Alessa

We never tried to insult RK, but rather respectfully disagree. we might have not been doing this for years, but yes, we try to do our best to provide our fish with an environment that is as comfortable as possible, since we can't always keep them in giant bodies of water, and that's all we meant.

Alessa

Again, a school of anything wont fit.

capekate

Even tho RK has had success in breeding his fish in a 2.5 gal tank, it still seems very small and inhibits any type of real swim room for the fish. No wonder they are breeding like rabbits in there, they are practically on top of each other! I dont mean that in the way it may come across, it is to mean that there just is no room in that tank for any movement. I understand RK to be old school in his fish keeping and has many years of experience and success under his belt. I remain open minded to all advice and experiences others here share but there is no way that I can possibly accept that a dozen d. platies would be happy in a tiny 2.5 tank. The fish may survive.. but can they really be very happy living in that situation? I just dont see it.
Comparing the swimming area's of wild fish cannot IMO justify the idea that we inhibit our fish since we put them in 'small' tanks compared to thier wild habitat. That is a huge difference and that is why we try to understock.. rather than overstock our tanks.
True the one inch per gal is a general rule and is in no way the 'law' and there are many exceptions to this rule.

Gilbert, I am not sure what you can put in that 5g tank other than a Betta. If you were able to upgrade to a ten gal tank you would more options to choose from.

EDIT: sorry, RK said he had nine d. platies in his 2.5 and not 12. But the sentiment still remains the same in my post. Just wanted to correct the number of fish I quoted RK as having...

sirdarksol

Dwarf puffer or killifish.

Dwarf puffers are tiny little guys (and you can often find them at Petsmart, at least around here). They absolutely need to have a tank to themselves, though.

Killifish are, I believe, another type of tiny fish that will go decently in a 5g tank.

Gilbert

Whoa, I left for a day and look what i missed. LOL. Anyways, I totally agree, 1" fish/gallon is not a good rule,period. you'd barely have any fish in something like a 5g according to that rule, it's downright ridiculous. According to the rule,you could have not even have a proper school of tetras in a 10g, 5 fish at most and they'll shy away. Could a 10" oscar thrive in a 10 gallon tall? no. People seriously misinterpret this rule, therefore, it is misused. How much fish you can have comes down to your experience, cleaning frequency, peacefulness of the species and how active the fish is. there is no specific ratio to fish and volume of water that is truly reliable in all circumstances.

On a different note, thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming Where can you find killifish?

EDIT: it turns out the tank is 7.5g NOT 5 if it matters

Gilbert

I think it's either going to be:

1. another betta with a snail OR 2 otos
2. a dwarf butterfly cichlid

Tom

If you wanted, you could also use the 5 gallon as a breeding tank for some of your smaller fish. Or as a grow out tank to start out with. But a pair of killifish would be a great for a 5 gallon tank. And just the pair of killifish.

Blub

Well, you can have barely any fish in a 5gla anyway. I believe if you are takling small fish (tetras, platys etc) and apply compatibility and minimum tank sizes etc., it is acctualy fairly accurate, especially in small tanks like that. Remember, even if the tank is crytal clear, fish do like some personal space. Even my tetras need to get away from the crowd once in a while! 10-15" over is pretty much a decent rule for someone with some decent experience - as long as the tank is bigger than 29gal IMO. In anything much smaller it is unwise to be 'overstocked' according to that rule because of easily fluctuating water.

In my 7.5gal I'm going to have 6-8 ember tetras and 1 Betta imbellis.

Killis can be difficult to find, as most live for only a year, and for shops it is simply not profitable to breed them in mass. You can get eggs from specialists.

Dwarf cichlids really need around 15gal minimum.

Blub

Oops, my bad! I thought all the fish in your aquarium info where in the same tank. It would be easier to interperet if you spread out into the aquarium 2 and 3 spaces.

Thriving is being able to swim in a space big enough to accomodate their full grown size, with lots of space to swim (at least 6 times the fish's eventual length), and clean water. Surviving is more difficult. It can be how you describe it, or appearing to be happy but are really not satisfied and cannot grow to full size and is deprived from the privelages that it should have. Hiding away etc., is actually a sign of illness. I'm sure that a dog in a cage may not have an infection, but it's not happy. That is how almost everyone here interperets thriving/surviving.

