Hey 
Just to introduce myself a little bit- I currently have an empty 5 gallon tank with a filter and a heater and silk or silicon plants. Originally I thought that a fish tank would be pretty easy and you just dump water in it and stick in some fish... (yeah, oops) I obviously have now learned that it not at all the case, and that I have a lot to learn about how to keep a healthy tank with happy fish.
We started out with african dwarf frogs, not knowing that the tank needed to be cycled first, so that was a disaster. Finally got it cycled, and continued to have problems with the frogs, then we got a betta. He lived happily (it seemed) for about 8? months, and just recently died.
Right now I am looking at how to get my tank healthy again before adding any more fish. I don't know that I'm set on getting another betta, and am curious to look into what other options there are. I'm also interested in potentially switching to sand instead of gravel, maybe adding a small live plant or two? (I don't know that I want the tank full of them, but am intrigued about how they help keep your water clean and healthy). I am also toying with the idea of switching to a 10G tank, but am kinda budget limited right now and would have to look into if my filter and heater and stuff would also work for that or if I would have to buy everything new, but it seems like 5G really super limits the types of fish you can have... we will see.
Just to introduce myself a little bit- I currently have an empty 5 gallon tank with a filter and a heater and silk or silicon plants. Originally I thought that a fish tank would be pretty easy and you just dump water in it and stick in some fish... (yeah, oops) I obviously have now learned that it not at all the case, and that I have a lot to learn about how to keep a healthy tank with happy fish.
We started out with african dwarf frogs, not knowing that the tank needed to be cycled first, so that was a disaster. Finally got it cycled, and continued to have problems with the frogs, then we got a betta. He lived happily (it seemed) for about 8? months, and just recently died.
Right now I am looking at how to get my tank healthy again before adding any more fish. I don't know that I'm set on getting another betta, and am curious to look into what other options there are. I'm also interested in potentially switching to sand instead of gravel, maybe adding a small live plant or two? (I don't know that I want the tank full of them, but am intrigued about how they help keep your water clean and healthy). I am also toying with the idea of switching to a 10G tank, but am kinda budget limited right now and would have to look into if my filter and heater and stuff would also work for that or if I would have to buy everything new, but it seems like 5G really super limits the types of fish you can have... we will see.
