Nooby With 5.5G Betta Tank And What I Would Like To Have In It

[CherryBerry]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum but glad to be a member now.  I've had a betta or two for about a month now in a 5.5 gallon tank.  My first betta died from me overmedicating the water even though I followed the directions (I learned after they were sensitive to medicine).  Now I've had a red betta for a month or so , his name is Cherry Berry.  I also have 2 snails in with him.  Besides for the snails, I I have 3 anubias plants, 2 anubias congensis and one anubias nana.  I also have a moss ball.  I'm using a 10 gallon pump with a sponge on the front of it because it pumps out too much water and pushes my fish around.  

So to summarize I have :

1 betta
2 Nerite Snails 
2 Anubias congensis
1 Anubias Nana
 
Now what I'd like to have in the tank, in theory, is a little more life.  Well, I'd like to have animal life and I'm not sure if I would have any more plants.  I would maybe add 1 or 2 anubias or maybe another type of grass-looking plant but I've never done much research on the possibilities.  However, I'm just kicking ideas around.
 
It would be cool to have a little frog, I've had one of them before.  I think it would get along with my betta.  That's just an idea I had.
 
It would also be cool to have 2-3 little corydora catfish.  However, I've heard they can be 2+ " long and that would probably be much too big.  However they do look good, interesting, and I would like them.   Unfortunately it sounds like they would be too big, maybe I could settle for 2-3 other types of fish.  Personally I thought bottomfeeders would be great because they would stay out of the Bettas way... Any recommendation for 2-3 fish that I could try.
 
And finally maybe a shrimp , however, I've had trouble keeping one alive before probably because I acclimated it slowly.  They also seem really dumb, like they have 0 intelligence.  I'm not sure what to think about that.
 
It would be so cool but probably impractical to add to tank:
 
a small frog
2-3 cory catfish
a shrimp
 
However the bioload would probably be too big on this tank.  I let it get some outside light by opening a window, not direct light at all but shaded light.  Don't you think all this is way too much?  I think it is, but this is what I want to have in theory.  What do you think my options are though?  I'm not planning on getting anything soon at all, so don't worry about that.
 
Also what about my plants that I have in the tank?  Is it acceptable to add more plants, keep it how it is, or have I added too many plants?  Plants help with a heavy bioload, correct?  I don't have a problem with algae, I have very little.  However, that might change in the future I'm not sure.  I guess my plan is to have the plants starve out the algae, and my snaills can take care of what's left over.  I clean the water/vacuum every 5-7 days, about 20-25%.  I haven't tested the water at all so far, everyone seems healthy though.  What are your thoughts on the situation xD

 

[CherryBerry]

Maybe it would be able to have one of these posssibilities, but not all:
 
 
-a small frog and a shrimp

-2 cory catfish


Could that be acceptable?

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

You cant really have much with a betta in a 5.5g other than shrimp. If you want cories with him you could upgrade him to a 10 gallon and have 6-7 corydora habrosus

 

[Mamashack]

to TTF, Cherry!
You may find that your betta may not tolerate new additions to the tank now he is established there.
If you want to try a couple of shrimp make sure you get the bigger ones like adult amanos that can quickly ping out of the way in case of confrontation or aggression and be prepared to re-home them if it doesn't work out. I've found that smaller ones are not so safe with a betta.
It all depends on the betta's personality but they do tend to be territorial in my experience.

 

[catfish4ever]

i would recommend a 15 galloon which you could safely add 6 pygmy corydoras