Makeover advice for a 5-gallon betta tank

[Litfan93]

Hi all,
 

I've been running a 5-gallon betta tank that I started about 6 years ago with little knowledge about planted tanks and I've recently decided to try out my green thumb!
 

For a long time, I've been battling some dark sludgy algae that covered my Anubias frazeri and a java fern that went wild and started spreading sprouts everywhere (the fern is gone now). Recently, I did some research and figured that the problem was that my lighting was set too high for my lower-light loving Anubias. I finally updated my Fluval Plant Nano to run Bentley Pascoe's DaySim at 50% power in hopes that I can beat back the algae and let my plants grow better. I also ordered a Vallisneria and Baby Tears to replace my one of my last fake plants but the latter tore up so easily when I tried planting it
 

While my plants are adjusting to the new light schedule, I realize that my gravel line is way too low and making it hard for me to keep my plants rooted. I'm considering topping my existing gravel with CaribSea Eco-Complete Red but I'm not sure if it'd be too much trouble to replace my substrate completely. [https://www.chewy.com/caribsea-eco-complete.../dp/168344](https://www.chewy.com/caribsea-eco-complete.../dp/168344)
 

Any advice on how I can makeover my tank into a lush mini betta pond?
 

Some helpful info:

-Nitrate is around 5-10 ppm. May consider getting a phosphate test kit as well.

-I normally dosed API Leaf Zone with every weekly water change but I'm going back to Seachem Flourish.

-Don't hate me, but to stave off the algae, I also tried adding AlgaeFix every few days and even considered using Flourish Excel for carbon (I now know that Excel isn't really doing much compared to actual CO2 dosing). I'm going to throw these out especially since Vallisneria hates Excel.

[JE47]

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/algae-identification-guide-1 This might help for identifying algae and then getting rid of it.

If you want to completely replace your current substrate with eco complete I don't think that be to much trouble 

If you want plant recommendations I can give you some? Hopefully this helps some. Beautiful betta by the way 😀

Edited March 27 by JE47

[Litfan93]

It's kinda hard to tell if it's green spot algae since it looks a little hairy but not like black beard 😕 I used to have nerite snails to try to control it a few years ago but I'd like to try again.

Awesome, I just know it's gonna be a whole day thing if I decide to totally replace it haha

Yes, definitely! Since I have anubias, maybe something on the low/medium light range or even some floating would be cool. Thank you! I've always had a thing for koi bettas and he's a quirky little guy lol

[JE47]

On 3/27/2024 at 7:58 PM, Litfan93 said:

Awesome, I just know it's gonna be a whole day thing if I decide to totally replace it haha

I know how you feel, I have replaced the gravel in one of my fish tanks for sand and boy was that an all day event. My family must of thought I was nuts to go to that much effort for an fish tank😂

Anyways for floaters I have used dwarf water lettuce in the past which grew well for me if that's not available you could buy and try amazon frogbit. What plants do you have currently? Are there certain textures you like more than others? Do you like more grassy plants more broad leaf plants? This would help me understand more of what you are looking for and I could give you better recommendations 😀

The algae in question kinda looks like the blue green algae on aquarium co-ops webpage, I could totally be wrong though.

Edited March 28 by JE47

[spokanejared]

That's not algea that's a green bacterial bloom. Cyanobacteria. Not easy to get rid of. 

[Litfan93]

Sorry for going MIA, it's been a hectic week!

@JE47 I feel like I have to take a day off to get that done haha. I added some Fluval gravel tabs in the meantime to see how that goes. I've watched a video about Amazon frogbit but I found that it may be illegal to get in California :/. Right now, I have three anubias frazeri, an Amazon Sword, and a Vallisneria I got from Aquarium Co-Op. Since I have a betta, it'd be cool to get some plants from SE Asia or something similar. Definitely something broad-leafed to provide some shade and make it look like a habitat for my boy.

@spokanejared  I also wondered if I was doing too much of a weekly water change (around 30%) and that it caused a nitrate crash. I'm now dosing Flourish twice a week along with the Fluval tabs and went with doing 10% changes moving forward. I'll see if I can get some maracyn if the above methods don't make a difference.

[Whitecloud09]

On 4/1/2024 at 6:05 PM, Litfan93 said:

Sorry for going MIA, it's been a hectic week!

@JE47 I feel like I have to take a day off to get that done haha. I added some Fluval gravel tabs in the meantime to see how that goes. I've watched a video about Amazon frogbit but I found that it may be illegal to get in California :/. Right now, I have three anubias frazeri, an Amazon Sword, and a Vallisneria I got from Aquarium Co-Op. Since I have a betta, it'd be cool to get some plants from SE Asia or something similar. Definitely something broad-leafed to provide some shade and make it look like a habitat for my boy.

