If you had a 5.5 gallon tank...

[CDT]

I need help. I have a 5.5 gallon tank sitting around that I have been thinking about setting up on my desktop in the near future. It has a built in wet\dry filter, and I already have all the heaters, lighting, etc. for it. The only problem is I just don't know what to do as far as fish, plants, etc. Any ideas would be welcome.

[val]

a pair of bettas...

Val

[ChilDawg]

Val, I must respectfully disagree. Unless they are female bettas from the same tank and under vigilant watch, two bettas could not co-exist. Two male bettas would not co-exist at all, and a male who is interested in spawning would kill a female who is not. There is no way for a female to escape the advances of an amorous male in a 5.5g. I would suggest a single betta and maybe a couple of cories or otos (though they would not be happy about being shy a few of a school).

[goldfries]

yes. a single betta and something else would do great!!

my female betta(RM1) killed my male betta(CT, bought for RM16) and it was a tragic loss.

now i have my new male betta(CT) in a nice tank all for himself.

[valerie]

you could keep 2 males in the same tank,jsut make sure they are seperated by a divider.

Actually this was going to be my next tank project.A new 5 gal with 2 bettas.

[ChilDawg]

Good point, Valerie. I had not thought of it that way, but, yes, two males in a divided 5.5g would work. There may be a low level of stress always extant, so possibly using a clear divider and an opaque one to sometimes remove the sight of one from another would be the best. One of my betta books talks about this stress, but I do not remember which one and I have five.

[Tightdog1]

two male bettas in the same tank can and will kill each other probably the first day if there is no divider. but if you have a divider you should be fine.

[irishspy]

I agree with those who advocate a betta and 2-3 small cories. The betta will probably be very happy and entertain you by exploring his new kingdom. I had one by himself in a 10-gallon for a while and he would spend hours swimming up and down the interior walls.

And you'll be doing him a favor by getting him out of those little bowls the stores keep them in.:D

--Anthony

[delmore]

Endlers livebearers with floating plants and lighting.

[mt_marcy]

You could put one male betta in with one or two African Dwarf frogs... or you could put a school(4-5) White cloud's. Well have fun deciding,
mt_marcy!

[VoodooChild]

Throw some salt in there and have a pair or trio of bumblebee gobies.

[chaynes]

If it was mine I would put in some Neolamprologus Multifaciatus with some sand and some shells and watch them breed.

[O-man21]

I school of about 10 neons would be great with a nice, green background and some plants.

[JohnMemorialHS]

a dwarf puffer

[Cichlid Woman]

Fancy-tailed guppies with some cories?

-- Pat

[aquatix02]

you could try to make it into one of those 'nano' tanks as popularised by aquarists from the far east (japan). the idea is to maintain a beautifully planted miniature tank cleaned by some algae eater shrimp. carpets of hardier low-growing plants and mosses would look great (like riccia, java moss etc) with one or two small leafier plants... (anubia, java moss)

i recommend these plants as they're considered easy plants.

of course, you may also add a few little hardy fish like whiteclouds which are peaceful and unlikely to pick at the plants and shrimp.

[tyler]

i keep a blue ram and some ghost in my planted 5.5.

[CDT]

Wow, thanks for all the ideas.

How would this work? Have a planted tank (after the Japanese nano-tank idea) with a Beta and several neon tetras (say 3-5). Would there be problems between the Beta and neons, or would it be best to go for one and not the other?

Thanks again.

[chaynes]

Probally be hit and miss with keeping a Betta with neons. While some individual betta's would do ok with neons, others might chase and kill them. In a planted tank I would go with the school of neons and skip the Betta.

[goldfries]

i think bettas with clear dividers are gonna stress them out.

mine flares just for fun, no mirrors, no other fish around. just me.

[SKSand]

I have four dwarf fresh water puffers in a seven gallon. Some people mistaken believe they are brackish water fish. I have had mine for 1 1/2 years. They are now around 1" in length. I believe their max size to be 1 1/2". These are great little fish you might want to check out. One thing you might want to note, you mentioned having them on a desk (work?), a nearby freezer might be necessary, I can not get mine to eat ANYTHING except frozen blood worms.

[OrionGirl]

SKSand--try live snails. Mine love them. Live brine are a good choice as well--they slurp them down like spaghetti.

[jbcwilli]

I agree with the suggestion above (quite a few entries above) to consider Endler's livebearers. The males are fantastically colored and don't grow over an inch long. You would need floating small leaf plants (hornwort for example) for the babies to hide in.

[somefinnfishy]

Originally posted by tyler
i keep a blue ram and some ghost in my planted 5.5.
Bingo I have the same thing I added 3 serpe tetras and a albino cory.
Anubus nana clumps are great for little tanks if the riozome (sp?)is kept small the leaves will stay small also:)

[tyler]

Originally posted by somefinnfishy

Bingo I have the same thing I added 3 serpe tetras and a albino cory.
Anubus nana clumps are great for little tanks if the riozome (sp?)is kept small the leaves will stay small also:)

i have anubias as well. what else do you have in yours?

and, btw, how are the lfs's in the cities as far as plants?

[CDT]

Anubus nana clumps are great for little tanks if the riozome (sp?)is kept small the leaves will stay small also

What is a riozome? (I'm new to live plants, and its been to long since I had biology. Besides, I failed Biology anyway:))