3 Gallon Cylinder ideas?

[Stowers74]

My girlfriends mom recently gave me an old 3 Gallon Cylinder tank. What can I do with it? They had a feeder goldfish in it that lived forever, but I personally think 3 gallons is way too small. I am for sure going to try to aquascape and plant it. I was thinking of just putting a few shrimp in it, but would that still be too small? What else could I do with it??

 

[JoelTRG]

I'd go with a heavily planted shrimp tank personally..

 

[Stowers74]

That's what I'm leaning more towards. I haven't had very much luck with shrimp in the past though

 

[JoelTRG]

That's what I'm leaning more towards. I haven't had very much luck with shrimp in the past though

well this could be your second chance lol

 

[Flowingfins]

1 male betta
15RCS(they breed like rabbits)
Planted, with hiding places for the shrimp.

 

[Stowers74]

My problem with shrimp is that they just kinda come up missing lol. I usually stick with ghost shrimp. (~30 cents at petco) because my lfs charges a fortune ($6+ per shrimp) for rcs. Also, I personally prefer keeping my bettas in a minimum of 5.5 gallons. I have one in a 5.5 and another in a 10. My mom has a betta that my sister didn't care for at all (she kinda rescued it, sorta) that stays in a one gallon heated tank. I tried to get her to let me put him in the 3 gallon, but she wouldn't let me because "she likes the tank he's in now"...

 

[Flowingfins]

If you don't feel comfortable with a betta in that tank, do a ghost shrimp tank. You can also get RCS on eBay and aquabid.

 

[Sarcasm Included]

Look up walstad vases under google to give you ideas. Put a couple inches of soil, cap it with 1" of sand(I used flourite I had laying around). Plant a sword and a couple marimso balls, java moss, or any of a dozen fast growing plants. Let the sword grow out of the top if you want, it looks good, but the leaves die off and regrow. Since it is winter it is hard to mineralize the soil but you can just leave set it up and wait till the ammonia goes to zero. Add your shrimp at any point after that. I would order shrimp online, EricV sells frequently on this forum and aquabid always has some. I got my red rilI from aquabid and rcs from Eric.

 

[Anders247]

I agree with you Stowers74, a 3 gallon is way too small for a goldfish. I'd suggest either a betta-only tank, a RCS tank, or a ghost shrimp tank. Of course, you can always look at all these shrimplanet Inverts and decide whether you want to try them or not.

 

[Stowers74]

I really like the blue tiger shrimp, but they are pretty expensive. I how many shrimp would work in a 3 gallon?

 

[Anders247]

I really like the blue tiger shrimp, but they are pretty expensive. I how many shrimp would work in a 3 gallon?

I'd get 10 to start, then let them breed. (if these are cherry shrimp) They will breed until the tank is full, then they seem to control their population.

 

[Stowers74]

My lfs (the one that charges $6 for rcs) will buy the babies off of me, so I may end up doing a rcs tank!

 

[Anders247]

My lfs (the one that charges $6 for rcs) will buy the babies off of me, so I may end up doing a rcs tank!

That's great!

 

[New Fish in Town]

Couldn't you put a mystery snail in there?

 

[Stowers74]

I've thought about that too. I have a golden apple snail in my 10 gallon betta tank that is pretty cool. I also really like assassin snails, but I've heard they aren't exactly friendly lll

 

[New Fish in Town]

I've thought about that too. I have a golden apple snail in my 10 gallon betta tank that is pretty cool. I also really like assassin snails, but I've heard they aren't exactly friendly lll

Wouldn't they take over a tank anyway since they are asexual? Don't you have to kill off the eggs? I could see that being a down side too. The shrimp might be a better choice.

 

[Stowers74]

Which ones? Assassin or golden apple? I've had my apple snail for about 7 months and I've never even seen an egg lol.

 

[New Fish in Town]

Which ones? Assassin or golden apple? I've had my apple snail for about 7 months and I've never even seen an egg lol.

I read the mystery snails you can buy at petsmart will do that.

