Beginner - Tips for 5 gallon Beta Fish Tank

[Maya]

Hey! I was gifted a Beta fish which has been living in a bowl for the past week 😞

I want to give him a better home so I ordered a 5 gallon tank with lights, a filter, and a heater. I’m using sand as a substrate…

Now, I have a few questions.

1. What kind of plants can I have that don’t require soil? 

2. Can my male beta fish have any tank mates?

3. The lady at petsmart told me that I can cycle my tank by filling it up with declorinated water and then adding some fishbowl water and wait for 5 days. Is this an okay way to cycle my tank? Also, what test kit should I get?

4. How should I decorate my tank? I heard it’s best to stay away from painted things and instead by real stuff. Are there any woods that are relatively affordable? I was thinking of adding moss in some form too.

Im pretty new to fish-keeping and my mom always had us raise fish in a bowl, which I knew wasn’t healthy.

Please let me know what I can do to help my fish thrive in a 5 gallon tank!

Edited April 21 by Maya
Additional question (#4)

[FLFishChik]

On 4/20/2024 at 7:07 PM, Maya said:

Hey! I was gifted a Beta fish which has been living in a bowl for the past week 😞

I want to give him a better home so I ordered a 5 gallon tank with lights, a filter, and a heater. I’m using sand as a substrate…

Now, I have a few questions.

1. What kind of plants can I have that don’t require soil? 

2. Can my male beta fish have any tank mates?

3. The lady at petsmart told me that I can cycle my tank by filling it up with declorinated water and then adding some fishbowl water and wait for 5 days. Is this an okay way to cycle my tank? Also, what test kit should I get?

Im pretty new to fish-keeping and my mom always had us raise fish in a bowl, which I knew wasn’t healthy.

Please let me know what I can do to help my fish thrive in a 5 gallon tank!

Hello! Congrats on your new Betta. To answer your questions…

1. Epiphyte plants do not require any substrate and can be glued or tied to rocks and driftwood. Anubias, Java Fern and Buce are all epiphytes. Betta appreciate broad leaf plants like Anubias as they will often use them as resting spots.

2. Yes, your Betta can have tank mates, but you will be very limited by the size of tank. A Nerite or Mystery snail and maybe a couple of larger shrimp (depending on your Betta) will be about all you’ll be able to house in a 5g tank with your Betta

3. cycling a tank is a little more than just adding water from the bowl. If there is gravel you may want to consider adding a scoop of that into the tank as well (put it in a piece of pantyhose and tie it off and place it close to the filter), this will help get some beneficial bacteria going. You might want to invest in a bottled bacteria like Seachem stability, Fritzzyme 7 or Tetra Safestart to help it along.

4. You’re going to need to get some water testing supplies. Either the API master test kit or the ACO test trips (both the Ammonia Strips and the Multi strips). You’ll need to test the water often for Ammonia,Nitrites and Nitrates and do water changes accordingly- especially if you are planning to add your Betta right away. Here is a good place to learn how to cycle your aquarium using several different methods…

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-tank-cycling

Edited April 20 by FLFishChik

[EricksonAquatics]

That is awesome that you’re trying to upgrade your new Bettas tank! Good for you!

Some more plant suggestions would be floating plants. Something like dwarf water lettuce, Amazon frog bit, or guppy grass all can grow floating at the top and Bettas tend to love hanging out in their roots.

like @FLFishChiksaid I would recommend getting a bottle of Fritz Zyme 7. It’s a bottle of beneficial bacteria that will kickstart your cycle and help it get going faster!

For tank mates I would also agree and start with a mystery or nerite snail. Nerites are great little algae eaters and bettas usually don’t bother them. Shrimp can be super fun but depending on the betta, they can pretty easily become an expensive snack😂so be cautious with that.

One last tip to keep your betta healthy would be to have a variety of foods🙂 A staple pellet like Xtreme Betta pellets are great along with the addition of some other foods (such as Fluval bug bites, Hikari vibra bites, frozen or freeze dried bloodworms, etc).

It looks like you are taking this seriously so kudos to you! Have fun with your new friend!

[Tony s]

The other thing I’d add here is about testing and water changes. Which should be really easy in your betta tank. You want to keep a constant eye on your ammonia levels and nitrite levels when starting a new tank. API makes a brand of bacteria to use I believe it’s called quick start or safe start. Which will help get a bacteria colony growing. Follow directions on bottle. It’s generally safe for fish anyway.

Then you need ammonia tests. API master test kit works well. Going to stay with products you can easily get from PetSmart/co. Just because they’re convenient. you need to start testing your water until the tank is cycled. Probably a month or so. When you see ammonia get past 0.25 it’s time for a water change. Ammonia and nitrite are poisonous to fish, so this is for the health of your fish. For a small 5g tank swapping out 1-2 gallons with fresh water would be enough. Then you’re going to need to dechlorinate your water. The best product is seachem prime. Available at PetSmart/co. It’s like 1 drop per tank gallon. It may be 2, read the label. Chlorine is used by cities to keep the water safe to drink. It’s also poisonous to fish. you would need a siphon to remove the water from the tank into a bucket for now. And a clean pitcher to refill. No soap in pitcher.

