Total newbie needs help/advice

A thought..

Here's a question for all you folks out there.. after looking at the different fish everyone recommended.. i'm thinking of going with 3-4 cory's (either panda or dwarf, not sure yet.. anyone have any personal favorites?) and a betta.

My question(s) are.. will 5 fish (4 corys and a betta ) be ok in a 5.5 gallon tank? I'd tend to think they would be, but then again i'm the newby here :) If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!
 
They will be fine, if you are willing to follow the needed maintenance routine. If you just buy the fish and throw them in, nope. Wouldn't matter if it was just one fish.

So, to help out: Cycle the tank fishlessly. This will get you in the habit of monitoring the tank in addition to establishing the appropriate bacterial colonies. Once the tank is established, get the cories as a group. I really love the dwarf cories--they are a midwater fish, with great schooling even in small spaces. A day or two later, get the betta. Continue testing daily to make sure the tank is stable. Keep track of nitrates as they start to climb, so you can determine how often you need to change water--I'm guessing once a week will be acceptable. Once you've determined this, you can change to a more relaxed testing schedule. You could also add some low light live plants at this point (anubias has some nice dwarf versions, and crypts tend to do well). The live plants will help your tank maintain stability and benefit the fish as well.

Small tanks require more attention than large ones, in part because the small tanks change more quickly than a larger volume of water, but also because they tend to be stocked either very lightly, or very close to the max. Having the tank be succesful relies on the keeper's diligence.
 
thanks for the info!

Thanks so much for the replies!

My next logical newb question would be what kind of a test kit do you recommend i get? I have a ph test kit... but everyone keeps talking about nitrates, nitrites, etc. and I'm not sure i've seen a test kit for these..? Is this something I could pick up at a Petco or a Walmart? Thanks again for all the help!
 
Sure, you can get a test kit at Walmart that covers almost everything you need. I got a kit that has ammonia, ph, gh/kh, and nitrite for 20 bucks or so. The nitrAte kit will probably have to come from either your lfs or a pet supply house like petco.

the testing supplies last a pretty long time, so it's not too much money to invest for them...
 
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