I'm new to the site everyone, so help a girl out please.
I have one male crowntail betta, humorously named Master-Betta. I love him, he makes me smile. I have him in a tank which started out as an anole starter kit. It's a 7 gallon I think, with a hood and a small yellowish light. I feel him Aqua Culture color enhancing pellets. When his tank loks a little dingy I put him in his cup and change out the whole thing and clean it squeeky clean, rinsing the rocks and scrubbing his Taj Mahal palace. I refill the tank with tap water (From Ft. Worth, its wonderful water) and add the stuff in the yellow bottle, hold on I'll go get it.. Okay it is AquaSafe water conditioner. One of my friends who has a 30 gallon saltwater tank and a 10 gallon freshwater has told me not to take out all of his water because the little fishies need some of that bacteria. And then he kinda gripped me out about my lighting. I know nothing about the lighting.
My main questions are:
How clean is too clean? For 7 gallons with a little bit of gravel, no plants (They died very quickly, my friend said because I have the wrong lighting), how should I clean his tank most efficiently?
I would like to eventually get him some tank-mates, because I think he should not be lonely. I like the idea of Tetras, but I don't want to mess with filters and air bubbles and all that what-not. Is this evil of me? What kind of buddies can I get for him who won't require all this?
I would like to put plants in there for him. I heard bamboo is awesome because it helps clean the water and the fish love it. I need a short bamboo that an be completely submerged because I have cats, one of them is always getting in trouble for jumping on top of poor little Master-Betta's tank.