FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I just bought a five gal yesterday, and am putting my betta in it. But when he passes on:#((I've had him for a while), I was wondering what I could put in. I was thinking of something easy, and fun, so I thought goldfish. I know they can get VERY big, but I was wondering if there are some kinds that don't get that big. I was thinking fantails. I read the small tank article, and it didn't say goldfish, but I figured I would ask anyway.

Never keep a Goldfish in a 5 gal. tank.
You can get another beautiful Betta, after the one you have pass away.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

*sigh* I thought so:#( thanks for the help

betta's are beautiful. You sound like a good betta keeper if yours is quite old. I am sure you will get just as attached to your new one although no little finned friend is completely replaceable.

Good for you for doing the research...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

wish-ga: thanks, I just pay alot of attention to him, and he's in my room so I can make sure he's always fine!
Bettas are beautiful, and have PLENTY of personality!! I was just looking at goldfish because I was told that they were interesting also, and are something different from my normal, dainty tropicals! I always do research on any fish before I get one, and I was reading about goldfish, and realized that they get WAy too big! But, since there are many professionals on this site, I figured that maybe someone would tell me the truth about goldfish!(there seems to be MANY conflicting facts about goldfish! one site told me they need 2 gals each, another 20!)Thanks anyway for the input, it is deffinetly not worth putting a fish at risk!!

there are no goldfish that stay small, but there are paradice fish that are related to the betta and have very sim needs, that live in coldwater, and stay small.

It says the get 10cm?

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Yep paradise fish get way too big for a 5 gallon tank. They are usually recommended for a bare minimum of 10-15 gallons. If you like bettas and are interested in more of a challenge or something different, how about one of the wild type betta species out there? You can keep a small group of many of them in aa 5 gallon tank and they are very cool. They are a bit more challenging but well worth it if you're up for it. They aren't actually coldwater though so you will need a heater.

Male guppies or endlers livebearers are nice too, IMO they don't have the personality that you seem to be looking for though.

Yeah, I was going to put guppies in a 10 that I have, after the other fish are moved to a 50.....so, I didn't want more in my 5!!
I deffinetly want personality, and am up for a challenge, so wild bettas seem to be a good choice. The problem is that I can't seem to find any ANYWHERE, LPS, LFS....nothing!!!so, I guess I'm stuck with betta splendens
I probably shoudn't be asking this here, but could I put shrimp or a snail with my betta? It might add some intrest to the tank

You could have a snail, ghost shrimp, adf or maybe one each with your betta.

If you want to keep more than one fish in the tank, divide it into 2 sections and put a betta boy on each side, or you could go and put 2-3 betta babes in the tank, depending on their personalities heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

yeah...there's alot to think about
thanks all, and if I can't find wild bettas, then I'll just keep one boy.

you could keep a few female bettas in there if you want, as long as the ones you get aren't too nasty and bad tempered. Females are really cool, they don't have the huge finnage of males but their colours are really nice anmd they seem to have more personality than grumpy males do. Most bettas will not eat shrimp or snails but some do so if you add any just keep an eye on them.

If you want to keep more than one fish a few other ideas are dwarf puffers, cherry barbs, small killifish, african dwarf frogs (not actually fish ), pygmy corydoras, N. brevis shelldwellers..... A small shoal of pygmy corydoras can be kept safely with a betta in a 5 gallon tank, just remember that they are very sensitive and water quality needs to be really pristine. They also like a heavily planted tank. If you are interested in going brackish, bumblebee gobies are very cool.

There are a lot of options for small tanks. Just keep in mind that the smaller the tank the more work it will be to maintin and keep stable.

Depending on the betta it may eat your shrimp. An ADF is another option.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean