tank recommendations

[Aside]

Alright, so I've been planning on setting up a 2 gallon tank my friend gave me as an npt but now that I'm home nd measured it actually only holds like 1.5 gallons of water. Once I add substrate and plants that seems kind of small.

Is that okay or should I get another tank? I have a 5.5 gallon but I'm afraid of fitting it in my dorm. I'm thinking about getting 2.5 gallon. I'd just get the standard 2.5 gallon but since I want it to be an npt something with a hood/light would be better.

So, any recs? Ordering of amazon might be best because I now qualify for amazon prime and can order with free 2-day shipping. I just got back from a semester abroad so I'm kind of broke. So I'm not looking at spending a lot more than 30ish dollars cause I'm in the process of buying plants/substrate as well.

[Oldfishlady]

IMO/E-that tank would still work-especially if you plan on a Long fin male....Once you added everything you would have roughly 1gal-you won't need a filter-just a small heater-unless you live in a naturally warm area of the world. Your goal is to maintain water temp of at least 76-80F. Once the plants are actively growing and the soil is mature-that will function as the bio-filter/filtration. I have several tanks setup like that and they work out great for my long fin males.

[Aside]

My dad will be very glad to hear that. He was not happy about the idea of me getting another tank xD. Can't blame him, my trip to Italy was expensive.

I'm working on ordering plants now so I just have to figure out if there is a place near by that sells soil in small quantities.

[Oldfishlady]

If you live in an area that is free of harmful chemical used on the ground-dig your own dirt to use. You won't need that much anyway and the sand for the cap-usually in the gardening section for cacti you can find small bags of sand or really small diameter gravel that will work for the soil cap.

What kind of plants do you plan and what kind of lights do you have- IME- proper color temp lights can make the difference between success and failure with aquatic plants. Plus, without enough of the right species of plants on start up with the soil based systems can crash-Once setup correctly and established...awesome-easy care systems.....

[Aside]

I like in NYC I wouldn't want to put anything I found outside into my tank.

I'm speaking with someone in my area that is willing to sell my the following for pretty cheap.
Stems:
3x limnophila sessiliflora
3x hygrophila ceylon
1x cabomba furcata
Some najas grass
1x bacopa carolina

Floaters:
2-3 small watersprite
Duckweed
Some riccia

along with a couple of trumpet snails. Is that good to start off with?

[Oldfishlady]

All great stem plants to start a soil based tank....great choices...and since they are coming from a local person-they will already be adapted to your water.

Look forward to pics...

[Aside]

I'm super excited. I should be picking them up next week.

There will definitely be lots of pics xD. I'm so excited for this tank.

edit:: actually. we are going to visit my dad's girlfriend for Christmas. I should be able to collect some dirt from her back yard.

[ChoclateBetta]

Riccia look great with CO2.

[Aside]

I don't think co2 is really going to be an option at this point. I'm trying to keep this as simple and as cheap as possible.

[ChoclateBetta]

Bettas have a low Bioload so I would add a little ferts they can be purchsed cheap.