New Betta Tank?

[Persistency]

I was at Walmart yesterday and saw this awesome little 1.8 gal. aquarium kit, and I decided that I had to have it. I was thinking about putting a couple of low light plants in there and (possibly) a small piece of driftwood, along with a betta.

What are your thoughts on this idea? Are the lights and the filter enough to support some plants and a fish?

Desktop & Nano Aquariums: Tetra Waterfall Globe Aquarium

 

[OrangeCones]

With it being so small, it would not take a lot of light to grow low-light plants. I would stick with slow-growing plants though (Anubias sp. for example), as stem plants will need pruned fairly regularly.

A friend of mine's daughter has two of these in her dorm room, with a betta in one and cherry shrimp in the other. The betta has an Anubias plant and the shrimp have a small piece of artifical driftwood with Java moss growing around it.

 

[Persistency]

Do you know if she has a heater in the one for the betta?

 

[OrangeCones]

Do you know if she has a heater in the one for the betta?

She has no heater in either, BUT, they sit on top of an old-style clunky TV in her dorm room, so it does provide some heat (even when not on, the TV stays warm). I would not recommend that for anyone with kids around (water and a TV??), but for her and her equally mature roommate in the dorm, it has worked out.

I've used this heater in small tanks with good success (hidden under the gravel): Aquarium Heaters & Water Temperature: Mini Aquarium Heaters

It doesn't have a way to set the temperature, it just raises it a few degrees over room temperature. If my room was 76, it would be 78-18. If it was 70, it was 72-74.

 

[Persistency]

I was actually looking at that heater too, but I would probably keep it on the glass if possible, hidden behind a plant. I may end up having to get a more expensive one that keeps it a constant temperature though, because the temperature in my room is usually really cold, especially in the winter.

 

[Thyra]

My problem with the small tank (2.5 gallons) was no matter how I handled the lighting, it grew a lot of algae and was constantly in need of attention in order look like I even cared about it and with it being that small I made a big mess vacuuming it. I eventually gave up and got a bigger tank.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

To address that ^ issue, maybe a snail (a mystery snail or similar, so that you don't have a ton of little tiny breeding snails with no end)?