# choosing live plants & algae eaters



## seraph (Oct 23, 2005)

OK... I have a new 6 gallon tank with a Betta, 2 Emerald Cories and a Dwarf Frog... I have one Frill Plant (I think... according to PetSmart anyway) and just realized I'm not supposed to leave the plant in the pot, lol.  So, I guess that means I have to get sand rather than gravel... I also would like to have all live plants. 

I saw the recommendations from Simpte in the Aquatic Plants thread and looked up some of them... I really like the Christmas Moss, Dwarf Onion, and Watersprite... I looked up plantgeek.com and saw Asian Ambulia that I liked also.

Is there a beige or black sand that doesn't whack out the ph? I need something low maintenance- if I can avoid it, I really don't want to add ferts or CO2 injections or anything. I will be setting up two other 5 gallon tanks that will have a male betta in each... so, are those plants a good choice for 5 and 6 gallon tanks?

Also, since my 6 gallon is only 4 days old, what is the proper procedure for removing the gravel and adding sand?

In the two 5 gallon tanks I would like to get two different pairs of algae eaters... Since I've seen so many ppl on this forum talk about plecos, I had to look them up since I had no idea what they were... they are so kewl! Well... some are kinda creepy looking, but most are really kewl!!! I noticed some of the plecos are 2.5-3" (the same size my Emerald Cories are supposed to be)... can I only get one Pleco or do I need at least two? I was looking at the Zebra, Starlight and Goldnugget Pleco, but not sure how big they grow. I was also considering two Sterbai Cory.

Any suggestions?


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Get onyx sand. For a 6 gallon tank one bag will be plenty. You will want a 2.5-3 inch depth. Asian Ambulia is now illegal. Watersprite is nice but it will require pruning most likely once a week. The other plants I listed should do o.k. depending on your lighting. You will not be able to put algae eaters in tanks that small. You shouldn't need them.


----------



## seraph (Oct 23, 2005)

I forgot to mention that I have an 8watt light.

I don't mind pruning a little bit.

I would like something in there with the betta, though. I wouldn't be able to even put 1 small Pleco?


----------



## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Simpte is right. No plecos, not even the smallest one. 20 (or better, 30) gallons is about the min size recommended for even the smaller plecos (like bristlenose). 

Do you know about cycling a tank? If not, I strongly suspect that you are going to have problems with your new tank. One betta, 2 cories and a frog are far far too much stuff for a new tank. If you don't know about cycling a tank please read this:
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

Onyx sand should work fine for growing plants. But, unless you have properly cycled your tank by using some product such as Bio-spira or Stability, don't even think about doing anything related to plants for at least a month, as your main worry will be simply keeping your animals alive.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Your 8 watts of light is incandescent. Its not really 8 watts of light. You will have a hard time growing anything with that little amount of light. A pic of your hood and light fixture would allow us to give you other options. Or if no camera is available, a link to the tank you have on a website would help.


----------



## seraph (Oct 23, 2005)

I did not add Bio-Spira, but I added ProAquatics Bacteria Starter (same thing?) and water conditioner... I let the tank run for awhile, then I added the cories and frog, then later I added the Betta. (I don't remember exactly how many days this took). I think I can see that the tank is cycling (can see a tiny bit of cloudiness that clears up quickly). I have no problems so far (with my 3 gallon I had nothing but problems).

This is the tank I have... Eclipse 6 Gallon 

This is similar to the lighting and filtration I have except that mine is for a 6 gallon, the portion of the hood with the light does not lift up and I have one 12" (T5 - 8 watt) fluorescent light (this was the only picture I could find showing the lighting, but it's for a different size tank- but that's how it's set up)... Eclipse Lighting and Filtration 

Perhaps rather than getting two more 5 gallons, I may get another 6 gallon and then a larger size... maybe 12... though those plecos are tempting so I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with a 20 gallon at some point.


----------



## Fishboy93 (Jun 11, 2005)

Australian ambulia is legal


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Fishboy93 said:


> Australian ambulia is legal


Yes it is but it doesn't have the color the asian variety has.


----------



## amelia (Aug 11, 2005)

Why is Asian Ambulia now illigal? It was one of the first real plants I owned a few years ago. o-o I loved it!


----------



## Guest (Nov 1, 2005)

seraph said:


> Perhaps rather than getting two more 5 gallons, I may get another 6 gallon and then a larger size... maybe 12... though those plecos are tempting so I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with a 20 gallon at some point.


if you got a pleco, it needs to be of the smaller fancy variety to fit in a 20. if it's a common pleco, you will need something much bigger than a 20 (a 60 or larger.) common plecos can grow well over a foot in length.


----------



## seraph (Oct 23, 2005)

Scuba Kid said:


> if you got a pleco, it needs to be of the smaller fancy variety to fit in a 20. if it's a common pleco, you will need something much bigger than a 20 (a 60 or larger.) common plecos can grow well over a foot in length.


yeah... i definitely want a smaller one... IF i get a 20 (i need to see how big that looks and if it will work out well where i want a larger tank)... i still may only get a 12 and get cory cats instead.


----------

