how to hake a 5.5 gallon sutable for a betta?

i mentiond in my last post i saw a cragslist ad for bettas. i am probly gonna get them. i would have to buy more tanks and decor and stuff, but i can only aford 2 more 5.5 gallon, not a 10 gallon like my other tank. my question is, how do you make a 5.5 gallon long sutable? who gets the ten gallon, like who ever seems more beat up and/or sad? do they need a filter? do the live tube plants work

The bare minimum for a betta is a 5 gallon, but that's not to say it's recommended. Honestly, you don't need to get all your fish at once. Pace yourself, there's time and you still need to focus on getting your 47 gallon together before thinking about more fish.

However, I can't stop you if you're dead-set on getting more fish, so:
All good tanks should have a filter - and a heater if they're tropical - and I would recommend live plants for any tank. 5G tanks aren't really suitable for much other than being a temporary quarantine tank or a shrimp/snail tank, so I would keep this in mind.

As for which betta gets the 10 gallon, either is fine. Personally I'd only get one betta if you're desperate to have one, but it doesn't really matter which one gets the bigger tank.

Unicornblast5000 said:

i mentiond in my last post i saw a cragslist ad for bettas. i am probly gonna get them. i would have to buy more tanks and decor and stuff, but i can only aford 2 more 5.5 gallon, not a 10 gallon like my other tank. my question is, how do you make a 5.5 gallon long sutable? who gets the ten gallon, like who ever seems more beat up and/or sad? do they need a filter? do the live tube plants work

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I would get the 10 gallon. Even though the bare minimum for a Betta is 5 gallons, the bigger tank the, the better.

They don’t need a filter, but it’s highly recommended.

If you are talking about the moist plants that are sold in the plastic tubes at PetCo/PetSmart, yes, they do “work” to an extent.

Several members have said that the plants in the tubes die very quickly after being added to the tank.

I would look into live plants at your LFS, that are fully submerged.

10 gallon is good IF you provide a tank with dark substrate + heavily planted including floating plants + roots/branches, and water :
pH 6.5 to 7 - GH and KH < 7 (120 ppm) - temp 25°C (77°F).
Preferably live food.
Some examples :

ok, so, i was looking in my garage for old fish stuff and found a 12 gallon and 62 qt bins, i cleaned then well and started putting sand and decor in them. will they work? there harder plastic

12 gal is ok.
I advice you to check tank waterproofness by filling it to the rim for 4-5 days before setting it.

Hi! The bins may not be very nice long term, depending on what they look like haha. What is your budget for the setups? Petco does a $1 a gallon sale regularly, meaning you could get a 10 gallon tank for $10. Of course you would still be in need of a heater and live plants, but no matter what kind of tank you choose that will still be a need! A filter would not be necessary if the tank were nicely planted and you did weekly 50% water changes! A betta will do just fine in 5 gallons, you could divide the 10 gallon tank if you wanted. Bigger is always better, but bigger is not always necessary.

A 20 gallon long would also work very well divided into 3! That would give each betta over 6 and a half gallons each, and a footprint of 10 inches by 12 inches. You could also buy like one light instead of more than one!

Make sure to clean it really well before using it. Don’t use any chemicals to clean it, just use hot water.

Walmart sells 5 gallon complete aquariums for $32 plus tax. They have 10 gallon kits for $35 plus tax. You would just need heaters. Pickup only… no delivery.

Fishmanic said:

Walmart sells 5 gallon complete aquariums for $32 plus tax. They have 10 gallon kits for $35 plus tax. You would just need heaters. Pickup only… no delivery.

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I have one of those kits, and the filter/light are absolutely terrible. I don’t suggest getting one of those.

You can make a much better 5g tank with $32.