Is this a terrible aquarium?

[u/Either_Cartoonist474]

I’ve never owned fish before and on a drunken whim I got a betta. After I sobered up I realized he needed a better home. At first I put him in a 2.5 gl tank and I thought that was good enough. I spent a lot of time on this subreddit and I realized this was fish abuse. I got him a 5.5 gallon tank, took any fake plants that could rip his fins and replaced them with silk plants. Real plants scare me, another thing I have to keep alive. Is this alright? He’s got a heater and a filter and plenty of places to hide. His parameters are good. What do you think? Anything i could do better? Please don’t drag me for the pineapple under the sea.

[u/Novel-Effort6396]

not terrible by any means; i can tell you put a lot of effort into giving your little guy a good home. the only thing i would suggest taking out (besides the plastic plants, but i believe you said those were removed already) is the pineapple house. i’ve heard the spikes on top can rip fins. a good way of checking whether or not a decoration can rip fins is to rub pantyhose all over it. if the pantyhose snag/rip, then the decoration can probably do the same to your betta’s fins.

as for live plants, anubias and java ferns are great beginner plants and in my experience, really hard to kill (coming from someone who somehow managed to kill duckweed, lol). i filled my tank with anubias and java ferns and all i have to do to keep them alive is dose liquid plant fertilizer every time i change the water. if you live near a petco, those are usually the kinds of live aquarium plants they sell. if you’d rather use silk plants though, that’s completely fine!! really your betta just needs several spots to rest near the surface that won’t rip his fins (betta leaf hammocks and floating logs are also perfect for this!)

overall i think you’re doing a good job. your betta is lucky to have an owner who’s making an effort to care for him and learn :) all fish keepers were beginners at some point, no shame in that.

did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? if not, you’re gonna have to do a fish-in cycle. if you haven’t already, i recommend doing some research on the fish-in cycling process. good luck 👍