5 Gallon Planted Tank With Betta (Fluval Chi)

Hi, I'm new to fish and aquatic planting but am addicted already! Relieved I found this forum. I just need advice please. A lot of it, actually. The 3 different pet store staff I visit almost daily are probably sick of my questions lol!

It all started out with my 4 year old daughter wanting a pet. I said a small fish kit would be okay for now until we move next year. Bought a betta, 1 gallon tank and food and we were happy and it looked happy! 2 months later it died. Out of all of us, it was me looking online why it died and what went wrong - apparently, we did everything wrong. Why don't pet stores tell you this when purchasing the bare minimum for a Betta?

Anyway, I learned why it died and went out decided to do things right. I went out and spent over $200 already on a Fluval Chi, plants, heater, soil, and even the betta. Again, the store did not tell me about the nitrate cycle and now this poor betta has to live through the nitrifying process (we are on day 10).

I have a few anubias, some Japanese hairgrass, some moss balls, a small driftwood, parvae. These were all from already established aquariums. I have Fluorite black soil in and am awaiting my shipment of pretty white Fluval gravel to lay over the soil. I haven't yet figured out how I will design/arrange the tank but I want my plants and betta to live so I just planted everything in there for now so that we can establish the tank while waiting on the nitrifying cycle, rocks and design.

It's been about 10 days in to the nitrifying cycle and I'm excited to take the water in to my aquarium store to get it tested tomorrow to see where I am.

Specs
- doing about 10% water changes every 3-4 days
- Flourish Excel
- Dr. Tim's Nitrifying Bacterium
- Using drinking water system water with added minerals at pH7 (Kinetico water system)
- Fluval heater at 80 degrees

Here are my million questions:

1. The rocks I'm awaiting delivery for are white. I was told to get an otocinclus, or a nerite snail, or both to keep them white due to algae growth. Will these fish be crowded? Is algae growth inevitable?

2. Do I need to get an air pump? I've never owned one but read up on getting a quiet one. which brands are best for a small tank like mine? Will having one eliminate algae growth? If so, will my otocinclus die due to no algae to eat?

3. I was told my fluval chI tank filter is not a good one but was told by others that it should be fine as long as I clean my filters out very often. If I clean the filter every week or less, is it okay to keep the Fluval ChI filter or should I just get a different kind?


Any information is greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to Fishlore

Pet stores/fish stores won't tell you about the ideal tank sizes for fish or about the nitrogen cycle because they either lack the knowledge or even if they do have the knowledge, telling you what the start up costs and time/effort it takes to cycle a tank would probably drive most customers away. That's something stores will definitely not want. You have to remember, they are a business first.

Do you own a test kit? Most of us here use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Again, I wouldn't rely on the store to test your water since most likely, they'll tell you it's fine anyway. You'll know when you're cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and some nitrates. I'd get the liquid test kit mentioned and post your results so we can determine how your cycle is progressing.

As for your questions,

1. Otos are not suitable for a 5g. They're a shoaling species and need a 20 gallon minimum. You can add a small nerite or two (horned nerites) but that's about it. 5 gallon would be too small to add any other fish. They will eat some brown algae but they won't keep the white gravel white since they spend most of their time eating algae on plants or on the glass. Honestly, I think you'll soon find it will be nearly impossible to keep the white gravel looking white over time.

2. No, you don't need an air pump and your betta would probably not appreciate all the current and flow from it. They usually like slow moving waters.

3. You only need to rinse the filter media with each water change in removed tank water or dechlorinated tap water. Rinsing them in straight tap water would kill off the beneficial bacteria that is mostly residing there. I'm not familiar with the filter unit itself but I would think it's just fine. Others with the same tank could chime in on that.

Any reason you're using the drinking water? I'm not familiar with that water system you mentioned but tap water would be fine since it already has the necessary minerals. You just add a dechlorinator (Seachem Prime is an excellent one since it detoxes ammonia and nitrite as well) to treat the new water added in.

 

1. I wouldn't do an oto, they need a group of six so that wouldn't work. A snail or shrimp(depending on your betta) would be good though.
2. No, you don't need one. I stopped using my air pump because it made the water move to fast for my betta. It doesn't stop algae growth.
3. I don't know anything about Te fluval filter though...
do you have a liquid test kit? Glad to see you here and taking good care of your fish!

 

The water here is very hard so we had installed a water system. It's on some osmosis thing rather than electric. Because it works so well, it removes a lot of 5he minerals in the water. We have a separate drinking water tap where the minerals are added back in to the water which I use for my coffee, kettle, vegetable washing, boiling and now, my planted tank/betta.

I'm going out now to my gym and then to the store to get the API master kit and to look at more plants.

Is there a way to clean white gravel while sustaining a nano cube like this? Will removing the gravel strictly to clean it disturb life in there or is there some machine or tincture help this? If there is none, why would they sell white gravel...sorry for so many questions, just trying to understand this new hobby

I do prime my water with a dechlorinator.

