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Well, I was going to do a cherry shrimp tank but changed my mind as people said my 5 gallon hex was not big enough and etc.
So, I planted the 5 gallon with alot of nice real plants and decor and bought my first betta. He is gorgeous!
Fire engine red with HUGE fins! He caught my eye at the fish store as he was very active and seemed to be asking me to bring him home.. LOL
He is loving his BIG home. Well, 5 gallons to him is BIG. He was in a lil bowl.
He has alot of personality already and seems to enjoy having me watch him.
One funny and weird or maybe not weird but I think so is that I put this lil ceramic sea turtle in the tank and betta loves it! He goes down and swims around it and pecks at it and seems to think its alive. Very odd.
Anyways, I tried frozen Brine with him and a no go. I gave him some of those betta pellets by Hackai (sp?) and he ate up. He is neat.

Not now but later I will need a bottom cleaner. What can I put in with him thats small and eats the bottom leftovers? I thought a lil cory but I hear corys like to be in groups and I havent enough room. Any bottom feeding fish that will be ok as one

Thanks

Congrats on your new betta! Most of the bettas I have had also loved the Hikari betta food. Try blood worms, that is a big hit! Make sure with the frozen/live type foods that leftovers are removed from the tank. They will foul the water pretty quickly.

As to a bottom cleaner, maybe a few ghost shrimps? Check that with someone else before you do it...but I think they'd be ok... Not sure what else you could use but it is a small enough tank that it shouldn't be too much trouble for you to do lots of gravel vacs/ water changes to keep his tank nice without a bottom feeder.

What kind of plants did you use for him?

Good luck!

Congrats, sounds like a nice betta!

A 5g isn't large enough for any sort of plec; cories and loaches like to be in groups.

You could try ghost shrimp but some bettas use them as snacks

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I will try the ghost shrimp. See how it goes.

I am a lil freaked out by this fish. He seems to enjoy watching me. I have the tank on a stand near my big char and when I am sitting here the lil guy comes to the front of the tank and stares at me.

He also learned very quickly when I am going to feed him and comes to be fed.

Never had a fish like this. Is this typical?

Is it typical? No betta is typical! They are all individuals. I have had bettas that followed me as I walked past their tank, flairing their gills like they wanted to kill me. Then I have one betta right now who is so nervous, when I drop food into his tank he darts to the bottom and hides until I leave. Seems like you are good entertainment for your betta. Enjoy him!

I am having a great time with the Betta. I havent named him yet. He has become my favorite fish. Talk about personality. He is very animated and enjoys interaction.

I have a question. I have been experimenting with several fish foods to see what he likes. So far he dosent like brine shimp or tubifex worms. He does LOVE the Hikari pellets and also those tiny lil freeze dried shrimp things.
The Hikari says to feed only a couple pellets 2 or 3 times a day. The pellets are microscopic and I give him the 3 pellets, he eats them right up and wants more. If I dont give more he gets mad and swims back and forth rapidly.
Is 3 miniscule pellets enough for him?

Anyways, glad I got him. He is way cool.

If it is the betta bio-gold,I generally feed 5 at a time, but I only feed once a day. If you are feeding morning and night, 3 at a go is fine.

I fed 12 once. went down and then came straight back up again. Never knew fish could regurgitate!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

As for different foods, it sometimes takes a while for bettas to realize that there's food that looks different than pellets. I assume most bettas have been fed pellets for so long that they don't really remember anything else.

Most bettas won't accept flake food, but with enough persistance, they'll eat it. Try mixing a pellet or two with a tiny bit of another food so that he realizes both are food. Bloodworms are a good thing to try... both frozen and freeze dried.

For buddies, maybe a snail if the shrimp don't work out? Not sure which would be the best bet. Pest snails shouldn't get out of hand if you don't overfeed, but if not, I'm not sure about an apple snail or mystery snail. I think it's the apple snail that's not asexual, but not sure on mystery snails. Just a thought if the shrimp don't work out... Shrimp are awesome if they do work out!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~