Starting 5 gallon tank for betta fish

[Kate-chan]

Hello!
I started 5 gallon new fish tank for betta. Today it’s the 7th day. I do have heater, sponge filter, substrate and decoration for hiding. I’m using Seachem water conditioner (Seachem Prime) and bottled bacteria of the same brand (Seachem Stability). Everyday I’m adding the required amount of live bacteria as showed on the package. When it should be okay to put the fish in it? Should I wait a month?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

You can normally add fish a few days after adding the filter bacteria. Just keep the feeding down to 2-3 times a week for a month or so just to make sure there is no problems with ammonia.

You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the water. If you get a reading above 0ppm, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the levels are 0ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

When you add the filter bacteria, try to add it near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

 

[itiwhetu]

Have you any live plants. If you add plants wait for around 10 days until the plants start growing then you can add your fish.

 

[Kate-chan]

Hi and welcome to the forum

You can normally add fish a few days after adding the filter bacteria. Just keep the feeding down to 2-3 times a week for a month or so just to make sure there is no problems with ammonia.

You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the water. If you get a reading above 0ppm, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the levels are 0ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

When you add the filter bacteria, try to add it near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

Thank you

 

[Kate-chan]

Have you any live plants. If you add plants wait for around 10 days until the plants start growing then you can add your fish.

No, I don’t have live plants but thanks for the advice

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

What @Colin_T says...a decent test kit is essential, because you'll need to watch the water stays good for your fish. (It's no good getting a poorly fish and then saying help, being asked for 'water parameters' and you being clueless and then scrambling to get a test kit. By then, it's often too late.
Real plants are a must for thriving Betta.