5 Gallon Stocking?

[Channti]

I'm off to university in less than a month. At home, I've got a 15 gallon community tank, and a 10 gallon guppy tank.

The university won't allow tanks larger than 5 gallons in the residence rooms, so taking my guppies to university wasn't an option as the tank is too large. I found a used 5 gallon tank in really good condition that I picked up cheap last week.

I've been brainstorming some stocking for the tank. my original idea was to do a Half-Moon or Crown-Tail Betta + Trio of Corys.

Can anyone else give me some other ideas?

Obviously the tank would be filtered and heated with regular weekly maintenance.

I'm open to any suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[Bebobb]

The only thing I could think of would be a betta. If he has the right personality, you could have some shrimp instead of corries.

 

[Channti]

The only thing I could think of would be a betta. If he has the right personality, you could have some shrimp instead of corries.

In my 15 gallon community I've got 5 panda corys, and in my 10 gal guppy tank, I've got 3 peppered corys.
I love my corys, but it'd be nice to do something different.

Everyone keeps Bettas.
I kinda want to do something different... you know?

The half-moon or Crown-tail Betta would be different from the basic Betta everyone else kept...
but I'd love to do something different from the Betta... you know?

 

[Bebobb]

Yeah, maybe a single dwarf puffer, but that is it. Maybe some otos.

 

[craig855s]

microrasbora? (ive played with this idea for my 4 gallon)
shrimps
CT betta

not together obviously

 

[nmonks]

Dwarf puffers shouldn't be kept in tanks as small as 5 gallons. Yes, people allow 3-5 gallons per dwarf puffer, but tanks below, say, 10 gallons in size are too small to easily provide the very stable, clean water conditions puffers need.

The only fish suitable for tanks at the 5 gallon size are domesticated bettas, and even then, it's more that they tolerate such conditions that they enjoy them. I'd suggest instead you concentrate on invertebrates. Shrimps thrive in small tanks if you have good lighting to stimulate the growth of algae and plants such as Java moss. Cherry shrimps are the obvious choice, but crystal red shrimps and bumblebee shrimps are equally charming. A community of shrimps, plants, and pretty snails like spiny nerites and Clea helena can be wonderfully fun to watch, almost like a micro reef tank.

Very, very few community fish are even suitable for 10 gallon tanks. Even things like Corydoras need more space, except the true "pygmy" forms like Corydoras habrosus and Corydoras hastatus. Otocinclus have no business in small tanks; for a start they are *schooling* fish, so you can't keep "one or two", and secondly, they're very sensitive to poor water conditions. The attrition rate of this species is dire, and most folks who keep them find they die very quickly, usually within weeks of purchase. They are also difficult to feed, and need green algae to do well.

Cheers, Neale

 

[matchstickman47]

HI

i keep a dwarf puffer in a 6 gallon with 5 pygmy cories

hes fine and ive had no problems

if you put in enough plants a dwarf puffer will be fine in there..... i got lucky with the corie compatibility


corie like groups ... im sure you are aware so the corie you could keep in the biggest group is the pymy cory

they are very common in fish shops and do well in smaller tanks

you could keep em with dps or bettas if you realy wanted to but... a word of advise... add the cories first
its all about the fish in question tho... some bettas wont share with ottos

 

[OneOnion]

I'm getting a five gallon tank and I asked this same question so I'll share with you what I;m going to put in my five gallon.

Some Red Cherry Shrimp
Four Male Guppies

Thats it. Hope I helped.

EDIT: Of course, if you want something different from guppies, I didn't help at all here. Good luck

 

[saltynay]

My 5 gallon contains:

6 male guppy/endler hybrids
1 horned nerite
Red cherry shrimp
Blue tiger shrimp
Tiger shrimp
Amano shrimp
Black cardinia balbulti
Red ramshorns
Pond snails
Malaysian trumpet snails
Assassin snails

Previously had a betta in there and two ADFs