New tanks for my bettas

[YaBuddyHuddie]

Hahaha to each their own? Either way I don't plan on adding any other fish just something small like shrimp or snails because there are colorful types of shrimp( ive seen like red and blue ones on some site) and I really been wanting some blue and pink ramshorns( I think that's what they are called) i just thought they might be a cool add that wouldn't add much waste. I just wanted to make sure it would be enough room. I will watch for them attacking thou. The tank comes with a filter and a hood light. No heater thou. I can't wait to be able to put my Bettas in a bigger home to put some pep in their step. Thank you all for all your advice and point of views. )

I keep cherry shrimp and they are wonderful and beautiful. Not sure if your betta would eat them though. You'll just have to experiment.

 

[Lilmack07]

The cycling part I've been doing quite a bit of research on since I've gotten my 20g. I'm doing better. I know it can be more difficult with smaller tanks and doing it fish in. But I know they are going I be so much more happy. I will look into those snails since I know the other ones can get a good size I have two of them in my bigger tank.

 

[Calypso77]

No I haven't bought heaters yet. Do you know of good heater for that size of a tank? The 2.5g I looked at were the same price as the 5g. The only reason I wasn't too happy with the 2.5g was because I figured that might be too small if I wanted to add shrimp and stuff but I wasn't sure. Ever since I found those colorful shrimp I've really wanted to get me some. Lol
Edit- you can't get them in Canada? That's terrible

Yes it is terrible, I would love one... Oh well what can ya do...

Librarygirl has some great advice for you regarding your tank and heater...

 

[Lilmack07]

I keep cherry shrimp and they are wonderful and beautiful. Not sure if your betta would eat them though. You'll just have to experiment.

The cherry shrimp are pretty! If they eat them it's all good, like ya said ill just have to experiment. Hopefully they don't bother them. Hahaha

 

[Calypso77]

Oh and yes adjustable heaters all the way, that way if you need to up the temps for any reason you can do so..

 

[Lilmack07]

Yea I like the adjustable heaters for sure! When I first got my 20g I had one thy just had the + and - I didn't like it one bit. So I went and got an adjustable one which came in handy because my poor tank had got ich but finally got rid of it.

 

[vance1013]

Hahaha to each their own? Either way I don't plan on adding any other fish just something small like shrimp or snails because there are colorful types of shrimp( ive seen like red and blue ones on some site) and I really been wanting some blue and pink ramshorns( I think that's what they are called) i just thought they might be a cool add that wouldn't add much waste. I just wanted to make sure it would be enough room. I will watch for them attacking thou. The tank comes with a filter and a hood light. No heater thou. I can't wait to be able to put my Bettas in a bigger home to put some pep in their step. Thank you all for all your advice and point of views. )

Your welcome careful with ramshorns they reproduce quickly

 

[Lilmack07]

Oh that's what I've heard, thank you. could I put live plants in this tank? If so can I use just sand? Anyone know? xD

 

[vance1013]

Oh that's what I've heard, thank you. could I put live plants in this tank? If so can I use just sand? Anyone know? xD

Yes you can some low light plants will work like anubis java fern or java there is others i dont remember you might nedd to find some driftwood for the anubis and java fern there is others i dont remember though lol

 

[Lilmack07]

I will look into those then. I think at petco online They have a plant with driftwood you can order. Thank ya so much

 

[KryptiCouple]

Agree to disagree. Dwarf frogs are probably the safer choice though.

I wouldn't do dwarf frogs in that small of a tank, as they tend to be dirty, unless you plan on really over-filtering the tank, and doing frequent water changes.

 

[tamtam]

Library girl gave some great advice.

You could possibly do some plants but that will depend on your lighting. A lot of stock lights aren't enough to support plants, even low light ones. You could try something like water sprite(one of the easiest plants to grow). Other low light plants are anubias, crypts, java moss/fern, wisteria. I'd start with just 1 and see how it goes. Don't want to fill your tank and everything start to die on your.

