New to fish

[doiser2]

Hi, I'm new to keeping aquariums and need help.

My girlfriend got a betta the other day. She was going to keep it in a little bowl not much bigger than the one it came in, but I asked around for a tank and got my aunt to give us a small aquarium (I don't know the exact size, but it is pretty full now with 15 liters of water in it). It came with pebbles and marbles and some other little decorations, a lid/light, and we bought a filter for it today.

What I need to know is if there is anything else we can do to make the environment a little nicer and safer. I have heard people talking about adding salt to the water. Right now all that we have added is the treatment that takes care of the chlorine and stuff from the tap water.

I also would like to know what kind of other fish and plants can live with the betta. Currently, there are 4 ghost shrimp in with it that we bought to help keep the bottom clean. We would like to add some life to the scene by putting in a few smaller fish, but we don't know what kind of fish are safe with the betta.

Thanks for any help that is offered. I am totally new to this hobby, but decided it would be a cool thing to get into. I would like to have an aquarium of my own with some oscars, but I want to get this one straightened out first.

 

[cutecotton]

welcome to the forum

bettas are pretty easy maintence creatures. According to you, the tank fills about 15L so thats' about 4 - 5 gallons. a goo drule of thumb is to not put more than an inch of fish per gallon, not including tails. Meaning in your tank you could most about 4 fishies in there before you start hitting the overcrwoded mark

As for what chemicals you need to put in...the dechlorinator should be good for now i usually don't recommend putting in chemicals unless the betta's sick or you feel that somethin'gs wrong. If i'ts not broken, dont' fix it right?

Adding one or two live plants (depending on how many you can fit in there) will cheer your betta up

However, adding other fish to a betta can be nasty sometimes. They are aggressive fish and maybe hostile towards fish like guppies or gouramis. Otos and other bottom feeders are usually okay for bettas. And since the tank is only 4 - 5G, i doubt you can squeeze in a lot of tetras or anthing like that.

since you siad you already got 4 ghost shrimps (which is quite a bit already in the tank), i wouldn't recommend added any at the moment unilt your betta settles (btw, the shrimps may turn into betta soon )

anyways, hope this info is useful for you i got 4 male bettas divided in a 10G tank and i'm afraid to add any other fish with him lol.

 

[doiser2]

Thanks for the advice.

Will the plants help keep the water cleaner? I may just take out those decorations and put 2 plants in their place.

The shrimp were just an attempt at keeping the gravel cleaner, and at 26 cents apiece we wouldn't feel too bad if they ended up as food. Plus we got one for free because the guy that got them out for us decided that one was so tiny he'd throw in a free one. The betta hasn't been aggressive toward them yet, though he did chase them a little at first, then lost interest. When I called my girlfriend earlier, she said that all he had done since I left was swim in the bubbles and current made by the filter.

 

[cutecotton]

haha sounds like he's doing fine then i got ghost shrimps in my bettas and they haven't turned into dinner yet. if your betta leaves htem alone, they'll just be nice gravel cleaner and clean up after him lol (leftover food for them is great).

Plants are definitely going to hlpe the tank a little, but don't overstuff your tank with plants, i'd say you'd only be able to fit one or two of those in there