# 5/6 gallon tank mates



## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

I have a 5 gallon (Aqadvisor tells me it's 5.9 when I put in the dimensions, I'm really confused) tank with a single young betta, and I was wondering whether I could add any tank mates. 

The problem with my tanks is that they have really low pH - around 6. This makes them very difficult to cycle but from what I've read it's not too bad because the ammonia readings are mostly ammonium which is apparently not as harmful. I obviously do frequent water changes despite this. My tanks also aren't exactly big, but I'm located in the UK and 10 gallon tanks are like £100+ each and I'm (still) unemployed so I'm on a tight budget for now. I also don't think my mum would be happy with me spending my money on more tanks when I'm supposed to be learning how to drive lol

Tanks are planted and plants are doing well - I have root tabs and add liquid fertiliser now and then. No CO2. I'm _always_ buying more plants (90% of my visits at Pets at Home result in yet another bunch of cuttings) so the tanks are decently planted, especially the 5/6 gallon. I asked my mum to buy me plant tweezers and scissors for christmas so I can finally organise the tanks properly instead of having such a wild jungle in there haha. 

Anyway. Is there anything I could add to the 5/6 gallon in terms of tank mates? I like small fish - the smaller the better. I definitely don't want snails as I've had three die on me already (they were pest snails that came on plants for the pet store: the plants are treated with chemicals which is what caused the first two snails to die - the most recent one got eaten by Lucifer :/)

I do realise that I might not be able to add anything to this tank, which is perfectly fine. But it would be nice to have more than one fish per tank


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## NorthernLights (Mar 2, 2012)

I am afraid at 6 gallons or less you are quite limited. You might be able to put some shrimp in there, but that needs to wait until your cycle is finished. 

Otherwise, you might eventually consider a mystery snail (I know you don't like snails, but they are SOOOO cool).


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

Yeah, I do realise that haha. I messed around with aqadvisor earlier and it said that with 1 betta and 6 dwarf cories I'd still be under stocked and I was like whaaaatt?? 

I'm not sure if these will ever cycle to be honest, I've had them since August and nothing. I just change the water often for now, I've kinda have up on cycling. 

Oh, no, I love snails! It's just that my fish don't... Obviously that's a problem because I don't want anyone getting eaten.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I would definitely say Lucifer is not a candidate for tank mates. For best health for all residents, a Betta needs to be mellow and non-aggressive.

Oftentimes aggressive Betta can themselves be stressed by the constant movement/invasion of other fish; and, of course, such Betta quickly stress shrimp to the point of death so they're definitely a no-no.

Do you have a non-Lucifer tank?


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

yeah I agree, if he doesn't seem to be mellow,and hes rather aggressive, I wouldn't add anything, I have a betta who will constantly flare (even at a tiny rams-horn) and attack it, so he doesn't have anything else in his tank with him, because he gets stressed.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

Oh no this isn't for Lucifer haha. Lucifer is in a 3 gallon for now so tank mates are a no-no. I wouldn't say he's particularly aggressive, just territorial. He ate the snail because it was fasting day and the little bugger decided that he didn't want to be fasted haha. 

I have another betta as of recently, a young (around 3 months old) what was sold as a female but Lilnaugrim told me it's a male today haha. Gutted, he needs a new name now. This one isn't as territorial, just has unlimited amounts of energy. I can't really tell much about his aggression levels because I haven't had him long, but he came from a tank with 10 other bettas (7 of which were dead) and some bottom-dwelling fish which I don't know the name of. He was very stressed when I got him, all pale and striped and clamped  I don't know whether it was because the tank mates or all the other fish in adjacent tanks, or the lack of hiding spaces in such a busy environment. 

Anyway, the tank mates would be for him as he's in the 5/6 gallon tank.


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## NorthernLights (Mar 2, 2012)

I suppose my question is, why do you believe he is aggressive? Lucifer may have killed snails, but that does not mean the new one (Medusa?) will. Aggression toward other bettas or his own reflection (which, to them, is the same thing) does not always mean they will be aggressive toward other creatures. My HMPK will flare constantly if he sees his reflection (I have to keep the light on in the room if his tank light is on, and I can't use aquarium backgrounds, or he goes NUTS, and he's a fairly a hyper glass-surfing kinda guy), but he is very peaceful toward my three snails and the cory cats that live in his tank. 

I would guess that a betta that will attack snails will also attack other fish.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Didn't Persus zap Medusa? This boy zapped the belief he's a Medusa.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Didn't Persus zap Medusa? This boy zapped the belief he's a Medusa.


I thought I bought a female, hence the name lol. He still doesn't have a new name but it's definitely a boy. You should see the bubble nest he's been working on for like two days! I feel bad because I ruined it during the water change yesterday haha. 

