[thekoimaiden]

Welcome to the site and the hobby! It is great that you have him a heater and a filter. Many new owners overlook the fact that bettas are tropical fish and like tropical temperatures. If you want to add some trinkets, caves and fake plants (without sharp edges) are great as they create hiding spaces for your fish.

The easiest way to tell a male from a female is that the males have longer fins. If you have a long-finned fish it's a male. If you have a short-finned betta then you have to look at other characteristics. These will be easiest to see when you get your betta to flare. If you hold a mirror up to his tank, he will flare and try to fight his reflection.

Getting a female is a VERY bad idea. Male and female bettas will kill each other. They should only be put together to breed. If you want to breed make sure you do your research first. From what I hear, it's more difficult than it sounds.

A 5 gal tank is too small for him to have any buddies aside from shrimp. Bettas aren't schooling fish and don't need conspecifics to feel safe. He will be more than happy to just interact with you.

 

[thekoimaiden]

A 5 gal tank is too small to add any other fish in with your betta. Mollies have a pretty heavy bioload and shouldn't be kept in a 5 gal at all.

 

[thekoimaiden]

Bubblers aren't bad per say, but bettas don't just use oxygen in the water. They need to use atmospheric oxygen. Bettas can actually drown if they don't have room to get to the surface. You can get one if you want for aesthetic purposes as it won't help or hurt your betta.

I also second the motion to return the algae eater. It is most likely a pleco and the most common ones get huge. Like longer than a foot huge. The people at the pet store don't know much; they are just trying to make sales.

 

[thekoimaiden]

I have a gallon jug (like a lemonade pitcher) that I bought from walmart. I fill that up with water, add conditioner, then add it to the tank. This is the method I perfer because I know the chlorine is detoxified before it comes in contact with the fish or good bacteria. But some people will pour the tap water directly into the tank after having first added the dechlorinator the to tank water. I guess it is personal preference.