Hello

[Simply Fin]

 

Hello everyone,

Have just started preparing to set up a 5-gallon tank aquarium. Yeah, it's a small start but that is all this senior can handle. Years ago, I had a Betta in a fish bowl and he lived for 5 years. I call that a miracle. Many years ago, I had a 10-gallon tank. I didn't have the knowledge then to properly care for my fish and learned the hard way. Now, I've watched You Tube videos, read various articles and rechecked to get a good idea of what would work for a beginner aquarist. 

I want to start with quarantined and disinfected plants. I've read how to do that and plan to use alum dip. Then I'll leave them in de-chlorinated water with plant light for around a month. Sounds good ...so far.

I want to use plants that will be attached to rock, or wood because I want to use sand as my substrate. Yep, I saw the video on sand substrate and the importance of how to clean and stir the sand to avoid toxic pockets of gas. I plan on eventually putting pygmy Cory Doras but will wait and see how well my tank cycles, etc. I want to start with Phoenix Rasboras (hope I'm spelling that right).

I want to know how many plants would be best in such a small tank. Want to use Java Fern, Anubias Nana Petite and a dwarf sword? I've never grown aquarium plants so I'm very nervous about this but I know how important they are to the aquarium. Any suggestions? I really want small fish because of the low bio-load. Any suggestions or ideas would be welcome, just explain things in a simple clear way, since this is new to me and I don't want to be overwhelmed. Thank you for taking the time to read all of this.

Simply Fin

 

[anitstuk]

G'day and welcome to the forum @Simply Fin! Don't worry about your plants dying because you chose beginner plants. Perfect place to start and they all look nice in the end.

If you would like to stock your tank, I would say try shrimp and snails. They are perfect for cleaning the tank and are typically easy to take care of as long as you follow the steps of keeping them alive. An easy fish to take care of is the Neon Tetra. Unfortunately, due to inbreeding and bad living conditions, 50% of the Neon Tetras get a disease which will kill them. If you want to keep Neon Tetras, buy twice as many as you want because in the end, half will die. 

Please let us know what you'll stock your tank with. Happy fishkeeping! 🙂  

Edited August 24, 2022 by anitstuk

[redfish]

Welcome to the site.  The plants you reference are considered low light plants and generally considered easier to grow.  The sword is not attached to wood or rock but planted in substrate so you might consider a different option if you only want to glue/attach plants to a structure.  The Java Fern and Anubias are slow growing plants so they will not overcrowd your tank quickly.  You can check out the ACO blog for more information on plants.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/tagged/planted-tanks

 

I would recommend a water parameter test kit also.

[Simply Fin]

Hi Anitstuk, and Redfish,

Thank you for responding to my introduction. I plan on introducing Phoenix Rasboras to my 5-gallon tank once it has cycled and plants are starting to grow. And yes, Redfish I will be testing the water, so important and thank you. Will be doing a great deal of that.  

So, what would be another plant I could use in place of the sword since I want to use sand substrate? Maybe something the Rasboras would like?

Happy fishkeeping to you as well. Thank you for the blog link, Redfish.

Simply Fin

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Simply Fin
forgot to add something .

[redfish]

Java moss can be secured to driftwood or another structure. A floating plant like water sprite would work if you don't want to plant anything in the substrate.  That will keep your fertilizer to a liquid option like ACO Easy Green or an API product and avoid root tabs for planted plants.

[Simply Fin]

Good idea about the water sprite, the rasboras will like that. Thank you, Redfish. 

[anitstuk]

On 8/25/2022 at 6:02 AM, redfish said:

Java moss can be secured to driftwood or another structure. A floating plant like water sprite would work if you don't want to plant anything in the substrate.  That will keep your fertilizer to a liquid option like ACO Easy Green or an API product and avoid root tabs for planted plants.

I have Java Moss in my tank and it thrives. Only problem is if you have an algae outbreak. The algae is difficult to get rid of when it's attached to the Moss. 

[drewzero1]

I have java moss in all of my tanks as well, and can confirm that it is super easy to keep alive (and super hard to remove algae from). Same with guppy grass.

(Don't worry too much about the algae though; some tanks have it bad, some don't. It really varies based on nutrients, lighting, and temperature. Snails help too.)

Floating plants are also good bang for the buck effort-wise. Many dislike duckweed and it is near impossible to get rid of if you eventually decide you agree, but there are other similar plants with less invasive reputations: salvinia, frogbit, and dwarf water lettuce for example.

I'd never heard of phoenix rasboras and had to look them up... they're beautiful fish! Micro rasboras like that should be a great choice for a 5 gallon. I agree that they will like the water wisteria and any plant they can feel like they're hiding in/behind. I've noticed my espei rasboras can be very skittish and like to be able to swim around things when they perceive a threat.

[anitstuk]

On 8/25/2022 at 3:34 PM, drewzero1 said:

I have java moss in all of my tanks as well, and can confirm that it is super easy to keep alive (and super hard to remove algae from). Same with guppy grass.

(Don't worry too much about the algae though; some tanks have it bad, some don't. It really varies based on nutrients, lighting, and temperature. Snails help too.)

Floating plants are also good bang for the buck effort-wise. Many dislike duckweed and it is near impossible to get rid of if you eventually decide you agree, but there are other similar plants with less invasive reputations: salvinia, frogbit, and dwarf water lettuce for example.

I'd never heard of phoenix rasboras and had to look them up... they're beautiful fish! Micro rasboras like that should be a great choice for a 5 gallon. I agree that they will like the water wisteria and any plant they can feel like they're hiding in/behind. I've noticed my espei rasboras can be very skittish and like to be able to swim around things when they perceive a threat.

Like what @drewzero1 said. Floating plants are excellent for removing excess nutrients and provide cover for your fish. I dislike duckweed because I think it grows wayyyy too quickly and is too difficult to take care of. I have some water lettuce and it's great! The long roots provide cover for baby fish and shrimp. I've never heard of phoenix rasboras but I know Harlequin Rasboras. I've got 7 of them and they're great. They don't fin nip, they're pretty peaceful and a hardy species of fish. 

[Simply Fin]

Thank you drewzero1 and Anitstuk,

I appreciate all the helpful hints and it has me re-thinking a little bit. Floating plants yes. What about Marimo Moss Ball? Are they beneficial to help reduce algae? More questions, sorry. 🙄Hope to make a good decision soon. Thank you again.

Simply Fin

 

[drewzero1]

I believe the moss ball is technically a kind of algae, but from what I've heard it shouldn't spread around the tank. I've never had one myself but they seem all right. The people who have them seem to like them, especially with shrimp. You do have to roll them periodically to make sure they don't get a dead spot on the bottom.

[anitstuk]

On 8/26/2022 at 2:43 PM, Simply Fin said:

Thank you drewzero1 and Anitstuk,

I appreciate all the helpful hints and it has me re-thinking a little bit. Floating plants yes. What about Marimo Moss Ball? Are they beneficial to help reduce algae? More questions, sorry. 🙄Hope to make a good decision soon. Thank you again.

Simply Fin

 

I think that the Moss Ball is great for keeping shrimps and baby fish even but I'm not sure if it helps with the algae situation. I forgot to mention before that if you have an algae outbreak, Co2 boosters are great! They definitely chop down on the algae and you only have to dose once a day.  

[Simply Fin]

Thank you Anitstuk for the information. I also read there was or had been a problem with Marimo moss ball. It had to do with finding the invasive mussel in them. And there is a shortage of moss balls. I think I will stay with the water sprite for now until I learn more about the moss ball. Have a great week and appreciate all your help.