5 gallon betta fish tank.
Regular gravel.
I wanna try some live plants.
Ill start with one and see if im able to keep it alive.
What should I do? The plant is mostly just for SHRIMPIES! To enjoy, and for my betta!
im looking at this plant
http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx? s ... Any info on it?
ive seen small ones availible at Petco, and would go nice in my new 5 gallon ...
so any advice? suggestions?
what do i need to do?
I recommend getting a plant like Anubias or Java fern to begin with. Echinodorus (amazon swords) require a nutrient-rich substrate, CO2, and higher lighting to really thrive. Chances are, if you get an amazon sword and it lives, the plant will die back quite a bit without the right conditions.
Anubias and java fern can be grown with the leaves submerged or not submerged, and in low lighting. Non submerged plants of these two types will adapt to fully submerged aquarium life just fine (this also goes for Echinodorus).
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Just be careful about purchasing plants that are not submerged, since many of them are not true aquatics and will die within a few months of being fully submerged. These two plants do well in regular aquarium gravel.Hygrophila is another hardy plant that does well in regular aquarium gravel.Make sure you add a fertilizer supplement every week or so after you do a partial water change.
^ ^ ^ Plant food does not work and is a waste of money. Proper substrate and lighting will provide the proper care for plants.
I recommend never buying from petco or petsmart because they label their plants wrong and grow them outside of water, so when they are put inside water they die.
Good Luck, and Hope this Helps.
Just buy the plant and plant food. It is a liquid that comes in a bottle. Just be sure to read the directions. Your Ghost Shrimp will enjoy them ...
*** I agree with that other person. Buy plants already fully suberged. I bought a plant from petsmart and it turn out to be a house plant that can't live submerged ...
Hey, I use regular gravel whatever that means?
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
I use gravel from Petco.
That plant is good. Its an Amazon Sword which is a hardy plant.
[Sword plants are usually hardy plants]
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Well you need to make sure you have light for it. Most light bulbs for fish tanks that come with them are great, but then again, the replacements aren't. You have to buy "plant growth bulbs".
You don't need plant food. These plants don't NEED it. They're not dwarf tears.
I would get 1-2 MAX.
They would do good in your tank, but you should do regular trimming if the plants grows too large [20 "but thats avoidable, because then leaves will bend, giving a good, relaxing feel to the tank.
You need to buy the plant, take it home.
Then get plant accumulated to your tank's temperature. [Leave the bag with the plant in it for awhile.]
Then take it out, take the "pot" off, as this is only so the roots don't overrun it in the petstores.
Then plant. Make sure its COVERED with gravels [try to get gravel all over the bottom of it. They recommend 3 "of gravel so its not much of a hassle. Place in the BACK OF THE TANK!
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Now leave it. Thats it.
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These plants are fully aquatic. I've had no problem with these plants as I have had them in the past [I gave them to my friend because my 2.5 gal was overrun.]
I use Cryptocorne too. Which is also a good plant.
Both plants need to be trimmed every so often [couple of months], lowlight, and don't need anything besides the water, the gravel, and the fish.
:) I had no idea what I was doing when I got my first plant. That plant is now in a 20 gal tank, with 12 run offs. So yeah. They're great. And your betta will love the leaves!
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if they're in tubes, they're being "misted". So when you submerge them, they die because they literally drown. Get plants that are SUBMERGED. misted plants can also be bog plants. [bamboo is a bog plant, its roots can be in water, the leaves cannot ... which I accidentally didn't know.]
