RudeeRu

I also have a 5-Gallon Hexagon tank here at the school I teach at; we are going to use it for the class (actually I teach at a Vocational High School and it's going to be in our "Reception" Area!)--I had some fry die in there in August (hubby had good intentions; bought a new tank for them and they died....not cycled!) and I left them there to disintegrate and start a cycle! I'm going to water test tomorrow (I left the kit at home to test my 29-gallon--see other thread) to make sure the levels are ok first.

They obviously want colorful, interesting fish for the tank! While I'd rather get the fish from our reputable fish store in CT, they want to go to PetCo and get some as a field trip! I was looking at Fancy guppies but I know they can get snarky if you don't have the right balance of males:females. And I showed them pix of Zebra Danios and they were not impressed.

So what do you seasoned pros recommend? They also want shrimp too (they know I'm a shrimp fan!)!

Christine

MrWaxhead

What about a male betta and some japonica shimp. 5g is pretty tight on space, so I would avoid guppies etc as they will outbreed the tank very fast. And with 5g you can't even really stock a little shoal of tetras etc.

I would lean to a betta and a few fair sized shrimp, I would worry about smaller ones though, likes cherries or ghost or crs etc.

For colour and interest etc, too you could try putting some smaller easy live plants in the tank too, the betta and shrimp would love them for comfort and it could add to the look of the tank.

timg

That sounds like a good idea. if you didn't want a betta, the best you could hope for would be 5 neons and that wouldn't exactly make the tank interesting!

as MrWaxhead has said, any of the live-bearers would rapidly outbreed the tank, although that, in itself, would be a point of interest to the students, (my daughter spends hours just finding the new arrivals in our tanks), and it wouldn't be difficult to find new homes for the fry! (Could even be a good way of getting the students into fish keeping properly). Bear in mind that the tank would need a great deal of maintenance, considering that most schools are closed at weekends etc, this could be a problem.

plants are definitely a good idea whatever you put in the tank, because of their water cleaning abilities as well as hiding places for the fish. As stated, a 5 gallon tank could not go for long without maintenance, even with live plants.

Either suggestion has merits, both have drawbacks. It's your call. Enjoy!

COBettaCouple

what about a betta & a pair of albino cory cats?

RudeeRu

The betta sounds cool, and some cory cats too! Now would I get a male betta right? And would there be room for 3 cories? I have live plants already for the tank!

The students (they are Veterinary Assisting students) would be taking care of the tank! I would have to do the weekend feeder stuff over the weekend; the school IS open during the breaks (the custodians work all year long plus they do nite school here so I can still have access every couple of days to clean and feed!) and the summer (summer school). Worst case scenario they come home with me!

MrWaxhead

Ya I would personally get a male for the betta, but with corries they really like having floor space, I don't know how happy they would be with that little floor to muck around in. I don't like to keep more then 2 per square foot of floor space. And they really enjoy a few of there own kind to muck around with, which is why I would personally lean towards shrimp. Could go either way really, but I think the shrimp would be a better choice.

tkfury

Don't mean to jump in, I'm working on setting up a 5g for a betta in my room and would like to have some kind of buddy in there for her. I really only like the look of ghost and cherry shrimp but I keep hearing that they make nice snacks for bettas. I'm still very, very new to fish keeping so I don't have any experiance but are there any kind of the larger snails that "get along" with bettas or are they more of a lunch type of deal as well?

COBettaCouple

a pair of otos would work with her.. it's slightly overstocked, but do-able.