Need Help. 4 goldfish and a 5g tank.. :(

Well I was thinking of buying my own 15g or 20g tank for the bettas and tetras. I want atleast 2 bettas. I would like atleast 1 male I know I can't have 2 males. Would a female be okay? Should I seperate them with a tank seperator first and see how they react? I also want other fish like neons or mickey mouses. Maybe a pleco. Can you have Loaches with them?
 
I got a full test kit today (the glass tube ones). We did a test on everything just to see how they all work. I know the Nitrites and Nitrate levels probably wont be going up for a month or so. The Ammonia level is a bit high, we are going to do a 50% change tonight after work.

I recorded everything into excel to keep track of all our tanks (once I get my fish).

Tank Date Test Results
Goldfish 10/17/2007 PH - Low 7.2
Goldfish 10/17/2007 Ammonia 0.5
Goldfish 10/17/2007 Nitrite 0
Goldfish 10/17/2007 Nitrate 0
 
A male and female betta should only be kept together briefly while breeding and then separate them again, or he'll kill her. Either 1 male or 3 or more females are okay. Not 2 females, because they'll establish a pecking order and it's easier on them if there's at least 3.

If she liked bright orange goldfish, how about platies? They come in a similar orange and are easy to care for.
 
I agree. I wouldn't mess with bettas if you want more than one, its not that easy most of the time, you never know the personality of the one your going to get. I think one male, two female platys would be good for a 5 gallon. Plus they will probably have babies that you & your gf will enjoy, you just have to get a petstore to take them. Or you could get all females or all males so you don't have to worry about babies, but their pretty cool fish.
 
Oh yeah and theres no plecos that can fit in a 5 gallon. I say a few platys, snails/shrimp, maybe some african dwarf frogs if you like them.

If you REALLY wanted a betta, you can only do one male, with snails/shrimp.
Females you have to have 3+ if you want any chance of them getting along, but again, a 5 gallon is to small for 3 of them, they just are way to aggressive and dominate.
 
If you go with a male betta and shrimp, make sure you have plenty of plants (fake or real) and hiding places. Bettas like to harrass shrimp and the shrimp will die to the stress if there's not enough cover.
 
I will be using a 15g or 20g not the 5g. The pet store here has 2 females together with neon tetras so I was thinking of buying those. I really want a male but I doubt I will be able to put it with the 2 females.
 
Well I was thinking of buying my own 15g or 20g tank for the bettas and tetras. I want atleast 2 bettas. I would like atleast 1 male I know I can't have 2 males. Would a female be okay? Should I seperate them with a tank seperator first and see how they react? I also want other fish like neons or mickey mouses. Maybe a pleco. Can you have Loaches with them?
What pleco are you getting? You must realize the plecs commonly sold are common plecos which can reach a potential size of 16 inches. This alone requires a 100 gallons minimum with powerful filtration. Sorry but this is not your best option however search for ancistrus or clown plec.

What other fish do you like? You can keep a dozen neon tetras in a 15 or 20g with a betta and an ancistrus along with platies (sex recommendation: 2-3 females per male).

If you want loaches, stick with kuhli loaches but you have a choice between an ancistrus plec or kuhli loaches. Corydoras is another fish that can be considered.
 
Well I think we might be getting a Betta or 2 and some tetras instead. This way we can have more beautiful fish like she wants. They seem to be easier for us to take care of in our situation. I am gonna try to convince her to return the goldfish we have or give them to someone else. They are her fish she paid for everything so I can't really tell her what to do. I could always ask my parents if they wouldn't mind holding a 70g tank at there house :)

Anyone know a good place to get a tank? One of the pet stores here has a $150 off on there 77g and 90g bringing them down to $100 and $140. Think that is worth the price? I may be able to convince my parents to hold the fish there and take care of their water on the weekend when I come visit.

If they end up dieing at least the next time I know what we're getting into. I am gonna be setting up a new tank this weekend to begin a Cycle for the betta tank. Got any tips please let me know! I am looking to maybe get 2 female Bettas and a few different types of tetras and plecos. Any particular types you would recommend?

Get 1 clown pleco or 1-2 otocinclus (let the tank establish over a month or so)
1 female betta
8 small tetras (cardinals, neons, glowlights, lemons, etc.)
5 corydoras (6 if you go Panda; 7 if you go Dwarf)
 
I will be using a 15g or 20g not the 5g. The pet store here has 2 females together with neon tetras so I was thinking of buying those. I really want a male but I doubt I will be able to put it with the 2 females.

The reason this works is because there is more than one fish to establish a pecking order. Three female bettas is an excellent long term number because then the dominant one will have two bettas to "peck" and neither one will receive all of the abuse. With the pet store, the school of neons made it easier for the two bettas to co-exist. If you got a 20gallon, you could definitely get 3 female bettas and a school of neons, or get one male betta and some other schooling fish. Dividers on tanks are hard due to filtration issues, fish jumping over the dividers, and so on.... You'd find it easier to pick one sex or the other, and you're absolutely right about not combining two males :)
 
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