Planted 10 Gallon Betta Tank? How Hard Is It?

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FuzzyCashew

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Hey all; I've recently got a 10 gallon tank and in a couple of month(maybe weeks depends on when we set up and start cycling) We were going to go for the classic look tacky gravel and plastic plants but i was starting to look at having a planted tank.

1.How difficult would upkeep be compared to having plastic plants? It sounds very daunting but i love the idea

2. What kind of lighting would i need? My tank came with a "Sun Glo Fluorescent T8 Bulb 15 Watt".


3. Do i need to use any kind of special substrate? I'd assume a nutrient rich type if you can get those

4. What kind of plants would be most beneficial ? I was hoping to have a single male Betta and perhaps a few shrimp 

5. Is there any special equipment or products i'd need to get? 

I have a 10 gallon with hood and lighting fixture,
Sun Glo Fluorescent T8 Bulb 15 Watt bulb,
Marina Slim s10 external style filter with Bio carb tropical cartridge
50Watt heater
Nutrafin duo - AquaPlus Tap water conditioner and Cycle biological aquarium supplement 

Any advice will be muchly appreciated 
 
1. Easy! Depending on your plants, of course.
2. I'm not really good at lighting, but would you describe the lighting as rather bright, rather dull, or somewhere in between?
3. Many plants do not require any sort of extra substrate. See the next item.
4. You should get some easy to grow plants like java fern, some crypts, java moss, christmas moss, flame moss, any of the anubia plants, ludwigia repens is doing splendidly in my tank, Amazon swords, etc. These are all easy to care for. Some of them, like the mosses, java fern, ludwigia and anubia need to either be tied to a rock or piece of driftwood or the, what's the word, root bulb? ought to be above the substrate. For betta fish, consider some floating plants such as water sprite or hornwort (messy, but nice) or frogbit. They also appreciate large leaved plants like the amazon sword so that they may rest.
5. Depending on the number of plants you get, the type of plants you get and the quality of your water, a CO2 injection method may not be necessary. I use a product by API which is essentially a liquid fertilizer. We are also about to begin daily dosing of liquid CO2 instead of other CO2 methods which are currently unnecessary for my tanks. I would definitely recommend some sort of liquid ferts (dosed weekly with regular tank maintenance). 
 
Another thing I do with my planted tanks is fill in some of the gaps with silk plants until my live plants have grown enough to fill in the gaps. You also do not need to use the cycle product. It almost definitely has not been shipped in such a way that any bacteria are still alive. You also do not need the carbon cartridge, as carbon will wear off within a week or two. However, keep this cartridge so that you may have it available should you need to remove any trace elements of medication, should your fish become ill. 
 
Does any of this make sense? Others will be able to tell you about CO2 injections, your lights, etc, but I believe what I have provided is the bare essentials for a beginner's planted tank. ;)
 
You could get a nice piece of driftwood and attach an anubias to it. Also java fern and java moss. Those plants do not need substrate so you could get any you want and they will adapt to your lighting. Then the maintenance required is no different that with plastic plants and they are really beautiful.
 
attibones said:
Some of them, like the mosses, java fern, ludwigia and anubia need to either be tied to a rock or piece of driftwood or the, what's the word, root bulb? 
 
 
Rhizome? 
 
The fern, moss, ludwidia and anubia will rot if the rhizome is under the substrate.
 
Yes! That's the word. That's what I was trying to say. Thanks, blondie.
 
If you go by wpg, that's 1.5wpg so it could grow a good number of plants, including the species of Echinodorus, although quite large, you could just have one. A great group of plants for that size tank would be most Cryptocoryne species, wendtii, becketii even undulata, but you would need a nice nutritious substrate to get them to grow at their best. Heteranthera Zosterifolia is a very nice plant, and would look great in that sized tank. Anubias too, Java Fern yep so you have a few options.

Tek oot.
 
Most stem plants are fairly easy.
Caboma, Anacharis, Bacopa.
Also most stem plants can grow floating as well.
Just remember a heater, and a filter without too high a flow.
Got a Betta in a 10 gal. planted. Anacharis, Bacopa monierri, Anacharis, Caboma, and whats left of Altnenathera. Bits and pieces of each float around.
Amazon Swords will outgrow a 10 in a matter of months, unless you find a dwarf.
 
Echinodorus Aquartica probably wouldn't.

Tek oot.
 
Are any of those low growing? What I mean is can any of those plants be used as foreground scenery in a betta tank?
 
Cryptocoryne Parva, most Cryptocoryne species actually, wendtii or becketii both grow fairly short. Anubias Nana? Java moss can be used to cover rocks and bogwood etc.
 
Tek oot.
 

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