[lynx]

Hello everyone, I am brand new here!

I've grown up with a lot of betta fish throughout the years, but my family and I often kept them in 1 gallon-2.5 gallon tanks and bowls. Most, if not all, bettas lived a long and seemingly happy life, but now that I am in college I wanted to properly care for my betta and bought a 5 gallon filter tank ( this one here! ) and I got a heater + some silk plants and driftwood for my new fishy.

My question was if it would be possible to put other fish in the tank. The betta I have now seems pretty chill and calm plus I'll have his old 2.5 tank for backup if things go wrong. I've been doing a lot of research and was thinking of adding 3-4 pygmy Corries OR 3-4 ember tetras. I won't have room in my dorm for a larger tank, but I thought since these fish were pretty small they would work? I'm not the biggest fan of snails or shrimp, so if there was any other fish I could add I would love to know, thanks!

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Welcome to the Forum!

I love the looks of this aquarium. However, I wouldn't add any more fish to one. Shoaling fish such as Tetra, Rasbora and Dwarf Cory require at least a 24" long footprint. And a minimum of six to form a shoal. Many believe if housed with a predator like a Betta the shoal should have more.

The only exception would be three tiny Dario Dario but they only eat live or frozen food and they need real plants.

 

[fishowner550]

But you could add snail or some shrimp (Shrimp are very finicky about water parameters so I would wait until your tank is completely cycled. Bettas will also often eat shrimp so the bottom of your tank must be heavily planted to protect them.)

 

[lynx]

Hey, thanks for the welcome! Would I be able to add tetras to a 9 gallon with a betta? I might be able to squeeze this one in the dorm but I am worried about how much maintenance it'll need and how often? 9 gallon tank I'm looking at here

Thanks, and sorry if these questions are kind of dumb. Lol I just want the best for my fish and me and am pretty new to all of this.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Only dumb questions are the ones left unasked.

Length is more important than gallons. But, you could have a shoal of 6-8 Ember Tetra or Pygmy Cory in this one.

Maintenance is easier the larger the tank. With the nine gallon, once cycled, one 25% water change and vacuum should do. Without tank mates in the same tank, one 25% and vacuum every other week.

In the five gallon with just one Betta you'd need one 25% water change per week.

When you get the tank also get an API Master Test Kit and SeaChem Prime. Then you are better able to cycle the tank. Let it run a month or so before adding the tank mates.

CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial

Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm (alternately, 25% at 0.25ppm), or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Seachem Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled. That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. But there’s a lot of...

www.bettafish.com