@spokanejared  I also wondered if I was doing too much of a weekly water change (around 30%) and that it caused a nitrate crash. I'm now dosing Flourish twice a week along with the Fluval tabs and went with doing 10% changes moving forward. I'll see if I can get some maracyn if the above methods don't make a difference.

30% is not to much @Litfan93, I sometimes do a 70% if I understand correctly what you are asking. Are you doing root tabs twice a week? If so that might be to much for twice a week, I do them once per month, but I might be misunderstanding that too lol. Kinda tired tonight lol.

[spokanejared]

On 4/1/2024 at 3:05 PM, Litfan93 said:

Sorry for going MIA, it's been a hectic week!

@JE47 I feel like I have to take a day off to get that done haha. I added some Fluval gravel tabs in the meantime to see how that goes. I've watched a video about Amazon frogbit but I found that it may be illegal to get in California :/. Right now, I have three anubias frazeri, an Amazon Sword, and a Vallisneria I got from Aquarium Co-Op. Since I have a betta, it'd be cool to get some plants from SE Asia or something similar. Definitely something broad-leafed to provide some shade and make it look like a habitat for my boy.

@spokanejared  I also wondered if I was doing too much of a weekly water change (around 30%) and that it caused a nitrate crash. I'm now dosing Flourish twice a week along with the Fluval tabs and went with doing 10% changes moving forward. I'll see if I can get some maracyn if the above methods don't make a difference.

You need to check the nitrate load in the water column before you fertilize. That's a bare minimum in my book. I only fertilize if my nitrate levels get below 20ppm. The directions on the bottle of most fertilizers imo is very generic and doesn't fit most applications. In short always test before you fertilize. Also I only use tabs once to kick start the rooting process and that's it. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with once a month bit if your doing once a week then that certainly way too much. I look at rooting tabs as just a temporary thing to get the plants going on putting down a good root base and as long as ypu have enough bio settling to the bottom nature will take over. 

[Litfan93]

On 4/2/2024 at 6:10 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

30% is not to much @Litfan93, I sometimes do a 70% if I understand correctly what you are asking. Are you doing root tabs twice a week? If so that might be to much for twice a week, I do them once per month, but I might be misunderstanding that too lol. Kinda tired tonight lol.

Haha, I've been tired myself and wish I could reply faster! Oh no, I've been adding root tabs once a month and dosing liquid Flourish twice a week (it used to be once a week after a water change). I can't remember off the top of my head my last nitrate reading (somewhere in the 10-15 range) but I will report back once I do my weekly change. It might also be time to get a new API kit since I lost my color chart lol. I got so used to my tank being established for years that I stopped testing 😞

Knowing what I know now, I wish I could hit the reset button on this tank or start a newer and less DIY one.

[Whitecloud09]

On 4/3/2024 at 10:38 PM, Litfan93 said:

Haha, I've been tired myself and wish I could reply faster! Oh no, I've been adding root tabs once a month and dosing liquid Flourish twice a week (it used to be once a week after a water change). I can't remember off the top of my head my last nitrate reading (somewhere in the 10-15 range) but I will report back once I do my weekly change. It might also be time to get a new API kit since I lost my color chart lol. I got so used to my tank being established for years that I stopped testing 😞

Knowing what I know now, I wish I could hit the reset button on this tank or start a newer and less DIY one.

Ohhhhhhh, I did misunderstand lol. But yeah me too I kinda became a lazy fish keeper by not checking paremeters until I tested ammonia and it was 2.0 ppm!!!!  That woke me up and I told myself, DO NOT stop testing lol. I had an ammonia spike and those are not fun. Ok, everything looks good, @Litfan93, yes I wish I could reset everything as well on my tank  but, oh well.

[Litfan93]

@Whitecloud09 definitely learnt my lesson 😅 I got a new API kit and found my nitrate is reading below 5 ppm! Not sure if that’s been causing the blue green algae or my plants and bacteria are doing too good of a job of cycling.

I’m already thinking of getting a Fluval Spec 5 gallon this summer so it’s gonna be tricky finding space and eventually transferring the plants and Ares. Summer project!

[Tony s]

On 4/5/2024 at 11:13 PM, Litfan93 said:

causing the blue green algae or my plants

If you really have bga, a week of maracyn will take care of it. Or the api brand of erythromycin. It takes a good antibiotic to get rid of it. Whether it comes back or not??? 

[Litfan93]

Maracyn is on my shopping list, would Fritz or API work better? Just added Anubias barteri as well 🙂

While doing a water change, I took a photo of one of my frazeri that uprooted and it definitely looks like BGA, sometimes it even takes a good scrubbing to get it off!