As for the oto, I saw what's called a zebra Oto x 2 in 5 gallon with a betta in a store. They appear to be ok and when I asked the store staff, they said they are fine
Are zebra Oto the same as regular oto where they need to be in groups? The tank I saw had 2 with a single betta and they seem to be living happily together.

Thank you for the welcome. I'm so grateful to have found a place to look for proper answers!!

 

Not sure about the fish here, BUT, as far as cleaning gravel I use a gravel vac in my 10g. I try not to disturb the gravel but only suction a bit off the top layer to get any fish waste.

Maybe the below youtube video can help a bit with what I'm trying to explain here. It's short and to the point:

 

Stores sell all types of substrates to give the consumer options. Any light colored substrate will darken over time whether it be gravel or sand. Some people care and others don't. I don't know of any way to retain the white color. I think you'll want to go with a darker substrate if you don't want to deal with it. Removing it and cleaning it is just going to be too much work every time and you may cause yourself to hit a cycle bump.

No, those zebra otos don't work either. Just because the store has it in their tank doesn't mean it's okay. And most of the fish are in there temporarily until they're sold or die. They're not temp compatible anyway with the betta.

 

Wow I had no idea you should swish the soil around. Thank you for the video. I'm currently doing the turkey baster thing.

El337: I think I will just not use the gravel and leave the black flourite sand I got in there. You guys are great!!!

 

API Master Results

So I bought the API Master kit and here are the results:

pH 7.4 (is this dangerous for my fish?)
ammonia 00
nitrite 00
nitrate 00

so I have my rocks. is it okay to empty the water, keep betta in a cup, scape my tank and then re-add the water after or does the water get too acidic from being away from the plants and betta for a while?

anyone know?

 

Welcome to the forum
I have a fluval chI as well, I would buy a new filter. Mine stopped working after a few months, so I just have the light for now. Sponge filters are best for small tanks. You can find them on ebay for around $4 with free shipping.
Don't bother taking your betta out when you rescape it. Just empty out 50% of the water, rescape everything being careful not to crush the betta, and then add new water. Taking him out is very stressful, it would be best to leave him.
I would pick up a bottle of TSS(tetra safe start) to cycle the tank. It speeds it up the cycle to 14 days if done properly. Do a water change, wait 24 hours, dump the whole bottle in, wait 2 weeks and then test the water. When cycled you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and less than 20 nitrate.
I recommend Seachem Prime as your water conditioner, it detoxifies chloramines, chlorine, ammonia and nitrites for 24 hours.
Some good low light plants are crypts, java fern, java moss, and anubias.
Post pictures once your done!

 

Your numbers look fine, even your pH so don't try to change it. Were you banging nitrate bottle #2 really hard against your palm or against the counter and then shaking it for a good 30 seconds before adding it to the tube? Just making sure since normally you do want some nitrates. You do have plants so they could be absorbing some.

Did you mean adding the same water that was removed back to the tank? Have you tested the pH of the filtered water?

 

wow great idea on 50%! thank you so much!!!! yep have a bunch of plants in there already but am planning to trim the anubias tonight and attach to some of the rocks and maybe the little driftwood I have in there!

I'm just a little scared the betta might get scare with me handling things around right in front of him and the soil making the water pitch black for him.

Will try that

 

Your numbers look fine, even your pH so don't try to change it. Were you banging nitrate bottle #2 really hard against your palm or against the counter and then shaking it for a good 30 seconds before adding it to the tube? Just making sure since normally you do want some nitrates. You do have plants so they could be absorbing some.

Did you mean adding the same water that was removed back to the tank? Have you tested the pH of the filtered water?

Your numbers look fine, even your pH so don't try to change it. Were you banging nitrate bottle #2 really hard against your palm or against the counter and then shaking it for a good 30 seconds before adding it to the tube? Just making sure since normally you do want some nitrates. You do have plants so they could be absorbing some.

Did you mean adding the same water that was removed back to the tank? Have you tested the pH of the filtered water?

yes I shook the nitrate bottle #2 vigorously for 30 seconds before adding and then shook vigorously for another minute and waited the full 5 minutes for the final result

before buying the master kit today, I'd already had a ph kit. the filtered water was always at 7.4. so it looks like after doing it again, today, with the apI master kit, it is the same

now to figure out how to scape this thing!

i'm so excited lol

 

You do have plants so they could be absorbing some.

Did you mean adding the same water that was removed back to the tank?

so having no nitrates is no good? and yes I meant adding the same water. I was just going to put the water in a bucket and add it back to the tank when I was done.

 

Usually in a cycled tank, you see some nitrates because that is the last stage of the nitrogen cycle. However, if you are lightly stocked and/or heavily planted you may not see any at all.