1st REAL attempt at a planted tank

[Kimunaffected]

Great, We have a store in town that I trust and I will grab some more ASAP, Thanks so much!

 

[fishorama]

Now I'm going to suggest some easier plants (I belong to a plant club & have killed lots free plants, lol). Your tank is smaller & I don't like to have to trim every week or 2, I'm lazy. So I don't prefer many stem plants, easy or not.

Cryptocoryne, a rosette genus in several leaf shapes & colors. I love them! For a different color or 2 look for wendtii "red", "brown" or Mi oya (maroon) all get 4-6 inches tall & would like a root tab fertilizer every 3+ months. Almost any would be nice, I never had a crypt I didn't like but a few get too big for your tank.

Italian "spiral" vallisneria (really v. asiatica I think). 8-10 inches tall but spreads by runners, needs a little control but nice.

Laeliopsis, a grass like sword relative 2 inches tall or so. It's a ground cover so expect it to spread.

Tropica is a smaller swordplant...

There are more of course but look these up for starters. I'll give some more thought too, I've never had such a small tank

 

[Kimunaffected]

Now I'm going to suggest some easier plants (I belong to a plant club & have killed lots free plants, lol). Your tank is smaller & I don't like to have to trim every week or 2, I'm lazy. So I don't prefer many stem plants, easy or not.

Cryptocoryne, a rosette genus in several leaf shapes & colors. I love them! For a different color or 2 look for wendtii "red", "brown" or Mi oya (maroon) all get 4-6 inches tall & would like a root tab fertilizer every 3+ months. Almost any would be nice, I never had a crypt I didn't like but a few get too big for your tank.

Italian "spiral" vallisneria (really v. asiatica I think). 8-10 inches tall but spreads by runners, needs a little control but nice.

Laeliopsis, a grass like sword relative 2 inches tall or so. It's a ground cover so expect it to spread.

Tropica is a smaller swordplant...

There are more of course but look these up for starters. I'll give some more thought too, I've never had such a small tank

Thank you so much! I have screenshoted this for my next shopping trip. You have been so helpful

 

[Kimunaffected]

Yep definitely pygmaeus. They dont grow much larger than an inch. If you wanted larger species of cories, thats no way in anything less than 20. But the pygmies and the other dwarf cory species can be housed in a 5+. In a 5g though theyd need to be species only, but a 9-10 you can add a community. All the fish you have are suitable for your tank.

You can do extra work to maintain heavier stock, but you yourself cannot substitute the companionship they need.

How many more should I grab this evening or tomorrow? Should I start with another 3?

 

[dougall]

How many more should I grab this evening or tomorrow? Should I start with another 3?

If your water is testing ok... No ammonia or nitrite, but a bit of nitrate, I would go for it, otherwise wait till it tests correctly for a day or two at least first.

If you cannot test your water, get a test kit instead. You will see APIs listed all over, personally I prefer the one from Sera, at least of the generally available ones.

And just lose the sword, the tank is too small for any echinodorus species, try for a type of chain sword if you like, personally I am a fan of Vesuvius,

Crypts are a great bet, and a personal favorite of mine too.. on top of the ones listed, you can try for flamingo, green gecko, affinis, lutea, and bunches of others. Some are pretty common so easy to find, and easy to grow.

But looks good, be sure to take the time to just enjoy it too, sit and watch the fish!

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

It looks good. All of the impotrtant stuff has alrady been mentioned so I don't have anything to say.

 

[Kimunaffected]

If your water is testing ok... No ammonia or nitrite, but a bit of nitrate, I would go for it, otherwise wait till it tests correctly for a day or two at least first.

If you cannot test your water, get a test kit instead. You will see APIs listed all over, personally I prefer the one from Sera, at least of the generally available ones.

And just lose the sword, the tank is too small for any echinodorus species, try for a type of chain sword if you like, personally I am a fan of Vesuvius,

Crypts are a great bet, and a personal favorite of mine too.. on top of the ones listed, you can try for flamingo, green gecko, affinis, lutea, and bunches of others. Some are pretty common so easy to find, and easy to grow.

But looks good, be sure to take the time to just enjoy it too, sit and watch the fish!

Thanks so much! I really do enjoy watching the tank. I am gonna do some swapping soonish I am gonna pick up some other plants and gift my mom the sword ( she has a 55g) .
Our water is nice and stable. Consistently testing at 0-0-.5 this was a pretty easy upgrade from a 5gallon that was housing the betta for 3 years. It’s been over a month since that seeded upgrade. Consistently testing good. I have been slowly adding the fish too. I am happy to hear I can house more Pygmy cory’s.
the lfs I use is I bit more spending than the chain stores. So my “budget sweet spot” is 3 more for now. That would bring them to 6 for now.

 

[Kimunaffected]

Well Fishorama has been on this forum since 2006 so
Ps don't bury more as 1/3rd of the "bananas". They don't have to be buried at all, you could leave them floating as well.

Well Fishorama has been on this forum since 2006 so
Ps don't bury more as 1/3rd of the "bananas". They don't have to be buried at all, you could leave them floating as well.

I like the look of them free floating much better ty! I am so grateful for finding this forum. I am looking forward to doing this right.

 

[the loach]

That's the ticket Kim, as you can see the thin white roots will hold it in its place, the "bananas" are for nutrient storage.
If you want to propagate it ... cut off a leaf with stem and let it float, it will develop tiny roots.

 

[NoodleCats]

Yeah 3 this round and 2-3 next round would be good to keep stable water with additions