta but just to give you ideas… all the green plants are glued to the rocks and wood…only the red ones are stems in the substrate.

[sairving]

This is currently what my 5 gallon Betta ta k looks like.  I just added some new plants yesterday and rescaped it a bit.  None of my plants are from the co-op.  I have 2 lfs so I try to buy locally most of the time and stay away from plants that have been restricted by the state. 

[Ragnarok12]

This is what I've got going in my 5 gallon. Mostly crypts and buce. The dwarf sag is also quite happy. I opted for all driftwood rather than rocks. I opted for micro Rasboras and cherry shrimp instead of a betta, but considered a betta long and hard as well. 

[Ben_RF]

So I ended up with her plakat as she found him to be aggressive. What I have done though is since converted the tank to a shrimp and snail tank, and she is loving it.

Just thought y'all might want an update.

[Ben_RF]

Oh and this is what Sam Wilson the Betta had his tank end up looking like.  I am trying java ferns again, it has been a battle of mine over the years to grow it.