marineland eclipse 3 gallon...what fish fit?

[wigglejaggles]

Hey Now,

Can anything else fit in this small 3 gallon other than a betta?


thanks!

take care,
Jared

[tricksterpup]

Jared,
The best fish that would fit in this tank, is Heterandria Formosa the least killiefish, smallest livebearer in the United states. Alot of people will mention white clouds, neons or something along the lines of a small schooling fish. But these guys are perfect for small tanks. I keep them in a 5 and a couple of 2.5 tanks, plenty of room for these little guys. In my 5 I keep a colony of 25 and still hardly see them in the little planted tank. Many keepers will keep them in one gallon jars and they do well.
The male is about 1/4 inch in length and the female may get about an inch. They like small planted tanks and do well with snails and other small creatures. I would be afraid to keep them with ghost shrimp for the fact that the shrimp are huge compared to these guys, and i do not want the fry eaten. I have had no fry deaths due to the adults. They will rarely, if at all, will eat the fry. These little guys are hard to find, but if you try your local fish club, you may be able to find someone to give up a trio or two to you. The reason, i say the local fish club is because the are a rarity at your LFS. For some reason, they do not sell here in the states, even though they are from florida. Probably because they do not have flashy colors and are very tiny. But they have their own appeal to them and you will never regret owning these tiny little guys. Check out my avatar, I have a picture of a pair of them.


jim

[wigglejaggles]

Hey Now Jim,

you know last nite I actually took a look at your profile because I rmemeber you mentioning these little fish to other forum members with small tanks.
I bought the eclipse three last nite intending it to be a quarintine tank, but it looks just too good to be one...haha its a nice little tank.
I am gonna try my hardest to find these dwarf livebearers!!

thanks for the tips and info. You dont happen to be around the NYC area? hehehe :)



take care,
Jared

[tricksterpup]

Jared,
Sorry, i live here in Minnesota. :( But these guys are great to have, if you can not find them via local means, you can try here. Or worse comes to worse, send me an email and see what I can do.
but try these sites.
for ordering. (this is where i got mine)
http://www.aquaculturestore.com/fwverts.html

http://www.petfish.net/het.htm
some more neat info.
http://www.nanfa.org/archive/nanfa0203/nanfajun03/0514.html

http://home.clara.net/xenotoca/heterand.htm

And from this following site you can order them also.
http://www.millevolte.com/nativefish15.html


jim

[wigglejaggles]

hey Now Jim,

thanks so much! I am really excited about these little guys. I should do fishless cycling first? Are they hardy enough for me to use them to cycle?

thanks! I went to the first link you provided and its a really great deal and price! 14.95 for a lot of 10 and FREE SHIPPING! yay!

take care,
Jared

[tricksterpup]

Jared,
Set up your tank first, let it run awhile, yes do a fishless cycle. By the time you are ready to order and get your fish, your tank should be ready. It may take a few weeks to get them. :) They are pretty good there, but sometimes, they gotta find the fish, yes these guys are wild caught. But they are healthy and beautiful fish and I have had no problems with them. They are very hardy and breed very well and fast.
As for the tank size, 3 gallons for 10 isnt bad. I kept mine in a 2.5 when i first got them and then transfered most of them to a 5 gallon, still had 3-4 in the old tank and still use it. I now have 3 tanks with them. Out of my first 10, i probably have now about 30 between my tanks (probably more but that is all I can see due to heavy planted tank.).


jim