10 Best 5 Gallon Fish Tank

Best 5 Gallon Fish Tank in 2023

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Bringing Home Your First Betta Fish

Betta splendens is a beautiful fish with long, flowing fins. With it's timeless popularity, numerous breeding programs have produced truly amazing color and fin varieties.

It is also a relatively hardy and easy-to-keep fish. It is in a group of fish called the anabantoids (this group also includes gouramis and paradise fish). These fish all have an accessory organ called a "labyrinth" in addition to their gills, which allow them to breath air directly from the surface in addition to that which is dissolved in the water. It does mean that they can tolerate a bit more pollution than other fish temporarily, but they should be given fresh, clean water.

Many people see bettas in tiny bowls barely a cup in volume, and come to believe that they actually like it this way. Some people will also have heard that bettas in Nature come from tiny muddy pools of water, making it sound like these little bowls may actually be an improvement on their natural habitat.

This is not really the whole truth; actually, these fish are from SE Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam, etc.) rice paddies, and their labyrinth is mainly an adaptation for dealing with cramped living quarters before the monsoon season when a lot of their natural range will have dried up. However, this is not meant to be a long-term adaptation to years and years in a tiny volume of water in a closed system.

Bettas appreciate clean water and room to swim just like any other fish, though they do not need a huge tank like others, because they are not "power swimmers". For a single betta, I would recommend something on the order of a 2-10 gallon tank. Here is an example of a nice setup I made for my own betta:

Because of their relatively slow metabolism and slow swimming, they are vulnerable to diseases when the water gets too stagnant. For this reason, I recommend a gentle-current filter, such as a very small sponge filter made for a tiny tank or a hang-on-the-back (smallest model) filter for a 5-10 gallon tank. They can be kept without filters, however this requires that you be especially diligent about doing 25%-by-volume water changes at least every week, if not every 2-3 days. If a filter is used, water changes can be done every 1-2 weeks in a 5-10 gallon tank. Their long fins can otherwise be easy targets for diseases like bacteria and fungus if water quality is not kept high, so test your water often.

They can also survive in the short term without a heater in the summer, but in the long term, I do advise that they have a heater in the fall and winter when room temperatures can change, because they are tropical fish. When temperatures fall below 72 degrees, their metabolism drops off substantially, and this is a stress on their immune system. To reduce the risk of disease, I recommend even a small heater for something of a 2 gallon tank size. There are very small ones made by companies such as Visitherm, and if you cannot find them in your LFS, you can try online places like eBay and Aquabid, or some of the many Online Retailers of Fish Supplies listed in the links section.

For the above reasons, I am personally not a fan of "betta vases" and tiny container kits such as Aquababies, because they do not allow for filtration/heat, and are not made with the fish's health in mind. I consider them mostly gimmicky items that strive to show the betta's beauty but without considering them as animals with needs of their own.

Bettas do not make the best community tank fish. They can be outcompeted for food by faster swimming fish, and sometimes their long, trailing fins become easy targets for nippy fish (some barbs, danios and tetras especially). They can also be aggressive. Never keep two males together, because they will fight until one dies; females (less often available and not as attractive, but you can find them in some LFS) and a male may be kept together with caution in a 5-10 gallon tank which is well-planted, but they may still fight and cause each other great injury. Bettas will occasionally also display aggression to very brightly colored and red fish such as platies, if they believe them to be another male betta threat. For this reason, males are best kept by themselves, or only with very different-looking and peaceful fish, such as small bottom feeders (corydoras catfish, kuhli loaches) and ghost shrimp.

The interesting behavior of these unique fish can be brought out with some simple tricks. One is to place a mirror on the outside of the tank. The male betta will see it and think it is another male, causing him to display his finnage in all its glory, and "gill flare" at his reflection in an attempt to intimidate the competition. Male bettas will also build bubble nests when they are happy. They do this by blowing bubbles that stick together with their own saliva. They can be encouraged to do so when there is no heavy bubbling and aggitation in the tank, and cover by some floating plants such as duckweed. They should, however, still be given some gentle circulation and uncovered area on the surface to come up for air.

Bettas should be fed a good variety of foods, doing best with types like small shrimp pellets and "betta bites" as a staple. They will readily accept treats such as live/frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, but as with any fish, must be fed with great moderation. Overfeeding in a smaller tank is many times worse than overfeeding in a large tank, as smaller tanks accumulate pollution much faster.

Bettas are truly gorgeous pets that can have interesting "personalities". Take care of yours, and you will be rewarded for many years with a low-maintenance and worry-free pet!