Temptation

[Eolith]

I'm currently in college with one male betta in a five gallon tank. He's been fantastic and I'm so glad I decided to get him, but I also love love love the cories! I was wondering whether it would be insanity for me to get a few to keep in the five gallon?

If not cories, is there any other type of bottom dweller that might work out?

Just for everyone's reference, the five gallon tank is fully filtered and heated. I change out 50% of the water weekly.

[ChristinaRoss]

cories do VERY well with bettas. youll need to feed a different food for them, not the one for the betta

and in my opinion, id only put 3 or 4 of them maximum in there

since its only 5 gallons id also add only 2 in a week, then wait a week or two and let the tank readjust to the new bioload, as well as the betta and then add one or two more

[Eolith]

Thanks for the input! I'm glad you think it'll work out okay to put a few of those guys in there. I'm thinking I'll ultimately put in four because I've heard of a few cases when there's three and two hang out while the other is off on his lonesome.

Thinking about it more, I think I'll get two, wait two weeks to let everyone adjust... and then add one more. If they split up two and one, then I'll get one last little guy and hope that everyone ends up with at least one buddy. ;)

[doggyhog]

5 gallons is only enough for a betta. No tank mates other then shrimp/snails. You could also divide the tank if you really wanted to. You need at least 10 gallons to add friends.

[Jupiter]

I agree with doggyhog. You can get about 3 ghost shrimp in a 5 gal, they're really cute little guys that will clean the bottom of the tank.

[doggyhog]

Don't ever underestimate ghost shrimp!! They are SO cool and cute, and a tiny bit creepy at the same time. :D

[Jupiter]

Yeah, lol. I love them.

I just got into thinking, maybe you can fit an ADF in there too (but not with the shrimp)? They won't stay at the bottom and clean, though.

[Eolith]

I'm not opposed to shrimp. Do you think shrimp would be happier in there than cories?

I was at the pet store just now and they just had one sad little albino cory in the tank who was looking very lethargic. I thought it would probably be better for me to wait before getting any, which I guess is a good thing since now people are saying that shrimp would be better.

I'm not entirely sure whether the pet store I was at had any ghost shrimp, but I'll shop around.

[doggyhog]

Yep. Cories need to shoal, and need space. You could have up to 5 shrimp in a five gallon.

[Eolith]

Lol, I don't think I'd end up getting more than two or three shrimp.

What do they eat? I'm pretty darn sure that my betta eats all of his food because I only feed him pellets and I feed them one at a time to make sure that he eats each one before giving him another. So that would sort of rule out the shrimp getting any leftovers, wouldn't it?