5 gallon ideas?

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Spen2cer

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I have a 5 gallon tank that I want to set up, and I am at a block for ideas for scapes and stocking. I am thinking of 6 golden white cloud minnows for stocking, and I need some ideas for plants, substrate, and hardscape. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
Golden white clouds are one of my favorite fish. Iā€™m afraid you need at least 20 gallons for them though and they should be in a group of six. 5 gallons is good for one betta or perhaps some Red Cherry Shrimp.
 
Yes, I agree, a betta is pretty much the only fish you could put in there. You could put a snail in with the betta. Nerite snails are good because they will eat all the algae and they can only reproduce in brackish water, so your tank won't be overrun with snails. You could also put in some shrimp with him, but this doesn't always work out because the betta will sometimes eat them. You could even make this an all shrimp tank.

As for the scaping, you could do an asian theme if you decide on a betta. You could get a little temple and a buda. My betta tank has some clay pots in it. You just have to make sure to sand down any sharp edges and cover the hole at the bottom.

There are so many options when it comes to plants. Anacharis is a great plant in my opinion. It grows really tall really fast, and you have to work really hard to kill it.
Anubias is a really nice plant and it comes in all sorts of varieties. The only thing about the anubias is that it is a low light plant and you can't bury the roots in the substrate.
I also really love marimo moss balls. They look really cool and unique, and fish, especially betta fish, love them. They are also really good for your water because they take some of the nitrates out.
If you want to carpet the floor of your aquarium, you could use dwarf hair grass. I haven't had any experience with this plant so I don't know much about it, but I do know that it doesn't need any fertilizer or much care.

The type of substrate you use depends on what plants you are going to have. I just have gravel in my tanks, but you could get special gravel for plants, you could get sand, or those colorful plastic gems. If you have plants like the ones I mentioned above, you don't need any special substrate. I have all those plants except for the dwarf hair grass, and they are thriving without any fertilizer or special substrate.

Good luck!
 
I have a 5 gallon tank that I want to set up, and I am at a block for ideas for scapes and stocking. I am thinking of 6 golden white cloud minnows for stocking, and I need some ideas for plants, substrate, and hardscape. Does anyone have any ideas?

I usually check Aquarium Advisor once i make up my mind to make sure I'm not over stocking my tank.
http://www.aqadvisor.com/

6 fish in a 5 gallon tank may be too many fish.
 
About all you can do in a 5G is one betta, or a few Red Cherry Shrimp although they will end up multiplying and need a larger tank or a nice snail. Good luck!
 
You canā€™t do much with a 5 gallon since itā€™s so small but here are a few ideas:
An African dwarf frog tank! 2 African dwarf frogs can happily fit in a 5 gallon tank. They usually donā€™t do well with tank mates so if recommend just keeping them with each other. Iā€™ve made some really beautiful planted tanks with them that have done amazingly well. African dwarf frogs may seem pretty boring at a glance but itā€™s so fun watching them interact, swim to the surface, sing, and eat!
A betta tank: Honestly I would recommend a female betta for a 5 gallon. They are typically more energetic than males since they donā€™t have to deal with large fins and are just as beautiful. A tank with black sand and healthy live plants, maybe a little hardscape would look beautiful with a single betta.
A shrimp tank: Shrimp are very sensitive so itā€™s a bit risky keeping them in a tank this small but if water quality is highly monitored, they can thrive in 5 gallons. They also do very well with live plants! You might even be able to add a nerite snail or two once you are sure the tank is taking the bioload of the shrimp.
I hope I could help! Let us know if you decide on the stocking of your tank
 
Red cherry shrimp are very hardy and would do well. Just remember, 6 months down the line you may need a 10G due to all of the babies. Good luck!
 
How about a scarlet badis? They do well in small spaces and you could plant it with the plants that FishFinatic suggested. They eat frozen and live foods. I feed them brine shrimp and blood worms. If you live by a pond it is easy to get mosquito larvae to feed them as well.
 
It's important to remember that the size of a fish doesn't always determine the size tank it needs. The scarlet badis actually needs a 10 gallon tank. The betta is the only fish for a 5 gallon.
 
I'm getting ready to put 6 Zebra Longfin Danio's in a 5 gallon. Right now they are about 3/4" long. They are in a larger tank but I feel it was getting overstocked and the Danio's in particular is what made it feel that way. And I think the rest of the tank is plotting to kill them they are so crazy hyper!

They are truly one of my favorite fish - they never ever stop moving. Perfect schoolers - area wise the 5 gallon will probably give them more room to school than they have in my 29 gallon tank because they won't have to compete with other fish for schooling and "playing tag". Happy energetic eaters, I do have one dominate one that's kind of an SOB but that's not supposed to be the case. Then you could do the tank in a nice black and white theme with green plants and brown driftwood as the highlight. While they occasionally hide in plants - I never seen one hide in a cave or ornament - mainly because they are always together except during feeding time - then it's every fish for themselves! 6 may technically be too many but because they hang out together when they aren't eating, most of the time they aren't even using a quarter of the tank.

I too love Cherry Barbs but I think you'd be bored out of your mind watching 5 of those swim. They are lovely fish but kind of background fist instead of the main stars like the Danio's. I also have some very tiny Harliquin Rasdoras that would fit - right now they can't school because they are intimidated by the Danio's - so I'm thinking this decision would be best for all.

After I buy a bigger tank (50 gal or so) the Danio's will go in the big tank and I'll use the 5 gal as a quarantine or "hostpital" tank. ;;

Jan
 
Personally, I absolutely love Pheonix Rasboras. They're adorable, with huge eyes, and very vibrant colors if kept in a planted aquarium. Also, they measure in at just one centemeter at full size. I've heard that some people even keep up to 20 in a 5 gallon, because of their incredibly small bioload, but I've only ever kept 5. Hope this helps!
 

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