Best 5 Gallon Tank?

Real quick....(yeah right LOL)....

I suggest watching some youtube videos by this lady Life With Pets who caters to Betta care.

She has many including substrates, startup from scratch, fake or live plants etc.

How to set up a Betta Fish Tank

You can't go wrong with this PETSMART kit on sale right now. $30.00 Easy and cheap to replace the filter with a sponge and air pump if necessary. You only need a heater and decorations and thermometer. And PRIME conditioner $6.00

You don't need any fancy substrate for fake plants, either so it's cheap. BUT you have to buy "silk" fake plants because the plastic damages their fins. And they LOVE live plants and they're better for your water parameters and the fish's health.

• 5.5 Gallon Glass tank with hood

• Bright White LED

• Thermometer

• 4 in Nylon Net

• Water test Vial

• Top Fin Silentstream 10 Power Filter with cartridge instruction Manual

Top Fin® Essentials Aquarium Starter Kit | fish Starter Kits

If you replace the filter it's only around $12.00 for the air pump and sponge filter. I think you should go get a whisper air pump for 10 gallon tank and see if the noise bothers you depending on where you place it.

If you want live plants you don't want to use the kit filter cartridge with the carbon so you replace it with a little piece of coarse sponge.

Petco, Yes I mean the Aqueon 5.5. It's $13.99. The lid would be either a glass Versa Top $20.00 then you need the light....or a full hood including the light $38.00 right now on Amazon but I didn't price shop it.



So say, $50.00 for tank, light, hood.

You can do it under 100.00 I'll build one for you later on after work LOL.

But the black rI'm is definitely not as nice looking as rimless - all depends on your personality.

 

Hmm, I do like that Penn Plax, but the more I look around at these special brands you can't find in stores I'm realizing you're really only paying more for the "look".

The petco tanks are...meh. The only brand I like is Aqueon there. They only really give you two choices. It's Imagitarium or Aqueon. My 10 gallon is an Aqueon LED kit. The basic filter they gave me, still works, and has such low flow I did at one point keep a betta in it no problem. I DO have the room for another 10 gallon, but I'd rather not have two 10 gallons to deal with and I'd rather not pay more money than I have to. I'm kind of on a budget.

I'm thinking my best bet is to buy the Aqueon 5.5 gallon kit. It has a good filter (and if it's too strong I'll just keep it as a backup filter and buy a different one) and is the same quality tank that Petco sells separate.

By the time I buy the tank, the hood, filter, heater, so on...so on. Gonna be well over $100. While if I get the kit, I only have to buy the heater because it includes the lighting, the filter, so on. I already have food, water conditioner, so on. I have an entire cabinet filled with supplies and various foods.

So for me I have a few options.

"Build" my own tank. Which will cost me well over $120. Which is fine, I just don't think it's really worth it.

Buy the 5.5 gallon kit, which is around $53 for the kit, and another $10 once I get the heater. Already have substrate but will likely buy new substrate. That is around $70 before fish which will be around $90 and I'm done. Not counting any plants, extras, so on I decide to get, but this still seems cheaper.

I could also order one off amazon, but my issue is that all these tanks serve basically the same purpose as the ones in store. The MarineLand I wanted, upon further inspection, has a flimsy lid, and has a light that is "too bright". Another lady said the filter HAS to be modified for a betta and as you mentioned, it is tall instead of wide. Which, I did notice and think about.

So I find little issues with every tank kit I'm looking at, which you mentioned.

So might as well buy the cheapest kit that has no major issues, and build off that.

Just a thing about the Marineland. Not sure where you have seen that it has a flimsy lid, but the lid is glass, as thick as the rest of the tank. I would definitely not call it flimsy (unless we are talking about the filter lid which is plastic). The only modification needed on the filter is to add a sponge on the outflow. This is something you should prepare for if you decide to get a kit, as you might have this issue with many aquarium kits (including fluval, not sure about Aqueon since I'm not sure which tank you are getting).

You mentioned being on a budget, therefore not wanting another 10g. Honestly, if I were you I would still go with the 10g. Smaller does not necessarily mean cheaper. There are many 10 gallon tanks that are way cheaper than the Marineland 5g. I have over half of a bag of left over substrate, and I've realized now that I have the 5 gallon that economically a 10 gallon would have made more sense and my fish would have had a larger tank (and regular maintenance would have been so much easier). I know I had found a 10 gallon kit that included a heater and was cheaper than the Marineland (which I didn't buy on sale though so I guess it was around 100$). Can't remember which kit it was though, maybe aqueon?

I honestly think that in terms of kits, they are all pretty much the same as you say. Pick something that you like the looks of and that seems hardy enough. If you really dislike an element of the kit, you can always replace it afterwards.

 

Just a thing about the Marineland. Not sure where you have seen that it has a flimsy lid, but the lid is glass, as thick as the rest of the tank. I would definitely not call it flimsy (unless we are talking about the filter lid which is plastic). The only modification needed on the filter is to add a sponge on the outflow. This is something you should prepare for if you decide to get a kit, as you might have this issue with many aquarium kits (including fluval, not sure about Aqueon since I'm not sure which tank you are getting).

You mentioned being on a budget, therefore not wanting another 10g. Honestly, if I were you I would still go with the 10g. Smaller does not necessarily mean cheaper. There are many 10 gallon tanks that are way cheaper than the Marineland 5g. I have over half of a bag of left over substrate, and I've realized now that I have the 5 gallon that economically a 10 gallon would have made more sense and my fish would have had a larger tank (and regular maintenance would have been so much easier). I know I had found a 10 gallon kit that included a heater and was cheaper than the Marineland (which I didn't buy on sale though so I guess it was around 100$). Can't remember which kit it was though, maybe aqueon?

I honestly think that in terms of kits, they are all pretty much the same as you say. Pick something that you like the looks of and that seems hardy enough. If you really dislike an element of the kit, you can always replace it afterwards.

Well the lid is a slide on lid, and according to a few users off Amazon it "wobbles"? Unsure what they meant, I'm just going off their review on it.

However I'm realizing that the pet store is my better bet. I just need to see if I have the room for another 10 g. I can probably make the room though...

 

Yeah I think it's always better to buy it in person if you can and if it makes sense financially! Like that no bad surprises, you really know what you are getting.