5g tank setup.

23 15:42:27

Question

tank o' hazeldine hello!
i recently set up a 5g tank for my office (see attached image), and i am loving the process of figuring out all of the details (tank cycling, live plants, etc). i have had my betta in there solo for a couple of months while everything stabilized, but am now thinking of adding some tank mates. could you look over my thought processes to see if there is anything you would change/recommend?
1. since the tank is more tall than wide, there is not as much water flow/filter reaching capacity at the bottom, so i was thinking of adding some ghost shrimp to scavenge the plant/food debris.
2. some otto's to help control algae would be grand (snails would be good too, but the tank doesn't have a lid and my water is incredibly soft), plus i figure they would like all of the mopani wood.
3. i really like the idea of having a small set of schooling fish to add a little punch to things, but don't want to overcrowd the tank. if, say, i went with adding a couple otto's and a few ghost shrimp, would 5 or so neon tetras put too much strain on things? there are lots of great nooks and crannies with the mopani and anubias being in the middle of everything, so it seems that it could help to de-escalate any possible territorial problems with the betta.
any advice you could give would be very much appreciated.
thanks so much.

charlie

Answer
Hi Charlie,
You have a great set going on there. I think you have thought this out very well. Ghost shrimp would be perfect for the scavenger duty as well as adding some interest to the lower deeper portions of the tank.

Ottos are perfect for small aquariums such as yours. They are very peaceful and few fish bother them (Except those that can eat them of course) their only drawback is they can be a bit delicate when first added to a new environment. Finding the healthiest individuals you can and acclimating them through a slow drip process will help lower the chances of fish loss.

Neon tetras are great little jewels for small aquariums and I don't see why a small group would be a bad idea to add. Now, one thing is your betta -may- be the overly territorial type where he may chase and pester the tetras constantly and keep them cowering and too frightened to feed. Or he may be the gentle but curious type who may take an exploratory nip or two but otherwise leaves the neons be. There's no way to really tell this and its a risk you take. Now if your betta is always fired up and ready to nip human fingers like some individuals are... then you kind of know what to expect out of him.

You can definitely try it. But make sure to have a plan B if things don't turn out.

All the species we've discussed here all produce a very low bioload and shouldn't put a big strain on your aquarium. It shouldn't be anything once or twice a week water changes of 30-50% can't manage. And the aquatic plants also further as nitrate absorbers.

I really hope this helps!
A very interesting and unique aquarium you have there, thanks for the pic!
Karen~

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5g tank setup.

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