Questions about starting a 5 gallon tank

[Kitten0Face]

Hello everyone,

I am a new member interested in starting a simple 5 gallon tank for a betta. Once I found out they can live with a few other things, I decided to come here and ask if my plans are realistic.

I am planning to get 1 male betta, and was hoping to get an ADF, some ghost or cherry shrimp, and a mystery snail or two. I was also interested in stocking it with live plants. Is this a good ratio, or is this too much for a 5 gallon?

I also seem to come across a lot of discussion on small tank cycling. Would plant cycling be a god choice for this?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome! Personally I think a 5 gal is too small for a betta and ADFs; the frogs are social creatures and prefer a small group. A 10 gal minimum would be better. You could do the betta and shrimp in a 5 gal but it'll depend on the bettas personality (some will be ok with shrimp, others won't).

As for cycling, you could do fish-in or fishless. You can add live plants to help but you would need a good amount of the right kind of plants (hornwort, etc) and of course the lighting you have on the tank would need to be considered as well. This guide may be of some assistance: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[shellieca]

I have a 5.5g & a 5g each with a male Betta, the 5.5g also has a mystery snail & had a nerite but it seems to have died :-( Personally I prefer not to add anything else for a couple of reasons, the chance that either the Betta will be stressed or will kill whatever else I put into the tank. The 5.5g has live plants & a sponge filter which is perfect for my betta. Keep in mind Bettas don't get lonely & one fish in that tank size really, IMO, is plenty. Good luck with however you decide to proceed.