A breedign fish isn't always thriving - Livebearers breed even if surviving. I've seen in so many times like that - thats just one of those livebearer things. A lot of fish do need to be thriving to breed though - take apisos for example.

Tom

Killifish can be hard to find, but you just need to know where to look. And only the Nothobranchis genus live for a year, the rest can live for about 3-5 years, some even longer.
Tom

Jo3olous

if my LFS told me they breeded a dozen platies in a 2.5G tank, I wouldn't buy them. Simple as that. Stressed fish making stressed babies.

Blub

Also possibly deformed babies

Red1313

I'm not an expert but I read somewhere else on the site where someone was looking for tank-mates for their betta in a 5 gal and kuli-loaches were suggested. THey're kind of a neat fish and are fairly active if you interested in having a couple of them. You'd need at least 3 I believe.

Blub

Too big for a 5gal though.

clinton1621

I say throw a baby pirahna in there, then add the neons and guppies by the droves... anything that survives the pirahna will be tougher than nails!

Lol, that was a joke by the way.... on a serious note, I've had 5 or 6 guppies as a breeding set-up in a 5g and they produced beautiful fry. Obviously in a breeding situation like RK mentioned, the tank is usually monitored frequently for water quality and stability... and live plants along with proper filtration and maintenance all allow for overstocking a little in given situations. If you want a tank that youre only going to occasionally watch and not worry too much about the water, then for a 7.5g I would recommend going with a lighter fish load as this will mean less maintenance for you, its entirely your decision either way... what kind of fish are you actually most interested in? That would help narrow down the field if you threw out some of your own ideas =)

Edit : sorry I didnt see all your posts about what fish you like through all of the confusion in here lol.... but if you havent already gone with the betta that you mentioned you were not to keen about getting again, then I would say that a 7.5g can easily support a couple of dwarf corys and 3 or 4 male guppies or platys =)
Live plants would obviously be beneficial with this setup if you go that route.

RandomKayos

Ok, I have to respond at this point. 12 Dwarf Platties is about 6 cubic inches of fish. 2.5 gallon tank is 624 cubic inches. That's about a half gallon per fish. The tank is planted, filtered, well established and stable. So the issue is room to move. They are not stacked like bricks, they have about 104 cubic inches of space per inch of fish. That's much more room that most fish in schools maintain. Platties are not frantic swimmers. They tend in nature to hang under plants and wait for food while watching for preditors. Even in larger tanks the only time they even move much from their favorite spots is if another fish convinces them to move. They go after food or or something frightens them.

Also, I did not recommend this setup for a novice. I included my parameters and actually recommended half that number in twice the space. This would be 2 gallons of water per cubic inch of fish. So by your laws I've understocked my recommendation.

I also take exception to the 'hiding away is a sign of illness" statement. Except in an open ocean most fish do tend to hide unless they are top of the food chain in that location and even then will scat at the first sign someone bigger comes along. And as any Betta keeper here has and will attest, Betta's specifically love a cave or such to hide in. As do Pleco's, Kulli's, knife fish, and so on.

I don't tell you you are wrong for keeping a betta solo in a 10 gal. Though I've yet to see one that felt comfortable unless you provided it with it's cave. I don't tell you you are wrong for keeping fish without plants though to me it's totally bizzar to expect fish to feel comfortable in a plastic enviroment. It's different opinions and to my understanding that's what's great about this forum. Different views expressed in a friendly way. I've felt very little friendly from several here. And alot of friendly from a few. I personally think several need to look at the difference between what they preach and what they practice befor jumping others.
RK

Lucy

Ok.....then

Gilbert, what did you decide your going to get for your 7.5?

Blub

When I was stocking my 7.5gal, I was debating between the following:

A) 6 Threadfn Rainbows
B) 3 Endler's livebearers and 6 Ember tetras
C) 6 Ember tetras and 1 Betta imbellis/1 Female betta/2 Pygmy gouramis