Ideas For Small Tanks

[mossonthemoon]

I am just brainstorming ideas for my son's room. I want to give him a small (the smaller the better, really) tank. He is only turning four tomorrow, so I would be taking care of it, and he already knows about not feeding fish without permission, etc. It doesn't necessarily have to be fish, but I want something fun for a little boy. Maybe tiny fish, or shrimp, or those micro crabs that I am only just starting to read about.

I was always quite girly in my animal choices, and he is very much a *boy*, so any advice about what would be suitable for a small tank (and I would prefer them to actually like it, not just be able to survive in a small space) and also fun for boys are very welcome. Oh and perhaps ideal dimensions for what you suggest. I am doing my own reading, but I am ending up wanting everything I come across. Thanks in advance!

 

[slimeneo]

I think a lot of kids like bettas, I volunteer at an art camp and there's a really cute kid who's in love with his new betta, haha. I'd suggest at least a 5 gal tank though. Bettas are jumpers so you might want a lid with the tank

 

[mossonthemoon]

Five gallons is fine! I was thinking somewhere around the lines of 10 or less. I know nothing about bettas. Do they prefer long or tall tanks? Am I right in thinking that I remember they might eat shrimp?

 

[slimeneo]

I'm not sure what kind of tanks they prefer, you might want to look in the betta section of the forums. When I took care of my aunt's betta fish, he only ate pellet food. I did feed him some dried shrimp though.

 

[Crossfire]

Another idea, you could have some Mosquito Rasboras or a pair of sparkling gouramis

 

[mossonthemoon]

I looked at mosquito rasboras and like them a lot! I just had a search for sparkling gourami. They look really nice too. I think I will keep this list and show him to see how he reacts. I was just doing a quick ebay search and saw Scarlet badis. They vendor said they are small tank fish. Is this accurate? They're quite nice looking, too.

 

[Crossfire]

I looked at mosquito rasboras and like them a lot! I just had a search for sparkling gourami. They look really nice too. I think I will keep this list and show him to see how he reacts. I was just doing a quick ebay search and saw Scarlet badis. They vendor said they are small tank fish. Is this accurate? They're quite nice looking, too.

Badis (and the sparkling gouramis) need at least a 10 gallon minimum.

How about a 10 gallon, with a school of mosquito rasboras with either the badis or a trio of sparkling gouramis?
Maybe even a school of pygmy cories, but I'm not sure

 

[mossonthemoon]

That sounds like a really nice mix. I can do ten gallons. I just want something that can be kept on normal (but solid) furniture, and doesn't take up a lot of room. His room is an okay size, but he has a lot of stuff. And about the lid: we have two cats so that was never a question! Lids also prevent flying Lego drops.

 

[MBOU]

Thinking of kids though, brightly coloured and slightly larger fish will be much better for them than tiny really interesting fish that all look the same and generally.. will just spend the time cowering at the back if he is looming over the tank or has his face pressed against the glass....

I think I would have to say, the bigger the tank, the easier to look after it will be for you (10 Gallon would be ideal!).

Can go for something like a small group of platies (all male so no millions of babies) or likewise a group of male guppies. That way you can have ach fish a different colour so they can be named and a rainbow of colours. Or a mix of male platy and male guppy...

Alternatively... a lovely siamese fighter (both bright blue or red seem popular with young boys) and a few tetras (neons, ember, glowlight, black neon, black phantom, red phantom, rosy, harlequin rasbora amongst many) and then some shrimp to help clean up tank.

Lots of choices but always think for younger kids, slower moving, slightly larger and brighter coloured fish seem to hold their interest better.

 

[pablothebetta]

I also thought of a betta in a 10 gallon with some smaller fish, what about a microrasbora species, ember tetras, endlers or pygmy cories? Bettas are full of personality - mine swims up to me when I go anywhere near the tank. He could probably pick his own betta too (with a little help if needed, of course), maybe something he might like?

 

[creeker]

I agree with MBOU about the little bit bigger fish. I started my two year old out with Platies too. Only thing is, I wasn't smart enough to buy just males and am now dealing with the millions of offspring.

 

[mossonthemoon]

I never really had that problem with platies! I started with three and the most I ever had was six, as far as I remember. They are nice fish! I personally wouldn't want to keep them in a smaller tank though because mine used all of the space given to them in my original 80x35x40 cm (as far as I remember) bow front, and they seemed to be poop machines. We will have our main tank as well, with bigger fish, but I do see everyone's point about interest in larger fish. He did seem impressed by the bettas he saw. I have a lot to think about!

 

[slimeneo]

Platies do poop a lot... I don't even feed them that much! my gold barbs on the other hand, scarf down everything they see yet I rarely ever see them poop. actually, they really like to eat platy poop too...

I used to want a betta, they're actually fun to play with... if you put your finger a little above the water with some food stuck to your finger, they'll jump up and eat it

 

[creeker]

I have a ton of plants in the tank, which contributes to the high survival rate of the fry. I recently cut back on the plants, moved some platies out, and have not seen any new fry for the past month.

 

[mossonthemoon]

I had a lot of big plants and caves, but I think we had rogue platies, and a very rogue pearl gourami: I caught both eating snails, and they seemed to be friends. They would swim around together and ignore their own species.