This is my first Betta – Hendrix. He is living in a 5 gallon tank with filter, heater and bubbler. He is very happy and swims around all the time and always greets me, but I would like to change his tank to one with live plants or at least incorporate some. Where do you get live plants ? What do you need to make them thrive ? What do I need to know? Any advice appreciated!
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1eb8ety
Posted by sophiemaxpugs
2 Comments
etsy is a great place for super healthy plants, but you can get them at most pet stores or LFS.
i would start with some beginner plants and work up from there as you get comfy with them.
anubias and java fern are great and hardy, just remove any dying material you see as it can spike ammonia. anubias are drama queens and will likely show some melting before they fully adapt to your tank, but with a little bit of time trimming dead bits- i’ve never had a batch fail to thrive in betta tanks.
Well, it really depends on what you want from the tank.
First of all, what I recommend are floaters – things like Salvinia and Duckweed, maybe. They give the fish some shade, grow extremely quickly so help with filtration, and look pretty good – the only downside is, you gotta take them out sometimes so that they don’t cover the entire surface, especially with a betta.
Also, maybe look at hornwort and waterweed (ceratophyllum and elodea) – They also grow extremely quickly and bettas do like them, but also remember to trim them often, since if not taken care of they will take over the tank.
If you want something that grows a bit slower, for the tank in the pic I do recommend stuff that grows outside of substrate, such as Microsorium and Anubias – those are also very hardy plants which grow slower, and are still a generally good addition as a decoration. I’ve heard bettas like sleeping on Anubias leaves, never spotted it myself.