Okay, thanks everybody.
I am going to give keeping other fish with a betta a chance, but something I forgot to include in my original post is I have a 65 gallon tropical aquarium with a mostly peaceful community. I'll be watching closely for any issues and if the betta has a problem with someone they'll be moving out immediately. I also have a cycled 20 gallon I have lots of space in and two 1.5 gallons I use for temporary quarantine.
I have a five gallon with a betta. He had an African dwarf frog roommate who was his best friend. My betta even entered a depression when my cat ate the frog. I also had a cory catfish. You could have an algae eater if you want. I've also heard that both bettas and bottom-dwellers like guppies for friends, but I would be cautious with the betta, especially if it's male. As for plants, I use a lot of different types and only one has ever died and caused a problem. The frog loved the short ones to burrow in, and the cory loved this big one with giant leaves to sit on. My betta preferred the artificial decorations. Hope this helps!
I've kept African dwarf frogs with a betta before, I like them but it's a tall tank with an 11.9 × 11.7 base, so I don't know if there would be enough floor space for a group of three. Thanks for the thoughts though
I wouldn't recommend putting tank mates with a betta. My betta killed 4 shrimp and a guppy. It you are willing to take the risk, I would put some chilli Rasboras in, 2 or 3 guppys would work well, but a big risk. Your best option would be some kind of dull coloured bottom dweller. I have a bottom dweller in mind, but it will only work if I know your dimensions, can I please have them. I would strongly recommend just keeping it alone.
The dimensions are 11.9×11.7. I have time to think while it is cycling. I know I really wanted a betta, and have kept them with a variety of other fish before with minimal issues, but like I said I've never had a tank this small that wasn't for isolation or sickness so if I have to scrap the betta and just do some smaller fish, I'd be fine with that too. Thanks for the advice
Personally I would not keep anything with a Betta in this small of a tank.
You can sometimes be lucky and get away with keeping other fish with a Betta. But generally it only works in a bigger tank where there is space for fish to get away from each other. Even then it often ends badly with either the Betta killing other fish or other fish nipping the Betta's fins to bits and stressing it to the point of death.
This tank is definitely not suitable to put in any type of Danio, they are all active swimmers and this tank is not big enough.
Also definitely no Guppies with a Betta, the Betta will most likely kill them.
Also definitely no Cory's. Cory's need to be kept in groups of at least 6 (ideally 10+) and this tank is not big enough to support that.
That's the issue with a 5G tank and the reason only a single Betta is ever really suitable for them. Most fish that would be small enough to not overload it are either active swimmers that need more room or social fish that need a large group which also wont fit in this size tank.
Regarding plants and Cycling... Well there are multiple ways. Personally I would put the plants in first, let them get established for a bit and then run the fishless cycle. Some plants don't do so well with high ammonia during a cycle but in my experience most of them will get through just fine, especially the easier going ones.
For a Betta tank I would get some nice fast growing stem plants for the back, some good floating plants to give it lots of cover and some smaller crypts for the middle/front.
Gotcha. It's going to be a while before I add anything, I'm really taking my time with this one and cycling the tank while I research what I want to stock it with. Question: if I were to scrap the betta, what fish might work with this aquarium? All I really want is a nice tank for my room. The 20 gal used to be there and I miss it, but it took up too much space.
If your plants will be fast growing, and there will be a lot of them, you can do a plant cycle. This involves planting the tank then waiting until the plants are actively growing before getting fish. Take a photo of the newly planted tank so you'll be able to tell how much the plants have grown. Bettas also like floating plants and these are particularly good at removing ammonia.
I agree with the others, bettas are best kept alone. 5 gallons is too small for celestial pearl danios even without a betta. The tank looks tall and narrow in the photo and cpds need a footprint of at least 12 x 18 inches.
Shrimps are hit and miss with a betta, some will ignore them, others will eat them.
Mystery snails are also hit and miss - bettas have been known to mistake the antennae for worms and bite them off. Nerite snails are less likely to be harmed as hardly any of their body shows outside the shell. I always kept a nerite with my bettas with no problem.
Okay so no danios, that's disappointing, but I already have them in another tank so at least I'm not missing out on them.
I've kept Ghost shrimp with my betta and he never seemed to care, but again, bigger tank. Same goes for the mystery snail.
I really like the idea of the plant cycle though, I'm in no rush.
Thanks everybody! If anyone could answer my questions or has more knowledge to share I am happy to hear it.
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