You can use sand, just don't go to thick. You want between an inch to 2 at the most. It can compress to much and "choke" the roots. You will need to add root tabs for planted plants so they can get some nutrition. For thinks like Java moss that you tie to DW you can use liquid ferts.

Your bettas are going to love there new home. IMO bigger is always better if you can afford it.

I'm also of the no tetras in anything less than a 15-20 gallon mind set. Glad you are just sticking with the betta and snails or shrimp. Your betta will tank you.

Snails can breed rapidly but it can be easier to maintain than a lot of people think. A main cause of over population with them is that people over feed. More food = more snails.

 

[tamtam]

It can be argued that they need a bigger tank but I find in bigger tanks they don't school very well. In a tighter environment they stick together and as a result they are much more enjoyable. They are the darting type, but their max size is usually only 1 inch so they can thrive in a 5 gallon. Get on YouTube you can see TONS of 5 gallon setups just like the ones I have suggested here. This also comes from personal experience, as I have had similar setups that do just fine.

I'm sorry but a neons adult size is closer to 2 inches. They won't reach full size if kept in a tank that is too small, a 5 gallon would do that. I've never had neons not reach at least 1 1/2 inches. I've also never kept them in less than 15 gallons because of their activity level.

Schooling behavior is a natural instinct. When they are stressed out or feel threatened they will school tighter. When they are at peace and feeling relaxed they will break up more and go about alone more often. It's often a good sign if your schooling fish will venture about. If you really want a fish to school nicely and give a rewarding display your best bet is to get a larger tank and a larger school. The more you have the better the display and more likely they will be to school as well.

 

[YaBuddyHuddie]

I'm sorry but a neons adult size is closer to 2 inches. They won't reach full size if kept in a tank that is too small, a 5 gallon would do that. I've never had neons not reach at least 1 1/2 inches. I've also never kept them in less than 15 gallons because of their activity level.

Schooling behavior is a natural instinct. When they are stressed out or feel threatened they will school tighter. When they are at peace and feeling relaxed they will break up more and go about alone more often. It's often a good sign if your schooling fish will venture about. If you really want a fish to school nicely and give a rewarding display your best bet is to get a larger tank and a larger school. The more you have the better the display and more likely they will be to school as well.

Funny how I had a 5 gallon tank with a betta and 5 neons for 3 years with no problems yet everyone is telling me I can't do it.

 

[Calypso77]

Funny how I had a 5 gallon tank with a betta and 5 neons for 3 years with no problems yet everyone is telling me I can't do it.

Nobody is telling you that you can't do it, they are telling you it is not right to do it.

 

[tamtam]

Funny how I had a 5 gallon tank with a betta and 5 neons for 3 years with no problems yet everyone is telling me I can't do it.

Lots of people do things like this though and some are lucky enough to not have issues. Did these fish die at the 3 year mark or did you rehome them?

Betta can often live 5 years and neons can even reach close to 10 and often over that. It's not as common in captivity, again a lot don't receive the space and care they need but they could get well passed 3 years when given proper care.

How often do people keep goldfish in spaces that are too small? So often you hear someone say they had a gold fish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank and they lived a nice long 5 years. When really that's not long for a goldfish at all. They show be about 8-10 inches or more in size and live well over 10 years, closer to 20.

If a fish doesn't reach it's proper adult size because it lacks the space to do so it will shorten it's life span. A fish that is stunted most often dies from organ failure. It's body stops growing but it's organs don't. They just get crashed inside and the fish that seems totally normal suddenly starts acting strange and dies.

I mean no offense with any of this, just some info that many are not aware of and I find just knowing some of these things is enough for people to look at a situation and realize that while in some cases it seems to work for many(like the poor 5 year old gold fish) the reality is it's not really working when you get right in and learn, there are far less fish that it doesn't work for than it does and it could be easily solved if more people just knew.

I'm just of the mind set that you give your fish(or any pet) the best you can. There are more suitable fish to a 5 gallon tank than neons and I would rather choose them and save the neons for a larger more suitable tank. JMO. I've always kept neons in a larger tank and can say they've always made great use of it.

 

[YaBuddyHuddie]

Lots of people do things like this though and some are lucky enough to not have issues. Did these fish die at the 3 year mark or did you rehome them?

