Vallisneria Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 I have been thinking of setting up one of my 5gs lately. I was thinking of doing a small planted tank and maybe putting a pair of something small in it. I want to be able to try to breed whatever fish i choose. I was thinking of Endler's livebearers as they woudl look beautiful in a small planted tnak but i think i want something a bit harder SO anyone have any suggestions on a fish that will live/breed in a 5g and will do so in a higher ph. My ph is 7.8(tap) and i don't really want to change it. Any suggestions, i'm open to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishManTy Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Danios? I went through a breeding phase of them. Had some Leopard danios that bred like crazy in a 3/4 full 10gallon... so im sure with some patience you could get a pair or trio of them to breed in a 5gallon. You could get some fancy guppies? (Not original but with some searching, you can find some real nice ones) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawntraviss Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thats a really tiny tank, water conditions are going to be hard to keep right, but Mosquito Fish, Dawrf Puffers (theyre FW!), Ottos, Guppys (the ferral type would work well and can have surprisingly beautiful colors), Bettas. Well thats all that comes to mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudy Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Dawrf Puffers (theyre FW!), I second that. I have a 3 gallon with them. I love the little guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Try a Killie fish for hard water. http://www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org/Art...old%20issue.htm This is a real cool fish. Very attractive one. A 5 gallon with hard water should be able to handle 2-3 of these beauties. Garhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thanks everyone I know a 5g is really small but i have one lying around so i thought i would see about what i could do with it. DOing frequent water chanegs isnt' a problem as i already do them on my fry tanks, whats adding another to the list I thought about doing a hard water killi. The one in your link(tang killi) gets to be 6" and said it should be kept in schools. Doesn't seem like it would work in a 5g what are some other hard water killies? Anyone keep any? SO far my favorites are a planted endler tank or a freshwater puffer tank. I have to do more research on the puffers though. I dont' know much about them but have always found them interesting. SO they are totally freshwater right? Not brackish, or freshwater who need salt when they are adults? I'll check them out and see what i come up with. Any others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candace Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 I like the planted endler tank idea, I just so happen to have a 5 gallon tank in my room with them. They are so colorful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawntraviss Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Dwarf puffers are totally fresh water, they never need salt, alot of puffers are totally fresh water even tho you find then in brackish, they often live bad, short lives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Candace- is that pic of your endler? Do you have a pic of your whole tank i could see? How many do you have in a 5g? Do you have both sexes? Have you bred them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Once you get below 7g ish range - I really think the tank does need to be planted in order to maintain acceptable water quality (You probably will also want some aragonite or similar in the filter - the plants will use up the available calcium in the water relatively quickly in such a small volume). One of my favorite small tank denizens is the scarlet badis badis. Quite a rare fish - but big al's has been known to bring them in sporadically. They stay very small (unlike the standard badis badis), and have very cichlid personalities. Another favorite of mine, is to use a dwarf honey (or sunset honey) gourami. It's important you get the yellow/gold base dwarf - they will stay under 1" full grown - the other dwarfs will get 3-4". Pygmaeus cories, ottos and the various FW shrimp make great accompanying residents (not sure on the shrimp / badis tho - might become food). Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Some teasers... 2g walmart hex, screw in 13 or was it 18w CF (believe it was a warm white), DIY CO2, whisper mini filter... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 A while later - I replaced the 2Hex with the 2.5 (now the nanoreef) seem to have misplaced the good shots... But here's the pic after throwing it all together... 2 13w PC on this one. most of the residents and hardware stayed the same. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 (edited) Go with a planted tank with dwarf puffers...very personable and loves to beg for food...dont need to worry about teeth growth as much as the other bigger puffers. They love planted tanks and lots of hiding places, fully FW species, and u can maybe go with one puff, one bottom cleaner such as an otocinclus (sp?) ...ghost shrimps are "iffy" just because each puffer has its own personality...they are notorious fin nippers but there are the odd ones that are just friendly. NO crayfish with puffs...ended up eating my puff when it was sleeping! JS EDIT: check this out...this is a 5 gallon planted tank with Dwarf puff.... http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/images/5gal.jpg Edited January 8, 2005 by fatpuffer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Thanks andy, I"m leaning towards the endlers and the planted tank. I love small planted tanks and i think the endlers will be just beautiful. They also have the added benefit of being able to breed in such a tiny setup. I know there are many options(i've actually considered the badis badis) that would fit in a 5g but i also wanted to have the option of breeding. This is just in the planning stages right now. I've always wanted to do a planted guppy tank. Then at the last ACE meeting i saw a bag of endlers and it got me thinking about setting up a tank for them. I find them more stunning then guppies and i think they would mak a great show fish. I think i'm going to wait untill the end of Feb and see what i can find at the auction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Um... Missed the breeding part... No fish to be bred in a 5g... Ghost, cherry and amano shrimp maybe (would pretty much have to be a species tank). The bioload would be too much with babies coming along - use it as a show tank - breeding you'll want 10g or better for 99% of the fish out there. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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