Sometime in the near future, I am planning on buying a Top Fin 5.5 gallon set up from Petsmart for my betta, Rupert, that I bought on a whim a few weeks ago. I feel so bad seeing him in a one gallon. :( I want to use live plants for the first time and I would like to know what would be best to start out with and how to plant them. It would also be great if I could get some suggestions for fish and what not that I can stock in my tank. I would like to try something new. In another tank, I have dojo loaches, a mystery snail, bamboo shrimp, and ghost shrimp.

Thanks,
Kaycee :D

Good starter plants are low light plants, mosses, java fern, anubias, anarchis, just to name a few. If you are looking for other fish to add with your betta, please be careful. Do not choose any bright fish, as the betta will see them as a threat. Also be careful not to overstock, as not very many fish can go into a 5.5 gallon tank. Maybe a small school of corydora catfish would work for you?

__________________
"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

So I ended up buying the tank today. I have it going through a fishless cycle. About how long do you think this will take? I added some Nutrafin biological aquarium supplement that came with the kit.

My other tank is overstocked and I was wondering if maybe I should take the bamboo shrimp and put them in the new tank or if I should separate them. (Sometimes they get fussy when they are near each other and push each other out of the way.) Also, I wouldn't mind the mystery snail going in the new one too. Would the snail and bamboo shrimp be better off in the new tank that will be planted in the future or the old one with no plants?

Is the lighting in the Top Fin kit from Petsmart good enough to grow plants or should I eventually upgrade? If so, to what?

How many corydoras or otos could I Have in this tank with a betta?

We would need to know the rating for the lights on the kit to know if plants will grow in it. Honestly I wouldn't put any other fish in a 5.5 gallon with your betta, it is just to small. If you want something else in the tank with your beta I suggest a snail, but that also depends on your bettas aggressiveness.

__________________

I think I am just going to put the bamboo shrimp in the new tank when it establishes a little more. Someone gave them to me as a gift without doing any research. I didn't even know what they were when I got them. They are getting huge though and my loaches like to smack them around with their tails.