5 gallon betta tank

[Shai]

Originally Posted by ~Tucker&Me~

When I was keeping CBS and Golden Bees it wasn't worth it, the shrimp cost a ton more than the bettas

*jealous of your fancy shrimp*

[Laurelin]

You have more willpower than me! It was so cheap so I just had to grab it. lol I looked for a hood at petco but the smallest they had was for a 10G. I'll try petsmart and see what I can find.

I think fluorite would be a safer bet, honestly. Can you use it in a low-tech setup? What's ya'lls usual setup like for your planted tanks? There's SO much conflicting information out there.

ETA: Here it is.


newtanks by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

I figure this is a better cure for the 'want new pets' phase I'm going through than bringing home a puppy.

[~Tucker&Me~]

Originally Posted by Shai

*jealous of your fancy shrimp*

Haha they were totally awesome - I wish I had the money to get back into cool inverts. CBS seem to be way more popular but tbh I much preferred the GBs - way 'friendlier' and stood out so beautifully from the plants

Originally Posted by Laurelin

You have more willpower than me! It was so cheap so I just had to grab it. lol I looked for a hood at petco but the smallest they had was for a 10G. I'll try petsmart and see what I can find.

I think fluorite would be a safer bet, honestly. Can you use it in a low-tech setup? What's ya'lls usual setup like for your planted tanks? There's SO much conflicting information out there.

ETA: Here it is.


newtanks by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

I figure this is a better cure for the 'want new pets' phase I'm going through than bringing home a puppy.

I would go ahead and use fluorite - I really liked it. Also, for cheap lighting that works like a charm, I got 2 Phillips 9w for $14 (only used one in the tank) from Canadian Tire, though I am sure most big hardware type stores in the US carry them too. I will get the exact type I bought because they have worked awesomely. If it were me I would put in a DIY C02 system But if you don't want to do that I would consider injecting liquid C02 because you may have problems with algae.

I did a planted 5g tank around this time last year with fluorite, that lighting I told you about and DIY C02.... It can look so awesome if you invest a bit in it

[Laurelin]

Can you elaborate a bit on the DIY CO2? It sounds like a good option but to be honest is just so intimidating to me for some reason. If you inject Co2, how much and how often do you need to do that?

Also, plant suggestions?

ETA: Would Seachem Excel work?

[Shai]

My DIY CO2 is basically a yeast reactor -- you can google plans for them...they are everywhere. Basically two bottles (three if you want a bubble counter), water, sugar, yeast, and air tubing. I ran mine into my HOB filter, but there are a lot of ways to integrate depending on your setup. Adding a touch of Flourish Excel (liquid CO2 or similar) works too.

ETA - the bottle reactors pretty much run themselves...I would have two and set them up to run about 3 weeks each, and stagger the switch so there wasn't a major spike in production (switch a bottle, week and half later switch the other, week and half later switch the first, repeat).

Plant suggestions depend on whether you want to do CO2, what lighting you end up with, with substrate you end up with...or you can pick a couple plants you really like and chose the rest based on those...

[Laurelin]

Well for substrate it will be the fluorite for sure. I'm still digesting the CO2 reactors. I think a DIY doesn't sound too bad at all. That's definitely a possibility. Excel is another possibility. Can it work on it's own or do you need a CO2 system as well? Just curious.

Lighting is still confusing me a bit to be honest.

I'm also about to ask a really dumb question- if I am using a glass top for the aquarium, what would you do for a filter? I was going to use a HOB filter but I wasn't sure if the glass tops allow for that or not.

[Shai]

Well the glass top should have a gap on one side of the tank...only being held up by three sides. If the gap is big enough, you can use a HOB filter there. If the lid seals the whole top you won't have sufficient new air coming in contact with the surface of the water for gas interchange.

If you dose liquid CO2 you don't need to do the DIY gas CO2, and vice versa.

I've seen no noticeable difference between Eco-Complete and Fluorite, so whichever you can find more readily. The Fluorite does take a while to clear (there are a lot of fines) but once it does it's not a big deal. I think both come in natural, red, and black (and maybe other colors) now...back when I got my Eco-Complete I don't think Fluorish came in black yet, and I wanted black...

[Laurelin]

Hm...

If it was your tank, what filter would you use? I've only ever really used HOBs and I'm a creature of habit. I like the look of the glass top better than a hood but a hood might be easier. I thought it would be easier to get lighting for the plants if it was a glass top though.

I was trying to remember what the other substrate I've heard recommended and Eco-Complete was it!

This thing's going to be fun.

[Shai]

I'd use whatever I already owned lol.

Either HOB or sponge would be fine. Even a small sponge filter could look pretty big in a tank that small though. With either filter, I'd want one with variable circulation rate, if shrimp or Betta were the goal, as it wouldn't take much to get a lot of current going in there.

Glass top would be more versatile for lighting, yeah. It just depends on what's in your are and what you want to spend...I'm sure there are made-for-5g hoods out there set up for plant-supportive lighting, but I don't know what the price tag would be, if you know what I mean. More than the tank.

I love setting up new tanks... Just talking about this is eating away at my resolve to leave my spares empty for a while...

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by Shai

I'd use whatever I already owned lol.

Either HOB or sponge would be fine. Even a small sponge filter could look pretty big in a tank that small though. With either filter, I'd want one with variable circulation rate, if shrimp or Betta were the goal, as it wouldn't take much to get a lot of current going in there.

Glass top would be more versatile for lighting, yeah. It just depends on what's in your are and what you want to spend...I'm sure there are made-for-5g hoods out there set up for plant-supportive lighting, but I don't know what the price tag would be, if you know what I mean. More than the tank.

I love setting up new tanks... Just talking about this is eating away at my resolve to leave my spares empty for a while...

Do ittttt!

I'm only here to help.

Yeah I was thinking a HOB would be best. This thing is pretty little (how do people set bettas up in 1-2 gallon tanks?). I think the heater is even going to look pretty big in there.

The tank was only $14 so definitely will be the cheaper part of this whole thing.

Do you know of any place that might have plant friendly hoods for a 5 gallon? If you get just a standard that comes with the basic 'aquarium light' or whatever they call it, can you get a decent light to fit that? The ones I've seen that have decent wattage look too big.