So I bought a 5.5 gallon tank with a Top Fin 10 filter, a heater, and I will be buying a 10 watt fluorescent bulb to replace the 15 watt incandescent that the tank came with. I put in some gravel that I got from Petsmart, cycled the tank, and now my betta is happily swimming around.

I was wondering if I am ready to put plants in. I have NEVER used live plants, aside from some "betta bulbs" I bought once. Basically, I need some help with my shopping list. What else do I need to buy and what types of plants are hardy and will grow well in my tank? As stated earlier, I am new to this and I may need some simple step by step instructions.

Do I need fertilizers?
Is co2 absolutely necessary? If so, what is a good one I can buy from either Petsmart or Petco?
Do I need to remove all of the gravel and put in different substrate?
Is the new bulb a good idea or should I just stick with the one that came with my tank?

This tank is only for my betta and possibly some bamboo shrimp that aren't doing so well in another tank due to my dojo loaches smacking them around.

I am so excited about this tanks and any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
Kaycee :D

No co2 is necessary, I will recommend flourish excel however (I use this). Gravel will work just fine. As for the bulb make sure you get a bulb that is 5000k - 6500k range. These lights imitate natural daylight. I am going to recommend low - med light as most of the plants I am going to recommend will do well in that sort of light. Also low light is < 1 watt per gallon and med light is == 1 watt per gallon. You may have some difficulty finding exactly that, but you should be fine.

I have been having great success with Java Ferns, Java Moss, willow hydro, and wisteria. My Banana plant is doing ok, but not thriving as much as my other. All these plants would work well in your tank.

I am going to suggest wisteria as it looks awesome grows pretty fast and when you trim it, you can replant them to start a new stem of it. Any of the above will work very well for your tank as well.

Good luck

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Thanks! I took your advice and bought some java ferns and wisteria. I also got anubias that is attached to some driftwood. The guy at Petco even gave me a few plants for free. Although, I'm not really sure what 2 of them are. Haha. He just stuck them in the bag. I ended up getting a light timer and the new bulb too and it makes my betta look stunning. This new project is turning out great. Thanks so much for the advice. :D

np, I would also make sure to tie your java fern to driftwood or rocks. There is something about where if you bury the rhizomes (I think) the plant won't grow and will rot.

Also root tabs will probably help the wisteria out.

Also check your wisteria, I bought some from petco once and I later learned that it wasn't an aquatic wisteria.

Here is a picture of the wisteria that you should get.

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The Petco employee did not mention that. >.>
How would I go about doing that?
What should I use to tie it down and can I just go pick out a rock outside and stick it in some boiling water?

I use fishing line to tie down my java ferns to rocks. You can also use fine threads if you prefer.

And yea that is what I did with my rock it worked out pretty well for me.

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