Kiwi Mountains said:

I impulsively purchased a fish tank the other day... In my defense I've wanted one for over a year, and I just happened to find a really cheap one that fits perfectly on my shelf.

I have a rough idea for it, but I wanted some opinions/tips, from people who have owned planted tanks before.

The tank is 61L (around 16gallons I think), 60cm long, 30cm deep, 35cm tall.

Ideally I want to have an established tank before I even consider adding a fish, I am set on the idea that if I cannot care for a fully planted tank, then there will be no fish at all, I want to avoid using artificial hides, plastic plants etc entirely.

I absolutely adore the way betta fish look, so when I do eventually add a fish it would likely be a betta. Although I'm open to alternatives if anyone knows any similar fish! or ideas for others that can co-exist alongside them.

I'm hoping to have it semi riparium-like. I want plants that will grow out the top of the water, that also need to be cat-safe. Any ideas of plants that do this? I've heard about parlor palm, and pothos, although I'm less a fan of the way pothos grows. Note: It will not be in easy reach of my cats, so I'm not super worried about plants that could pose a risk, just as long as they aren't like 'highly toxic, wouldn't even have in the same room as a cat' type plant.

Then as for plants in the tank, I quite like the look of anubias, cryptocoryne and sword plant (Echinodorus?). Especially because I like the leaves, I know bettas like to lay around lol, so I thought maybe a couple of those would be perfect for him. But I would also quite like more options too.

I'm also hoping to find a sort of aquatic grass, like just a plant that will create a small layer of greenery over the bottom. Which I'm still looking around for, I've seen this glossostigma, it's neat but I think I prefer something 'grassier'.

What do people tend to use for planted aquariums in the way of substrate? I know that refardless what I use, I would love to add a thin layer of sand over it, for my own personal aesthetics lol. I've heard a bit about like aquasoil and fluorite, but I'm not 100% sure.

An issue though is that the tank will not have a lid, as I want plants to grow out, hence me asking about other fish similar to a betta I'm aware they are nutorious jumpers, what would be the best way to avoid this happening? Or do they not really jump as much as I'm concerned about.

And then lastly, thing I'm having the biggest difficulty with is lights. I'm assuming an LED light, besides that no clue where to even start or look.

Heaters and filters aren't something I've looked a whole lot into yet, although I know I need them eventually. I'll probably go for a hang-on filter, I find them aesthetically pleasing and beleive they're fairly good for bettas specifically. I've also not looked into cycling processes, since my main goal isn't to have is fish-ready, at least not until all the plants are fairly well-established.

Please be nice 😅 never done this before and a lot of what I have at the moment is based on prior knowledge, I've not gotten around to much of my own research yet.