Good 3gal vs bad 5gal
I'd like to invite everyone to a cordial discussion on 3 gallons being an absolute minimum, if done correctly.
You see, a couple of years back in our old house, I used to have 11 aquariums of all sizes and a variety of fish. About 3 tanks had bettas, even a 29 gallon with multiple females. I have been keeping and maintaining aquariums for about 15 years, so I'm pretty confident when I can tell when a fish, especially a Betta, is happy in its environment or not.
That being said, my partner did not like the multitude of aquariums I compiled into our home, just nearly tolerated it out of love. A couple of years ago we moved houses and this time they put the foot down and said absolutely no aquariums. (Don't worry, the fish were still living out their life in the old house and I would still care daily for them.)
In our new abode, I kept (passively) trying to let my partner have at least one 30-50 gallon tank by saying, "Wouldn't an aquarium look great here?" We finally settled on letting me have ONE aquarium, but nothing bigger than a 10 gallon and it had to go in my office/man cave/game room. So off to the PetSmart we went!
I immediately walked to the preassembled kits. Of course I went straight for the 5 gallon but my spouse was giving me "that look" that it would make me relapse into having a multitude of aquariums in the new house again. They said I could get a 3 gallon because they found that size appropriate and knew I wasn't any large fish. I tried explaining 5 gallon is recommended for a Betta, but they would not budge.
So we settled on the 3 gallon, but I promised I would do it justice. Just like my aquariums in the old house, I only used real plants and as natural decor as I could find, no SpongeBob house or fairy princess castle, that's just not my style. The fakest I'll go is a Betta log, and I also found a lava rock hidey-hole with multiple entrances/exits. And yes of course I got a heater, a bubbler and all the other necessary supplies.
It's been almost a year now and my fish, Elmer, always looks content and extremely happy to see me. He is constantly exploring, playing in the plants and just living his best life. So is a 3 gallon donne correctly worse than a 5 gallon done poorly? Cause I love this community and all, but I have seen some pretty sad 5 gallon set ups.
TLDR: Is a 3 gallon done correctly worse than a 5 gallon done poorly?
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments and please remember to be kind to each other, and me, as this is for educational purposes. In no way am I trying to start any wars or tell people how they should maintain they fish.