5 Gallon Live Aquarium

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NullEntropy

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 6, 2013
Messages
7
Location
Dallas, TX
Hello! I'm not exactly a beginner, as I've been keeping fish on/off for many years but I'm getting back into the hobby. Right now I have a 5.5g tank with 1 male Betta Splendens, and 2 GloFish Danios. The tank is currently cycling. I also have 2 java fern plants (I /think/ that's what they are) and 6 lucky bamboo stalks. This is my first time doing a live planted tank, and I'm very excited about. The Betta seems very happy, but the danios seem bored or lonely. I know they're schooling fish, and have had success with them in a small tank previously. Would it be a good idea to add a couple more danios, or should I try something like black tetras or rasboras? The light on the tank is a white LED light, and I was wondering what other kind of live plants I could put in there. I also plan on getting some driftwood and large rocks.
 
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I can't answer many of your questions, but I'd just like to share something I learned on this forum a few days ago; bamboo has to be planted so that none of it's leaves are submerged. In fact, a lot of it should not be submerged, which could be a problem since Bettas jump and their tank needs to be covered. (thou it sounds like a gorgeous set-up!) You also have to keep an eye out for rotting bamboo - sometimes it doesn't last.
 
I wouldn't add anything else to the tank. In all honesty, I would remove the danios to a bigger tank and add 4 more witb the group. The betta is all that tank size needs
 
Good to know about the bamboo I'll be moving mine tonight then. Or more like removing haha.

Also I'd be careful with danios and a betta. Danios tend to nip and chase pretty flowey things. Like bettas. sooo they may end up tearing his fins or chasing him into things that may tear his fins.
 
On another note I keped some zebra danios in my fluval Edge for about 2 years before transfering them to my dads 75 gallon. They were very happy in there. I think that tank works oit to be something like 4.6 gallons. I had about 4 of them and a few white clouds
 
The Bamboo is quite tall, and none of the leaves are submerged. The tank is covered, with the bamboo sticking out through the filter slot.

http://root--servers.org/images/IMG_20130905_220447.jpg
http://root--servers.org/images/IMG_20130905_202424.jpg

The second tank houses my Anerythristic Motley Corn Snake.

The Danios don't seem to be nipping or even bugging the Betta, they just chase eachother. I don't have room (or funding) for a larger aquarium. I could take the danios back to Petsmart and get some tetras instead, but in all honesty I worry that taking them back will actually put them into a worse situation (like those 3gallon "GloFish" enclosure). I have considered getting a couple ghost shrimp for cleaning purposes, since I know that the tank is too small for cories or even otos. I would like to have a nano community tank. Would it be possible to do Black Neon Tetras? Also, what's a good substrate to use? Right now I just have these stones, but clearly they're much too big.
 
Thanks to the suggestions at the LFS, I picked up 3 neons and 2 ghost shrimp. I also picked up an Anubias Nana and White Ribbon plant. Should I get the funding later this month, or next, I plan to get a larger tank and redecorate a bit for it. I picked up some neutral colored aquarium gravel for the tank. I'm excited for how it will look.
 
I've had success with both in one of those eclipse "desk" aquariums previously, and as this is one of the 5g "long" tanks (meaning it's not one of those tall desk tanks) it's only slightly less length than a 10 gallon.
 
Your limited to fish but have you tried endlers livebearers? I don't know tank requirement but they are small and beautiful fish. Would look great in a green tank.
 
I saw some at the store today, and they did look very pretty, but I was worried that perhaps the Betta would go after the fins, since I've heard they can go after guppies.
 
Here's a picture of the tank, all planted with a closeup of the Betta. Don't have a name for him yet.

IMG_20130906_151848.jpg
 
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Look, you can take our advice or not. I'm just saying, danios are super active, and shouldn't really be in a tank less than 2 feet long, preferable more like 30"
 
Just an FYI.... most of your plants aren't actually aquatic and will die off eventually. I wouldn't advise any schoolers in a 5G unless they were true "nano" fish (i.e. microrasbora, borara, etc). And with a betta, they may not last long.
 
Black neons are even bigger than the danios. It would be nice if it were aquascaped- I'd keep the betta as the only fish, and add a large snail and a ghost shrimp.
 
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