 

[Stowers74]

I got mine at an lfs. They still had it labeled as a mystery snail, but no babies or eggs so far



What color substrate would show shrimp best? Black I'm assuming?

 

[Anders247]

What color substrate would show shrimp best? Black I'm assuming?

Yes, definitely.

 

[Stowers74]

Would shrimp kill guppy fry? If not I may use it as a make shift guppy fry holder once they start breeding in my 40g

 

[Flowingfins]

I have heard ghost shrimp will sometimes, but I don't think cherry shrimp will

 

[Nickdrummer]

No shrimp won't kill guppy fry unless the guppy fry is slow or dying

 

[APColorado]

Cherry shrimps will leave frys alone, but Ghost shrimps are a different story. I use to have ghost shrimps and endler frys and I saw the ghost shrimps go after unsuspecting frys.

 

[Stowers74]

Are there any other shrimp that would be safe with fry?

 

[Echo]

Personally, I would do a shrimp tank. I have been using a feeder goldfish to cycle a 6 gallon pillar (he also cycled my 10g), and I will be adding a dozen RCS to it soon.

Here's a dozen RCS for $30:


You could put a betta in there, too, but your shrimp might disappear quickly if you do. If there is a predator, they will be reluctant to breed, so they may not reproduce fast enough to avoid being wiped out. I had some dwarf shrimp in a 5.5g planted betta tank. They are no more. The ghost shrimp have survived, but only because I bought large ones that the betta couldn't eat. They may have survived due to being harder to see, whereas the yellow and red dwarfs might as well have had a neon sign that said, "EAT ME" stuck to them.

 

[Stowers74]

Is there any need to filter it? Would a bubble stone be enough? Also, do I need to add a heater? (I honestly would prefer it to be heated/filtered, but I have very limited knowledge of inverts). Time to do some research. The shrimp on amazon are probably what I'll get. I'm kind of addicted to amazon lol. Also, how can I get these swirls out? Or can I? This tank is close to 10 years old lol. If they were swirls on a car, I could get them out no problem, but I have no clue what is safe for fish tanks.

 

[junebug]

Swirls? Is the tank scratched? If so, there's not much you can do about it.

 

[Stowers74]

Dang. I'm actually liking the idea of doing a nano shrimp tank. I may go look and see what other tanks are out there.

 

[junebug]

You can get tetra kit tanks 1-3 gallon for around 20 bucks. I have some for shrimp and bettas, they are actually nice-looking tanks.

You might consider filling that one with water first though and seeing what it looks like. It might not be as bad as you think.

 

[Stowers74]

I may have to do that tonight!

 

[Echo]

Get a sponge filter.



And an air pump to go with it:


I own that air pump, but a different sponge filter. The air pump is QUIET. I have the 200 (linked) and the larger 300. I am quite happy with them.

Oh, and if you get those shrimp, send a reply to the long email you get explaining how the shipping works and tell them that Eric from MN sent you. Lol. I have a good rapport going with them. They are amazing sellers, and will help you with any invert questions you may have. I cannot recommend them enough.

Okay, that almost turned into a sales pitch...

 

[Stowers74]

I've actually got the same sponge filter in my 10 gallon betta tank and I love it. I'm using a tetra whisper 10 with it and it's pretty quiet, but I think I'll try that pump! I'll definitely let them know when I order them!

 

[Echo]

I was going to get a Tetra pump, but the reviews were hit or miss. It either worked a long time, or it crapped out quickly. I wasn't willing to risk it. I also have an OLD AquaCulture I got about 6-7 years ago, used for a year, then put into storage. I pulled it out and it still works well. Quiet, too.

 

[F1shy]

You can get a lot of shrimp online. Also you should get live plants.

 

[Stowers74]

I prefer live plants anyway lol! I was looking through amazon and saw a 6 gallon Koller Craft Cylinder tank... if the three gallon I have ends up being way too scuffed up I may order it. Does doubling my size change what I can stock? I want something weird, if that makes sense. I'm for sure doing shrimp, but is there anything that would be unique that I could put in it, as well as shrimp?

