Prodigal Fishkeeper

[RobynR]

I was on here a good while back, and I had a couple of tanks going... then a few things went wrong at once culminating with a major die-off while I was in the hospital having just had a baby. I wound up deciding that it was a bad time to try to get things sorted out and restarted, so the larger tank went on hiatus and then got sold when we moved about a year later. The smaller tank got put away once its inhabitant (a betta) died, but I decided to hold onto it just in case. The "just in case" seems to have come up, as my older two kids are asking for a fish. They've offered (of their own accord) to sweep the back porch every week in trade for my aquarium maintenance services. I'd been starting to think about fish again too, so I figure "teaching them responsibility" is a good excuse to dip a toe in the water. They're pretty responsible about their chores, and of course I'll take care of the fish regardless. I'll be posting elsewhere in the forum for some suggestions (I'm pretty rusty), but wanted to reintroduce myself since it's been a few years.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

back.
 
Sounds like you have good kids

 

[Midas]

Sounds good, what type of fish do you have in mind?  Check out my poll on substrate, I am curious to know how you will decide on your new set up.

 

[Dreamer03]

Welcome back!!!! And cool way of teaching kids responsibility!

 

[Jeremy180]

Sounds good, what size is the tank?

 

[RobynR]

It's just a 5-gallon. Makes me wish it was a 10 because we could do more with that and it'd be more stable, but we'll stick with what we have for now. The filter is working nicely, but I think the heater is fried -- it heats nicely, but appears to just keep on heating. So, it looks like I'll be buying a new heater.
 
The jury is still out on what type of fish. The 5-year-old has expressed a preference for more than one fish, so Endlers might be a possibility. Our local pet store has them and she says they get them locally so they're ususally in pretty good shape. The 3-year-old likes bettas (at least, since I told him his first choice of "Dory" was not an option). So we'll be doing some research and negotiation to figure out what's most likely to thrive and will make them both happy. My goal is whatever is most likely to thrive in a simple 5-gallon setup. The kids are pretty easy to please overall.

 

[Jeremy180]

Hmm, 5 gallons is pretty restrictive
 
Let's see,
 
Maybe one betta and one apple/ mystery snail comes in orange, albino/pink, zebra and regular
or
one betta and one african DWARF frog
(not too sure about compatibility here, the beta might steal all the food)
or
One dwarf frog and one mystery snail
or
a mystery snail acouple red cherry shrimp and/or a couple ghost shrimp
or
one male, two female dwarf livebearer (Heterandria formosa) and a couple red cherry shrimp OR a mystery snail
 
Oh, and do read up on fishless cycling, please.
Good luck.

 

[RobynR]

Yep, been there done that on the cycling -- definitely the way to go.
 
I've mentioned to my husband that we might be able to pick up an inexpensive used 10-gallon tank... the filter I have is rated for up to 10 gallons, and I have to buy a new heater anyway. That would open up our options significantly and be easier to keep stable. The 5 was originally purchased for a betta on my desk and it was a good fit for that, but it wouldn't be my first choice for the kids. We'll see. He's hesitant to spend much yet since the last time around ended badly.