Fish for 2.5 Gallon?

[Ichthyophile]

an otto would be very unhappy,they should be kept in groups,I wouldnt keep one(alone)in less than a five gal....

One of my favorite resources contains a section devoted to Otos.

Here's the thing: no vertebrate vegetarian can digest cellulose, not one! so each carries a species-specific community of anaerobic bacteria (and some protozoans) that do the work.

***

... Otos share gut bacteria: their need for the company of other Otos isn't merely social.

For this reason, I wouldn't keep an Oto alone, regardless of the size of the tank.

 

[Ulan]

Ugh... I feel so newbie-ish! What's an ADF? This thread intrigues me because we just got 2 2 gallon aquariums for my husband and son's classrooms. They're both far from water sources so we wanted something small to make the weekly water changes easier (a decision I'm starting to regret).

You will probably have to change water more often with such a small tank. There are also filters available for that size of aquarium, like this one.

We were thinking Bettas, but then they shouldn't be left in cold water, right? Is it possible to get submersible heat for a tank this size and keep a betta? Maybe we should just go with shrimp?

Shrimp are a good idea. Get some of the nice red ones . If you are looking for a heater, try this one.

 

[naturenutty]

Thank you very much. I'm pleased we can get a heater that tiny. I'll call around to see if I can find one tomorrow. These are filtered systems. I have carbon and floss in the filters now and will run a phosguard later if algae becomes a problem. Lots of nice ideas here for what to do with these tiny tanks. I'll monitor water quality 2x a week at the very least anyhow, and will do water changes that often or more if needed. We ran a 2 gallon bowl with a betta for years with one of those little undergravel system filters. He did really well and lived a long time there. We didn't have it heated. Now I wonder if he was chilly all the time, though.

I should mention we'll keep it planted as well. There isn't lights for it, but we'll keep some low light requirement plants and rotate them through with our main tank at home if needed. Our main tank grows plants like weeds so we'll have to have somewhere to put them anyhow.

 

[jm1212]

a trio or male endler's livebearers and ghost shrimp

OR a SINGLE male fancy guppy and some ghost shrimp

OR a couple of male dwarf livebearers IF you can find them

 

[Evan214]

OKay... Thanks!

Where can I get some Endler's Livebearers if I decided to get those for this tank?

 

[jm1212]

you can find them pretty much everywhere if you look closely in the feeder guppy tanks IME, but those might be guppy/endler's hybrids...

 

[icecubez189]

personally i don't like the guppy/endler hybrid's but then again it'll be slightly harder to find pure strain endlers. well in my area it is.

 

[Evan214]

Sorry, I know I'll sound like a newbie saying this, but what is IME?
I've also seen IMO... what does that stand for as well?

 

[jm1212]

IME= in my experience
IMO= in my opinion

 

[Coldfins]

The only thing that would be remotely ok is a betta.
The midget livebearer Heterandria formosa may work.
Maybe 2 or 3 danios????
One SMALL goldfish.....you can always get a larger tank in a year or so when it gets larger.

Just remember with a smaller tank it may need cleaning more.