Maybe like a micro crab or something?

 

[junebug]

In a six gallon tank, you could get a male scarlet badis But you'd have to get the shrimp colony going strong first, then add him.

Heavily planted, lots of caves, java moss, etc, and you will get to see him a few times a week. Never feed him, he won't eat it, he'll just feed off baby shrimp, but not so many that the colony fails. You can supplement with live blackworms, bloodworms, tubifex (only from a reputable source that raises them without fish) and daphnia.

 

[Sarcasm Included]

Keep the bloodworms to minimum as they will cause digestive problems in scarlet badis. I tried feeding the ones in my shrimp tank supplemental food, they never eat it. I have some in a non-shrimp tank, that I feed microworm, golden pearls 200-300, and baby brine shrimp(I hatch once or twice a week).

 

[Stowers74]

I looked up the badis and it suggests a 10 gallon tank size, would a six be too small?

Edit: I lied, it was another subtype of badis. The Scarlets only get to be 1 inch, correct?

 

[Sarcasm Included]

2 cm with females getting only around 1.5 cm. They are conspecies aggressive though, so you need to have a heavy LOS breaks if you want to have a couple in the 6 gallon.

 

[Stowers74]

I'll do some more research on them before I decide on anything, but they are pretty awesome lol

 

[Echo]

I prefer live plants anyway lol! I was looking through amazon and saw a 6 gallon Koller Craft Cylinder tank... if the three gallon I have ends up being way too scuffed up I may order it. Does doubling my size change what I can stock? I want something weird, if that makes sense. I'm for sure doing shrimp, but is there anything that would be unique that I could put in it, as well as shrimp?

Maybe like a micro crab or something?

I have the Marineland Pillar 6 gallon. I'm happy with except for the lighting. The lights could be brighter, and barely considered low light.

 

[pjonjclark]

I have a 3 gallon tetra cube I use for shrimp and a baby betta, by adding a sponge to the small,filter it comes with it basically,makes it a sponge filter, the light grows low light plants well, I haven't tried anything else, the only issue is the lid I got was warped so it doesn't sit right on the tank but other than that it works great





its sideways but you can see how the lid doesn't sit flush on the top

 

[Echo]

I had never heard of the scarlet badis before this post, and now my girlfriend and I really want some. Lol.

 

[Stowers74]

I do too! I'm currently dealing with an Ich problem in my main 40 gallon (didn't QT two danios from petsmart and it went bad...) Once I get the ich under control I'm going to start working on the nano tank.
I've decided on rcs and a male scarlet badis. What plants are are in their habitat naturally

 

[junebug]

This should give you some ideas. I do tons of research before creating a biotope, but what I suggest you do is browse around for asian plants that you like, then research each plant individually to see if it's found in that part of india.

You can also look up the river systems they are from and see if there is any aquatic plant collection info on those systems.

 

[Stowers74]

Do the badis prefer more height in a tank, or length? I'm planning on doing a 20GL and splitting it for my two bettas, if I do that I'll have a 5.5g left over that could easily be turned into a badis tank.

 

[junebug]

If you just have the one (all you could have is one male in a 5.5, you could maybe add a female if you want) it doesn't really matter. They are not super active fish. But if you want multiple males, the longer the better. However should be noted that the tank in my thread is about 16" long. It's a very deceiving tank haha.

 

[Stowers74]

I really only plan on having one male, but adding a female would be cool too. Do they not show aggression towards females? My knowledge of solitary (I'm assuming the scarlet badis are fairly solitary) fish comes from bettas lol

 

[Stowers74]

The cylinder I have now looks larger than 3 gallons. It looks fairly large compared to my 10g. I put water in it (I'm using it as a make shift hospital tank for a betta I bought today with columnaris, or some other serious fungal infection). It actually doesn't look as scuffed as it did when it was empty. My walls make it look worse than it is lol. Also, I plan on making a real biotype when I do my 20L. I decorated the 10 gallon before I really knew anything about fish lol.