Help Choosing Plants! and everything else....

[Mitsubachi92]

I am new to aquariums, having only cared for my mother's tank for that past few months. (She does her own water changes now! )

I inherited her tank when she upgraded to a 10 gallon. It's a 5.5 gallon (16x8.5x10) with a 10w CF bulb. I want a planted tank but there's so much information I'm having trouble sorting through it all. I'm not even sure if my tank if considered low light or not. I read that the so-many-wpg rule gets distorted with very small and very large tanks but no one has actually explained what that means.

I will probably do a low light setup with Excel or DIY CO2. But what plants will fit my tank? I don't mind pruning but some plants grow very tall for my tank. Other than Anubias and Java Fern, what are my other options for this setup? Crypts?

Should I get a special substrate or would gravel/sand work just fine? I was planning on getting something like Eco-Complete but I'm not sure now.

There's a dearth of plant keeping supplies in my area it seems. There's not much variety plant wise and I can only find Flourite in stores so I will be buying online.

I thought I knew what I wanted but the more I read, the more unsure I am. If any of my questions have been addressed somewhere else I apologize. And a link to that spot would be appreciated.

 

[jerrybforl]

With a small tank like that, why not get a bag of ADA? All you would need is one three liter bag. You don't want to really put stems in there. They will take over the tank, and since it's a small tank you don't want that.

You should use narrow leaf java fernhttp://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=72_13, moss, anubias petite, and maybe crypto parva.

Problem with DIY CO2 is that it just runs. In a small tank like that, you will need something to shut it off with. Otherwise, you may gas your critters. There are some small paintball setups on the market with solenoids. You would be able to put it on a timer and set it.

That should be plenty of light. Maybe too much. It's a small shallow tank, so the light will be able to penetrate very easily. You could dose EI and the ferts would last you forever! Do some more research ok. Post again with more questions.

 

[Mitsubachi92]

Where is a good place to buy ADA? I've heard that I'll need to cycle the tank after putting it in. Is this really necessary?