Joel, I thought the platy had been in a smaller bowl or tank & 5g was new but I may have misunderstood... & well, the way Steve cleaned the heck out of everything every week or so I'm not sure how "established" it was especially after the death of his platy...
Steve, does the betta's current home have a filter on it? Joel is right, if it's been on the tank/bowl for a while it maybe cycled & you can just move it to the 5g & be good to go...unless you replaced the filter media recently or otherwise cleaned the tank heavily (it sounded to me like you may have). What do your test strips says about that tank? there should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite & say, 5-20ppm nitrate. (another cheapness hint: you can cut the strips in half the long way & get twice as many tests!)
What kind of filter do you have? Pics?
Do you have substrate in the smaller tank? That also has beneficial bacteria all over it, it doesn't get vacuumed out no matter how vigorously you do it. & even if you want a different kind in your 5g you can still use some of that old substrate to help cycle the new 5g. Use a part of panty hose (from $1 store or mart) or other porous media to contain some old substrate if it's different from the new tank's. Either add it to the filter if there's room or near the filter return, it can help seed you new tank. If you bleached the substrate after the platy's death, skip all this. I should have thought of these easy steps but I didn't, I'm sorry. This is another reason sites like AC can really help, extra eyes can see different things to help.
Steve, why do you want or need to clean your plants & ornaments so often? If there is an ornament that doesn't allow water to move through it (like a castle with turret without holes near the top) I'd either try to carefully! drill holes or remove it. Stagnant water is not good. A little "patina" can help soften the look of stark white ornaments & is another place for microfilm of good bacteria, microfauna etc to form. This is good thing & part of a healthy tank. If you must do it, do each on a different weeks, than back OR sides of the tank, not all at one go. Even once/month seems, well, like a lot to a slacker like me. I never clean the back glass, rocks or wood except to remove moss that has taken over (I'm on a many years long moss hate, lol).
Oh, & we love to see pics! They can also help us to help you, but really, we just like pics, lol.
Steve, does the betta's current home have a filter on it? Joel is right, if it's been on the tank/bowl for a while it maybe cycled & you can just move it to the 5g & be good to go...unless you replaced the filter media recently or otherwise cleaned the tank heavily (it sounded to me like you may have). What do your test strips says about that tank? there should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite & say, 5-20ppm nitrate. (another cheapness hint: you can cut the strips in half the long way & get twice as many tests!)
What kind of filter do you have? Pics?
Do you have substrate in the smaller tank? That also has beneficial bacteria all over it, it doesn't get vacuumed out no matter how vigorously you do it. & even if you want a different kind in your 5g you can still use some of that old substrate to help cycle the new 5g. Use a part of panty hose (from $1 store or mart) or other porous media to contain some old substrate if it's different from the new tank's. Either add it to the filter if there's room or near the filter return, it can help seed you new tank. If you bleached the substrate after the platy's death, skip all this. I should have thought of these easy steps but I didn't, I'm sorry. This is another reason sites like AC can really help, extra eyes can see different things to help.
Steve, why do you want or need to clean your plants & ornaments so often? If there is an ornament that doesn't allow water to move through it (like a castle with turret without holes near the top) I'd either try to carefully! drill holes or remove it. Stagnant water is not good. A little "patina" can help soften the look of stark white ornaments & is another place for microfilm of good bacteria, microfauna etc to form. This is good thing & part of a healthy tank. If you must do it, do each on a different weeks, than back OR sides of the tank, not all at one go. Even once/month seems, well, like a lot to a slacker like me. I never clean the back glass, rocks or wood except to remove moss that has taken over (I'm on a many years long moss hate, lol).
Oh, & we love to see pics! They can also help us to help you, but really, we just like pics, lol.
live plants can't do that & would add a different color of green (nudge, nag, lol). A dark background (even part of a trash bag) will help hide the filter & cord. Try it out, the contrast with the wall color will help show off your fish more.