Planting My 6 Gal

[akudewan]

Long story short. I decided to plant my 6 gal, and so first I changed my substrate to sand. Also chucked in some laterite with it,

I'll put in my betta now, but the water is still hazy, must be the sand, and the redness of the laterite. But I guess this is normal, it'll clear out in some time right?

Now for some questions:
I got 3 corys in my 23 gal, and I plan to put 'em in the 6 gal, mainly because of the sand. They'll be happier I think, shall I go ahead and do this?

Also, I have a 15 watt lamp in the hood, and the height of the tank is 9 inches (comes to 2.5 watts per gallon). What plants can I put in? I'd also like some carpeting, glosso maybe?

Now for the pics, I'll fetch my tripod,.. brb (pics in next post )

 

[akudewan]

Before:

Now (yuck):

I hope it'll look better when I plant it

 

[Rodders]

It should clear over the next few days.

 

[osteoporoosi]

The sand looks better, I'll bet the plants will like it too

 

[akudewan]

So could anyone recommend some plants? Easy ones?

 

[Griz]

Cryptocoryne are a great plant which is usually not hard to find and easy to care for. There are several types to choose from so you can have some variety in in your tank. Most are fairly small which will be an advantage in a smaller tank.

 

[osteoporoosi]

Anubias, java fern and moss. Hygrophila polysperma is an impossible plant to kill!

 

[houndour]

I'm growing glosso and hermianthius microthanoids (sorry about spelling) in my 5 gallon tank that has 24 watts and laterite/sand substrate and although its still alive, it's not exactly thriving. That said I have not been good with this tank and have not been dosing CO2 or ferts. I'm not sure 15W is enough light though. Thing is the WPG rule goes out the window when it comes to small tanks.

Anubias nana is easy.

You could try a saggitaria sp. I'm not sure which, but I have one in my 5 gallon that is growing like mad...runners everywhere! Its about 5cm tall, so looks ok in the tank. Thats the problem with smaller tanks...you need to get plants in proportion.

 

[simonbrown403]

Maybe a nice peice of bogwood in the middle with a Anubias and some java moss around it, and some vallis at the back.

Hygrophilia polysperma is good grows like a weed any where, i even have it growing in south american chiclid tank with alkaline water, the fish love it very tasty lol.

 

[akudewan]

Thanks, I'm going to get 'em today.

 

[akudewan]

I went to the LFS, it was a new one. A local aquarist group told me about this shop. They have 54 varieties of plants. I ordered a java fern, 2 anubias and 2 Cryptocoryne. They have a farm, and I'll be getting them day after tomorrow. Waiting is the most difficult part...

Also, yesterday I put in the corys from the 23 gal, and they are very very happy with all the fine sand The betta isn't very happy to see them though. First he thought that the corys are food, then he realised they were fish, and started flaring at them, but later he gave up and just decided to share the tank.

Here are a few pics:

One of the albino corys:

The betta and another albino cory:

The green cory, he's kinda lazy

And finally, the whole tank. The haze seems to have cleared. Looking pretty good

 

[simonbrown403]

Keep the pics coming

 

[Ethos]

Hey, where do you get your fish in India?
My mo was just there, and she said while she was in New Dehlie, she didn't see one shop that sold bettas, or any fish.

 

[akudewan]

The last few days have been quite hectic. First, the plant delivery got delayed by a day, I got the plants, planted them. Unfortunately, I didn't get the cryptocornes, I just got one anubias nana, and one Java fern. The Java fern was rather big, and so it had to go in my larger 23 gallon tank.

As of now, I just have a nana in the tank, and I have placed an order for more plants. They will be here by Friday, I hope.

Some bad news, I had gone out of town the day I got the plants, and when I came back the next day, the green cory was dead. It showed no signs of illness whatsoever. My dad woke up in the morning, and found it belly-up.

Anyways, I've tied the anubias to a plastic part of an old sponge filter, it has a good surface for the roots to hold.

I've also put in a coconut shell as a cave, and the betta just loves it. He doesn't let the corys come near it, but sometimes allows them to clean the place
Here's a pic of the betta coming out of its home:

The coral-like thing in the background is just a pic, don't worry, I'm not going marine with bettas and corys

Hey, where do you get your fish in India?
My mo was just there, and she said while she was in New Dehlie, she didn't see one shop that sold bettas, or any fish.

There are a lot of fish shops here, and even in Delhi. Many shops don't have a good variety though. I'm also a part of a local aquarist group (Aquarists of India) on yahoo-groups. And from there I've got an impression that Bangalore has a lot of good LFS's

 

[akudewan]

I got my plants today. And my tank is planted. Man it looks amazing, Unfortunately, I can't post pics now...because:
1) My batteries are out
2) I'm going to watch harry potter now

Boy its a good day I even got a seat in the train...Oh, My 23gal is planted too. I'll post those pics tomorrow too..

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Couldn't have done it without you guys

Soon I'll be adding CO2 and stuff, cant wait to see it pearling.

The purple betta looks gorgeous among the green plants. I wonder why people don't plant their betta tanks, maybe the plants get too big For instance, I could use my hair grass in the background in the tank (but I didn't) Height of the tank is only 9 inches.