Five gallon aquarium cycling and stocking

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

Penelope .R

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Dec 28, 2020
Messages
113
Reaction score
39
Location
Maryland
I don't know if this counts as a nano Aquarium but I just started cycling my new 5 gallon. It is the smallest tank I've ever owned. I've been wanting another betta for my room for a while but didn't want something huge.

When can I start adding plants during the cycling process? I am doing a planted aquarium, I have seachem fluorite dark as substrate right now.

What plants might be nice in this tank? It has a typical aquarium light, nothing fancy, but it's fairly bright and not far from the bottom. I am wanting some shorter grass, and probably an Amazon sword as I've been able to grow them in the past.

As for fish I already know I want a betta and some Celestial pearl danios. I've kept bettas with other fish before but never in such a small aquarium so I am being cautious. Any suggestions? I'm planning on some kind of shrimp and a mystery snail or two but I'd like one or two other species of fish.
Any advice or thoughts are appreciated
 

Attachments

  • 20211013_231649.jpg
    20211013_231649.jpg
    269.8 KB · Views: 71
I don't know if this counts as a nano Aquarium but I just started cycling my new 5 gallon. It is the smallest tank I've ever owned. I've been wanting another betta for my room for a while but didn't want something huge.

When can I start adding plants during the cycling process? I am doing a planted aquarium, I have seachem fluorite dark as substrate right now.

What plants might be nice in this tank? It has a typical aquarium light, nothing fancy, but it's fairly bright and not far from the bottom. I am wanting some shorter grass, and probably an Amazon sword as I've been able to grow them in the past.

As for fish I already know I want a betta and some Celestial pearl danios. I've kept bettas with other fish before but never in such a small aquarium so I am being cautious. Any suggestions? I'm planning on some kind of shrimp and a mystery snail or two but I'd like one or two other species of fish.
Any advice or thoughts are appreciated
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 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.
 
Last edited:
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.
I’m not sure about guppies, they can have really floaty, flashy tails and can be seen as a threat by a Betta.
 
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.
 
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, 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.
 
A really nicely planted tank with one Betta is a joy to sit and watch, and they seem to interact with you (I know I’m going slightly senile) 😊.

Perhaps you could go more “aquascape” with the smaller tank, silent cycle (one Betta doesn’t cause a huge amount of waste)…and have him think he’s out in the wild somewhere…
 
There are a few choice plants you could add to this little tank.

I am assuming this will be a fairly low standard tech set up, so this basically mean low level plants that don't require high lights and co2.

Java fern and anubias are popular choices, there are a few varieties of anubias, would also mention vallisernias perhaps for background plants, smaller cyrptocorynes for foreground perhaps.

All those are fairly low maintenance plants and dont require anything else really, perhaps a single weekly dose of liquid ferts would be helpful for the plants but not essential imho.

Adding a choice piece of bogwood or driftwood could be nice providing has no sharp edges for the betta to tear his fins on might be a nice addition to add a little something to the tank.
 
One Betta and a nerite snail or two always worked for me. Tried a Mystery snail and Mr. Luna was not impressed.

I see male bettas in with other fish in big tanks at my LFS and I think it's cool. But, these are large tanks with other fish in groups so maybe the betta just realizes he's not Alpha fish or whatever.
Regardless, unless you have a large tank and a betta that came from a store and was already used to lots of others in the tank, I wouldn't consider anything but small snails without wavy feelers.

5 gallons is a good size for a betta. I wouldn't go smaller but that's just my opinion. If I ever got another it would get him a 10g for sure! I've always wondered about a nice healthy Amano shrimp to go with a betta but would probably just stick with snails

Aggression is bad for me even in fish world. That's why I stick to certain fish and don't venture out.
Maybe some day.
I need a large tank first.

I think 7 chili rasboras would work (without betta) but didn't catch your water parameters...I've seen a nice heavily planted 5g with 7 chilis that did real well.

Keep us posted.
 
One Betta and a nerite snail or two always worked for me. Tried a Mystery snail and Mr. Luna was not impressed.

I see male bettas in with other fish in big tanks at my LFS and I think it's cool. But, these are large tanks with other fish in groups so maybe the betta just realizes he's not Alpha fish or whatever.
Regardless, unless you have a large tank and a betta that came from a store and was already used to lots of others in the tank, I wouldn't consider anything but small snails without wavy feelers.

5 gallons is a good size for a betta. I wouldn't go smaller but that's just my opinion. If I ever got another it would get him a 10g for sure! I've always wondered about a nice healthy Amano shrimp to go with a betta but would probably just stick with snails

Aggression is bad for me even in fish world. That's why I stick to certain fish and don't venture out.
Maybe some day.
I need a large tank first.

I think 7 chili rasboras would work (without betta) but didn't catch your water parameters...I've seen a nice heavily planted 5g with 7 chilis that did real well.

Keep us posted.
I've had a betta in a 20 gal with many other fish, snails, shrimp, etc and never had an issue. I monitored them closely though and it was a better set up than the 5 gal. Currently I have one betta in my 65 gal with lots of fish including silver dollars, Celestial pearl danios and Rosy barbs and he does great in that tank. It started as a temporary measure, I kept him in a separated area, but he jumped out one night and has had no problems with any fish bothering him and he has bothered no one else. He's got floating plants and things to hide in as well as lots of driftwood on the bottom, I think the decorations make him feel safe.
I've always kept mystery Snails with them and never had an issue, but maybe I've just been lucky until now.
I still don't know what I want to do with this new tank, some days I feel like just doing a solitary Beta tank and some days I feel like Finding some nice tropical fish that can live in such a small tank. But I still don't know, currently I'm just cycling it and I'm gonna try to add plants this week. I am leaning more towards doing a Beta tank, because I've had them my whole life and they're extremely nostalgic and would be a gorgeous addition to the tank I have, but I don't know.
I do like chili rasboras, though I've never had them so I have to do some reading.
Thanks :)
 
How hard is your water..? I’ve fallen in love with Enders, they are small but it depends on your water…🤔
 

Most reactions

trending

Members online

Back
Top