NorthernLights, I never said he was aggressive. I said that I can't say much about his aggression levels because I haven't had him long  

I could try putting a snail in his tank and see how he reacts. If I see a negative response, that will be a red light for any potential tank mates.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I was thinking you could name him Persus. Play on words and all that stuff. My mind goes off in strange directions sometimes.... I just don't always show it on Betta Fish. :-D

BTW, your tanks are beautiful. I enjoyed the pictures very much.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the suggestion Russell! I'm not quite sure what his name will be yet, Medusa fit perfectly until he turned out to be a boy lol 

Thank you! I really appreciate the complement  I can't wait until the plants grow in a little more and fill up the empty spaces


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## NorthernLights (Mar 2, 2012)

I would wait until your tank is cycled before adding any tank mates. I had a cycle crash about the same time I got come corys and it was horrible trying to keep them alive while my tank refused to cycle. I lost several fish in the process.

If your pH is very low, you can raise it safely and permanently by adding crushed coral to the tank. The simplest way to do this is to use crushed coral sand as your substrate, or on top of your substrate. I got a bag of Aragonite and used that, and it is just great. My pH used to hover around 6 (I think it was lower but my test kit only shows 6 as its lowest number possible). Now it sits at 7.6, which is a good pH for most fish and other underwater denizens of a betta tank. If you don't want to use it as a substrate, you can put it in a filtering bag instead.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. That is, if it cycles haha. My other tank is showing nitrates but there's still ammonia so perhaps I'm getting somewhere with this. I haven't tested the bigger tank recently but I'll maybe do it tonight and see what's happening. 

I don't know whether I want to raise my pH or not, I've been told that it's better not to mess with it. My fish seem to be doing okay, plants are growing (slowly, but they're not dying) and I'm not having any major problems. 

Where would I get crushed coral?


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## NorthernLights (Mar 2, 2012)

You can get a bag of Aragonite sand from Amazon.co.uk for about 15 pounds sterling. You can also get it are larger pet stores with a sizable fish section, as well as some local fish stores.

I struggled to cycle my tank for a long time, tried all kinds of things. After I added the Aragonite, my tank cycled in two weeks flat.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

NorthernLights, I’ll look into getting some crushed coral at some point  

A little update: 

The other day I was at the pet store (buying more plants, as always lol) and saw the cutest little endlers ever. As far as I could tell, they were all males and varied quite considerably in size. I think on average they were about half length of my younger betta - the one that’s looking for tank mates - maybe a little smaller. They moved really fast and were very colourful and healthy looking! There was this one that was _tiny_ and I really liked him, but obviously I didn’t buy him. 

*I was wondering, would endlers make good tank mates for a betta?*

Feeding would not be a problem as the baby gets mostly frozen foods. I occasionally cut up a pellet or two for him, but he doesn’t really eat them unless he’s extremely hungry. He gets a mix of bloodworms, brine shrimp, cyclops and daphnia all stirred up together in a little container of tank water. However, he usually only goes for the bloodworms and brine shrimp which are much bigger than the other two, so the endlers would easily be able to eat the cyclops and daphnia. Obviously they could have the pellets too since he usually doesn’t touch them. There’s plenty of plants to hide in, and there are some areas of the tank where Perseus rarely goes: he prefers the front, center and the left side of the tank and rarely spends much time up the back or on the right side where the heater, filter and huge java ferns are. I could get two to start with and see how it goes, and if he doesn’t bother them too much I could possibly increase the numbers a little to make them feel more comfortable. Does this sound like a good plan?


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## NorthernLights (Mar 2, 2012)

Unfortunately, I do not think that is a good plan. Endler's livebearers need a bigger tank than you have. The sad truth is that very few creatures can live happily in a 5 gallon. At best, you might be able to get away with 6 habrosus corys, but that's about it when it comes to fish.

I strongly suggest you reconsider a mystery snail. They are very active, and fun to to watch. They also will be happy in a 5 gallon tank with a betta, assuming the betta is happy with the snail.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

It's just my opinion, but you could easily have five or six Endlers in a five gallon. I've had them for quite a while and that number would be what I'd do. They also don't have much bioload. When you have a planted tank you can do a lot more with tankmates than you can with one that's not. With Endlers, for instance, they don't zip, zip, zip in a tank such as yours but are more casual in their swimming.

When I rescape it takes two days. Day One I remove plants and let anything I've stirred up settle. Day Two I vacuum, water change and replant. I've noticed the Dwarf Panda Guppies, Endlers, Ember Tetras and Neons are much more frenzied in their swimming when most of the plants are gone and settle right back down as soon as I replant.

I feed my Endlers Hikari Fancy Guppy Food which the Betta apparently find too small to mess with.


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

A little update: 

I know it's been a while since I've posted this thread, but I thought it may be worthwhile to let you guys know how the whole tank mate business is going. 

In light of recent events, Perseus is not getting tank mates. Maybe shrimp or snails at some point, but definitely no fish of any kind. I got a group of platies which have been floating in his tank for the past couple of days (heater for their tank hasn't came though and I couldn't pass by the beauties! D and he really doesn't like the other fish being in his tank. Although he doesn't come directly into any contact with them and isn't aggressive towards them (no flaring or anything), he's quite stressed out by their presence. He stays at the back of the tank most of the time, just swimming from one end to the other. He's also not been eating as much as he should, which is quite concerning. The platies will be moved sometime this week once the heater comes in, hopefully Perseus will calm down a little after that. 

So yeah, no endlers for me lol


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