Gilbert

My 4th tank (5 gallon) 18"has finished cycling. Which fish should I get or would make a nice centerpeice for my tank. ( i know, it's not much to work with...)

Christian Patti

Well a betta will be the first thing people post here. Betta crazies.. Besides a betta you could probably do some shimp or some neon tetras.

Gilbert

I forgot to say, no more bettas

Alessa

Neon tetras will not fit there, you need a ten gallon to make a decent school.

If no betta then your options are either a school of shrimp, or a dwarf puffer.

Gilbert

What about 2 guppies or platies? Perhaps some dwarf cories? there's no dwarf puffers in nearby LFS. I LOVE shrimp but they're $4 each (1/2") YIKES.

Alessa

for guppies, to prevent agression, you'd need at least 3, preferibly 4... same for platies. they are also VERY active fish, wouldnt recommend anything under 10 gallons for them.
Not really sure about the dwarf cories, what species are you looking at specifically?

you can get the dwarf puffer at liveaquaria.com

Lucy

African Dwarf Frog, they're funny.

Edit: Oh, it's not a fish, but fun all the same

Gilbert

Yeah, the frog's a great idea. I might go for one except i don't know much about frogs.

RandomKayos

Dwarf Sunrise Platy, My 2.5 gal currently has 9 and they are fine, Add a couple plants and you could keep a dozen easy in a 5 gal. Max size is one inch and they pack nice red/orange/yellow color.

RK

Blub

Male Endler's livebearers. Ember tetras. Pygmy gouramis. There are loads of little fish out there you could have!

Alessa

the rule of thumb for fishes up to 3 inches is "one inch per gallon of water" even though dwarf platies are small, their bioload is still 2 inches. By that logic you could have no more than 1 dwarf platy in a 2.5 gallons. (wouldnt recommend it since they are social fish and need swimming space).

your tank is seriously too small for even a single dwarf platy. it is dangerously overstocked as the bioload for that tank and the space is so limited.

as i said already. any tank smaller than 10 gallons is too small for any livebearer other than endlers.

RandomKayos

Yes, General rule of thumb. This general rule is for a sterile enviroment, no filtration and no plants. The number of factors involved in keeping fish is sometimes difficult to comprehend. You need to take into account, the type of fish, are there plants, is there mechanical filtration and or biofiltration, Temp of the water, general PH, Frequency of water changes and so on. To keep it simple for beginners the "general rule of thumb" was created.

As for my tank, it is established, monitered, planted, mechanicaly and bio filtered. and stable. The test done just now give me a 0-0-11 and I have not done a water change in almost 2 weeks. You present the rule of thumb as a law and it's not. It's a general guide. By your law my tank should have crashed 2 years ago when it was set up. But another law i've broken is that I don't start with brand new sterile media. The gravel is recycled from previous tanks, I don't start with a clean filter pad ever, I use old pads in new tanks to get them off on the right foot. I don't use treated water in a new tank, I use water from another tank and replace that with the treated water. And, gasp! I use plants, in this case some micro sword that I keep trimmed to about half the tank and some floating anakris, about 15" on average. This dangerously overloaded tank has been fine for almost a year and a half.

I have produce several hundred fry during that time and I remove them on a regualr basis, There are currently 3 males and 9 females making it there home and they are healthy and breeding up a storm. This particular group has been the same for about 6 months. Prior to that I had 4 males and 8 females and when one of the males passed I replaced him with the best of the female fry I had in the grow out. I realize all this does not fit with your laws on fishkeeping but taking all of it into one picture it works, well.

RK

Blub

That guideline is acctualy for an averagely maintained tank. Remember, there is a difference between surviving and thriving. A pleco in a 10gal tank will be stunted (they need at least 75gal), and therefore stressed and open to disease. Bettas should not be kept together as it almost (99 times out of 100) always results in fighting, and are very good toys for danios and tetras to nip if your talking males. Fish who are running into each other every 3cm are not happy - even though they look it. They can survive in bad conditions but never thrive.

We acctualy advise adding old filter pads and gravel if possible.

RandomKayos

I guess you are right. Definatly about the betta's, I don't keep more than on in a tank and i don't keep them in a community tank. At most with corys or otos.

As for the point of the thread, yes, there is a difference between thriving and surviving. My idea of surviving is fish that hide when they normally would be active, or hang in a corner, won't breed and the water smells. Thriving is breeding like rabbits. Active, interacting and in water I would consider drinkable. That is easily possible with 4 or 5 guppies or platties in a 5 gal aquarium with filtration and a some plants. I base this on my personal experience of keeping a dozen platies in a 2.5 gal and they are thriving. The water is clean, they have room to swim and places to hide if they wish. They breed constantly, in decent numbers and the fry, which are removed when found, are healthy and mature well in another 2.5 tank.

I understood this was a site to help foster and give good advise to fellow aquarists. And telling someone that a 5 gal aquarium will not support 5 platies or 6 neons is not good advise.

RK

Lucy

I see my neons in my 10g darting around and using the whole tank.
Then I look at my 5g and know they wouldn't have the room they should have to get a good swim in.

I have to agree with Alessa that although a 5g could support neons, why inhibit them?

Personally, I wouldn't put neons in a 5g.

RandomKayos

Ok, I'm out matched, I'll remain quiet from now on. I'll leave you with this though. I've seen Cardinals who have whole streams to swim in and the schools just flow for miles. I've seen Betta's with hundreds of square feet to do what they please. So why inhibit any of them in a tank? Because we want them. Somewhere along the line the general guidlines on stocking have changed but frankly the fish have not noticed. They don't have to patrole miles of stream or coastline to find food. They have people to care for them. Each of those people have different skill levels at maintaining thier tanks and setting what is right for their fish. Making someone else feel inadiquate or stupid because they don't agree with what you think is right is not fair.
The fact is I have done this for years. My fish are happy, healthy and well cared for. I have studied and tested and adjusted and learned. I don't point to a general rule and say it is law, I say the information provided in a general rule is exactly that. General. Putting a 10 inch fish in a 10 gal tank fits the rule but I wouldn't consider doing it. Putting 10 or 15 1 inch fish in a ten gallon tank does work.
Thanks for the insults, RK

Lucy

I'm sorry if of my posts came off as insulting, they weren't meant to be.
I gave my opinion just as everyone else has.
I don't find anyone who disagrees with my opinons as insulting, I see it as just another point of view.

small-fish

ts put in a small school of cherry barbs and plant the tank