Betta can often live 5 years and neons can even reach close to 10 and often over that. It's not as common in captivity, again a lot don't receive the space and care they need but they could get well passed 3 years when given proper care.

How often do people keep goldfish in spaces that are too small? So often you hear someone say they had a gold fish in a 5 or 10 gallon tank and they lived a nice long 5 years. When really that's not long for a goldfish at all. They show be about 8-10 inches or more in size and live well over 10 years, closer to 20.

If a fish doesn't reach it's proper adult size because it lacks the space to do so it will shorten it's life span. A fish that is stunted most often dies from organ failure. It's body stops growing but it's organs don't. They just get crashed inside and the fish that seems totally normal suddenly starts acting strange and dies.

I mean no offense with any of this, just some info that many are not aware of and I find just knowing some of these things is enough for people to look at a situation and realize that while in some cases it seems to work for many(like the poor 5 year old gold fish) the reality is it's not really working when you get right in and learn, there are far less fish that it doesn't work for than it does and it could be easily solved if more people just knew.

I'm just of the mind set that you give your fish(or any pet) the best you can. There are more suitable fish to a 5 gallon tank than neons and I would rather choose them and save the neons for a larger more suitable tank. JMO. I've always kept neons in a larger tank and can say they've always made great use of it.

Had to move was the only reason it was taken down and other than that specific tank I haven't been able to keep neons alive that long. I've kept them in an established 29 that was under stocked and they only lived about a year. I don't wanna have conflict on here. I enjoy this community and everyone's advice and thoughts. It goes without saying that more space is always better. In my humble opinion though I believe neons can thrive in a 5 gallon tank as I've had it happen before. Probably because my betta was really passive and NEVER gave the neons any trouble. He was actually really sociable with them.

 

[tamtam]

To each there own. I'm not trying to fight with you either. I'm simply stating what my knowledge is on neons and you can't be sure if they really thrived in that tank. You only had them for 3 years, at which point I'm guessing you rehomed them? That's about a third of their life. You have no way to know if you effected their life span when only keeping them for 1/3 of their life.

Fish can seem happy and not be happy is all I am saying. You can't look inside their body and see if being in such a small space is having a poor effect on them, KWIM? There can be things wrong that we can't see with our own eyes. If they maxed out at 1 inch at 3 years then that in itself should tell you something. They didn't reach their full potential. That's not thriving IMO.

Again you can do what you like. That's the beauty of this site, we can disagree. I don't understand why people get so up in arms with a completely stranger and threaten to leave a site over a disagreement. This is a fantastic community and everything that is said here is because people care about their pets, it's for nothing but the betterment of care. In the end I can't change your opinion but I'm going to state mine in hopes that someone else won't take your path because so much of my research and personal experiences has shown me that they need more to do their best.

 

[YaBuddyHuddie]

To each there own. I'm not trying to fight with you either. I'm simply stating what my knowledge is on neons and you can't be sure if they really thrived in that tank. You only had them for 3 years, at which point I'm guessing you rehomed them? That's about a third of their life. You have no way to know if you effected their life span when only keeping them for 1/3 of their life.

Fish can seem happy and not be happy is all I am saying. You can't look inside their body and see if being in such a small space is having a poor effect on them, KWIM? There can be things wrong that we can't see with our own eyes. If they maxed out at 1 inch at 3 years then that in itself should tell you something. They didn't reach their full potential. That's not thriving IMO.

Again you can do what you like. That's the beauty of this site, we can disagree. I don't understand why people get so up in arms with a completely stranger and threaten to leave a site over a disagreement. This is a fantastic community and everything that is said here is because people care about their pets, it's for nothing but the betterment of care. In the end I can't change your opinion but I'm going to state mine in hopes that someone else won't take your path because so much of my research and personal experiences has shown me that they need more to do their best.

Ain't even mad bro.

 

[Lilmack07]

Well I've gained some nice knowledge from this little debate. beauty of a forum is that you get so many different ideas and opinions. I do appreciate all the advice that has been given!