For a new tank owner this can all be overwhelming. You’ll get it. It’s just part of the fun of trying something new. You’ll be great. And if things go bad. Figure out the problem, and fix it. That’s learning. You’re never going to screw things up worse than I did while I was learning. Or for that matter, any other fish keeper. We all had rough patches. We learn. We do better. And you’re here asking questions. Which is great. Keep asking. We like to help 😀

Edited April 21 by Tony s

[Whitecloud09]

On 4/20/2024 at 7:07 PM, Maya said:

1. What kind of plants can I have that don’t require soil? 

2. Can my male beta fish have any tank mates?

3. The lady at petsmart told me that I can cycle my tank by filling it up with declorinated water and then adding some fishbowl water and wait for 5 days. Is this an okay way to cycle my tank? Also, what test kit should I get?

4. How should I decorate my tank? I heard it’s best to stay away from painted things and instead by real stuff. Are there any woods that are relatively affordable? 

Epiphyte plants like what @EricksonAquatics mentioned do not have to be in the soil,  Java fern and anubias can be gel glued to rocks or decor or even driftwood. 🙂, I like how you are like me who loves to give Betta  fish better homes then bowls! Male betta fishes tank mates are very limited. 1 pet snail would be it if you asked me especially for a 5g. I would do a natural looking tank with plenty of live plants and driftwood if possible. I would recommend spider wood. I would get the API master liquid test kit, and I would recommend looking up the fish in and fishless cycle and decide what one you want to do, fish in are quicker but requires more maintenance and fishless cycle requires more patience, I would read how and why to do it on both @Maya. Spider wood and others are very affordable at petsmart and the like as well, hope this helps you!

[Maya]

Thank you for all of your help…

Something I’m wondering is how I can cycle my tank as quick as possible. After so much research and video tutorials, everyone says that you need to cycle your tank BEFORE buying your fish… the thing is though, is that I was gifted this fish and it’s been living in a bowl for the past week. 

I want to give it a good home as quick as possible. Please let me know. thank you!

Edited April 22 by Maya

[Tony s]

On 4/21/2024 at 10:58 PM, Maya said:

everyone says that you need to cycle your tank BEFORE buying your fish

In a perfect world yes. But you’re going to do a fish in tank cycle. Works the same. But to keep your fish safe, you need to be testing your water constantly. When the ammonia tests over 0.25 ppm change water. When nitrite reads above 0, change water. Changing water won’t slow your cycle much because the cycle bacteria don’t live in the water column. They live on the things in your tank. After a water change add the prime and more bacteria back into your tank. 
 

it really is just as simple as that. See poison, remove poison, add clean water and a few chemicals. Fish in cycles are not ideal, but they work just fine, as long as you watch your water for ammonia and nitrates. Keep on top of that and the fish will be safe 

[TOtrees]

I have a slightly different take on the fish-in cycling. Everyone focuses on testing, but I go straight to the water change. My recommendation is to figure out and follow a water change schedule that will ensure you don't have ammonia or nitrite issues. If you have 1 betta in a 5 gallon tank and no other fish, and you're feeding a reasonable/proper amount (all new fish keepers over-feed), changing as little as 0.5 gallon per day for the first 2-3 weeks will ensure you never run into any ammonia or nitrite issues. Your tank will still cycle, and it's okay to miss a day or two. You can still test, but it doesn't have to be every day. 

0.5 gallon is a normal dollar-store pitcher. Scoop out a pitcher of water, then replace with a pitcher of new temp-matched and dechlorinated water. 

[Maya]

Definitely not the prettiest but considering it’s my first time, Im pretty proud of it.

Should I add more water?

Also, any recommendations for hides?

I just set it up an hour ago, and I’m not sure if it’s okay to add the fish.I just tested it. For ammonia it was 0.5. Everything else looked great.

Thoughts? Recommendations? My fish is still in a bowl 😞

Note: my filter is buzzing so I thought that *I* did something wrong. Turns out that Tetra’s “Whisper Internal Micro-filter” is just bad and is loud.

 

Edited April 24 by Maya

[Tony s]

I think you can go ahead and add him after a water change. Get the ammonia down to 0.25 and keep checking. Add bacteria, it won’t cause any problems to add extra. Use prime to dechlorinate and you’ll be good. Testing and changing water, that’s the whole key now.

[Maya]

How often should I test the water?

[Tony s]

Probably daily for now. Until it gets fully cycled. Then weekly or twice weekly should be fine. When ammonia stays at zero and you have nitrates, you should be cycled 

Well, and nitrites are also zero 

[Whitecloud09]

I would add a bit more water so the flow of the water will not be to strong for your betta. Agree also with @Tony s.

[Tony s]

On 4/23/2024 at 9:26 PM, Maya said:

Should I add more water?

I would, it just seems more aesthetically pleasing to not see the water seem as it were. and the tank looks really good

[FLFishChik]

It also adds more water volume for your Betta. 

[Shrimp Doggy Dogg]

On 4/20/2024 at 4:07 PM, Maya said:

  😞

1. What kind of plants can I have that don’t require soil? 

While all plants have their own set of needs in order to thrive, no plant specifically requires soil.  There are many ways to feed a plant, lighting, liquid fertilizer, root tabs, fish poop, etc.

If youre going to plant live plants, you'll want to know how the plant takes in nutrients and that will inform your decision on how to feed it.

The most important thing with live plants IMO is to get everything into balance regarding the lighting schedule, feeding schedule, water change schedule, trimming, and fertilizing.  Plants love consistency!