First time fish owner (soon to be)

[Jkelson]

Alright, I'm looking to start a small aquarium and I'm trying to do as much research as I can first. I don't want anything extravagant, just a five gallon tank with a betta and possibly a couple of other small fish. Approximately how many fish is recommended for a five gallon tank and what other fish are compatible with male bettas? I'm also thinking about a plant or two to go in the tank, but I have no idea what is suitable for a small tank. I'll probably just start off with one betta and fake plants but I know I'll probably want to keep adding to it as much as I can. Any advice you can offer to a soon to be novice aquarist would be great! Thanks

[MCHRKiller]

I would put no other fish with a betta in a 5G, if you want additional fish...opt for atleast a 10G aquarium. Either is a great option for a low light tank with some plants. If you choose the 5G a betta, a few ghost/amano shrimp and 1-2 nerite snails is plenty. If you opt for the 10G you can keep the betta along with a few of the previously mentioned shrimp and nerites plus a small shoal of adult microrasbora or couple of peaceful livebearers. Endlers or platies are usually good options.

If you buy an aquarium "kit" with an incandescent hood you can simply swap out the bulbs for some household spiral 6500K daylight CFLs and keep quite an assortment of plants. Crypts, Fern, Moss, Dwarf Sag, Tropica swords, Dwarf lilies(sold as bulbs), Rotala, Moneywort etc are all good choices. These plants will only require some root tabs for ferts along with a weekly dose of liquid fertilizer. The 15 watt version of the CFL bulbs is the best choice.

[Jkelson]

Thanks for the reply. Well I have to stick to the 5g tank due to space so I'll take your advice and just keep the betta in there, I don't want to overcrowd the little fellow. As far as the shrimp and snails you suggested, I'm not really interested in keeping those unless they offer some sort of benefit. Do either help clean the water or anything? The only other concern I have is the tank I'm considering which is the eclipse hexagon 5g (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/revi...uct=304&cat=17) I read in a user review for this tank that the filter creates kind of a strong current and that its not good for bettas, but I don't know if this person knows what they're talking about. Will a strong current stress the betta?

Thanks again for all your help :D

[Braccus]

The shrimp would clean up any uneaten food that makes its way to the bottom. The snails are probably to best thing you can buy for getting rid of algae. So yeah both would benefit the tank by keeping it clean for you.

[Rue]

Yup. I agree with Jenn.

I also probably would stick with a rectangular 'regular' tank. You have more options that way. The hex tanks always look nice to start...and then you find out they're a pain and not worth it. They're harder to clean...you have less viewing area for your fish...etc.

[Jkelson]

Okay, I'll get the shrimp and snails then. I did consider a rectangular tank but its going to be sitting on a small table and I don't think a rectangular tank will look as nice as the hexagon will. It'll be in my bedroom/living room so there's not a lot of space to work with.

[MCHRKiller]

You could reduce the flow of the filter by putting a tall plant or tall decoration infront of the return to deflect the current. Choosing a HMPK betta would also be a good choice as they dont have all of those fins to deal with so they are much better swimmers than long finned males. But otherwise that tank would be fine.

[Jkelson]

Cool, I'll just put something in there to deflect the current because I definitely want a betta with the biggest fins I can find. Thanks everyone for your help.