[joshwillis55]

3 Gallon Tank Planted, 1 Male Betta, Contains Lugwigia and Micro Sword
Substrate is Fine Gravel
Java moss will be added to the driftwood

My question is when the plants grow out will there still be room for more plants?
Or do you think that will be enough plants. I will be attempting to add Red Cherry Shrimp and a Malaysian Trumpet Snail once the plants have grown more and the tank is more jungle looking so there are more hiding spots.

Also im pretty sure that this betta will be fine with the snail and shrimp because i had a number of baby pond snails (and still do) in the tank that came on the ludwigia and the betta has not harassed them or tried to eat them. I am removing the pond snails as i see them.

Sorry for the bad pics

 

[JDM]

You can never have too many plants... to taste of course. I've seen some very nice full tanks. Just add tall plants to the rear of the tank, sort of a back drop, and leave the shorter ones up front.

I tried cherry shrimp in my tank with a betta and have not seen any sign of them after a couple of days of adding them and I have lots of plants and driftwood with lots of hiding places. I have barbs and catfish but I think the betta may have had a nice sushi dinner... or four. I am going to try some larger shrimp later if they are, in fact, gone.

Side note: there seems to be a lot of tank left at the top, you should raise the water level (If I am seeing this correctly) to provide more water. If that is a three gallon you may only have 2.5 gallons... the more water the easier the tank is to keep as that is about 20% more water.

Jeff.

 

[Byron]

Micro sword, if this is the species Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, is not an easy plant. It is slow growing at the best of times, and usually (but not always) needs higher light and diffused CO2. I have it in my 70g which has no CO2 diffusion, and it is struggling. The pygmy chain sword would be ideal in your tank.

Ludwigia is a stem plant and like all stem plants needs good light as they are fast growers. I don't know what light you have; it seems dim in the photos, but this may be the photos.

Byron.

 

[MoneyMitch]

for that size tank there is a paticular diy method for a pressurised automatic co2 diffusion that will cost you about 50$ and last you 7-8 months between tank refills. if you add the co2 you can get plenty of plants in there and nice substrate species.

i will pm you the link for the cost effective co2

 

[Sharpchick]

The tank isn't full until you can't see the substrate.

 

[funkman262]

Not even close to fully planted yet. We can gladly offer advice on which plants would work in your tank if you can give us some more details such as your light fixture, light schedule, willingness to dose CO2 (or at least Excel) and ferts, etc. You won't want plants that will rapidly outgrow the tank, nor do you want any that will struggle. You will still have options though even under low lights with no CO2 or ferts (just not as many).

 

[JDM]

Not even close to fully planted yet. We can gladly offer advice on which plants would work in your tank if you can give us some more details such as your light fixture, light schedule, willingness to dose CO2 (or at least Excel) and ferts, etc. You won't want plants that will rapidly outgrow the tank, nor do you want any that will struggle. You will still have options though even under low lights with no CO2 or ferts (just not as many).

Talk about underplaying it, that makes it sound like there are three to choose from. :roll:

I will agree in principle but how many options in plants do you need? I'm at 13 species in low light with ferts doing well. Only the extremely high light stuff might not thrive and the ones that NEED CO2 I think is a pretty short list.

No argument intended, just sometimes simpler is... well... simpler.

Jeff.

 

[funkman262]

Talk about underplaying it, that makes it sound like there are three to choose from. :roll:

I will agree in principle but how many options in plants do you need? I'm at 13 species in low light with ferts doing well. Only the extremely high light stuff might not thrive and the ones that NEED CO2 I think is a pretty short list.

No argument intended, just sometimes simpler is... well... simpler.

Jeff.

I don't recall mentioning any specific numbers... Let's say theoretically if with high light, ferts, and CO2, you have 100 options for plants, and in low light, no ferts and no CO2 you have 99, my statement still holds true. My point was simply that it would be easier to choose the best viable plant options if we had more details...

 

[Byron]

We certainly need to know the setup, i.e., the lighting specifics, and if CO2 is/is not intended. The light in the photo looks quite dim, and few plants will manage; but knowing the light details will clarify this.

The CO2 is important because when we have the light details we will have a better grasp on whether CO2 is going to work or not, if it is intended--without knowing, we can't say much. This works two ways. IF higher light is intended, and no CO2, that is not going to work. Or the opposite.

It is difficult to diagnose anything without all the facts.;-)

Byron.