Small Tank What To Put In?

[furry catfish]

Hello everyone I have a small 7 gallon tank which I used to have cold water fish in but I have removed most of the fish and I will give the dojo loaches to my lfs tomorrow so that leaves me with a small un lighted coldwater tank.I can't afford anything more than cold water so I think that rules out bettas.I have heard blue crayfish and crystal red shrimp would work.Is there anything else I can put in there? (obviously not with the cray) but maybe with or instead of the shrimp?


chris

 

[anwhyte]

Hello everyone I have a small 7 gallon tank which I used to have cold water fish in but I have removed most of the fish and I will give the dojo loaches to my lfs tomorrow so that leaves me with a small un lighted coldwater tank.I can't afford anything more than cold water so I think that rules out bettas.I have heard blue crayfish and crystal red shrimp would work.Is there anything else I can put in there? (obviously not with the cray) but maybe with or instead of the shrimp?


chris

maybe a few white cloud mountain minnows, they would prefer a longer rather tham taller tank though.

 

[Truck]

I wouldn't put minnows in there its a little too small...shrimp would work well, as would scarlet badis.

if you add a heater it really does give you more options

 

[furry catfish]

White clud minnows are actually the fish I just took out of there But scarlet badis,how many could I put in there and could I put it/them in with the shrimp?




thanks

Wait are you sure scarlet badis because it says on google that they only tolerate temeratures as low as 23 c

 

[Truck]

Its a sub tropical fish, so providing your house isn't freezing it will be fine, IIRC gill kept one in a 1 gallon cube

 

[furry catfish]

well I live in england and anyone from here will say it is VERY cold in the winter but my room is vey warm and the tank is near enough to the radiator to get a bit of warmth.So anyway could I house around 3 with about 5-10 shrimp?

 

[Truck]

you could keep 3 females quite easily, with 10-20 shrimp.

an Ideal setup would be a tank with leaf litter with bogwood, this will stain the water and give it a really biotopey look, obviously an artistic license is required for the shrimp Lol

 

[furry catfish]

So how do you tell the diffrence between the males and females?.Also how do I get leaf litter?,do I just pick it off the floor and then boil it or somthing?

 

[Truck]

Females will be the dullest out of the two, and will generally be plumper.

1 male and 2 females would work well in this case.

Leaf litter, can be picked, oak leaves work well, but boil them for an hour or so and then soak them till they sink. one problem that you may face is pollution, so make sure they're from a place you can trust, such as a nature trail where pesticides aren't used.

Another alternative is almond leaves which are expensive but are available from ebay.

 

[furry catfish]

Thanks for the advivce,I will get 1 male scarlet badis and 2 females with 20 or so crystal red shrimp.But I will hae to pick the leaves my self because If I had 10 quid to spair I would have bought a heater

 

[furry catfish]

Oh wait sorry I just remebered somthing,don't leaves rot?

 

[Truck]

no, they must be dead and dried out when you find them though.

 

[furry catfish]

oh ok well im going to go get kindiling now so i'll loook for them

 

[furry catfish]

I couldn't find any but I did think of somthing.I heard The tanin in the leaves is toxic.Is that true?

 

[Truck]

no its not toxic at all, its beneficial to the fish, it lowers the PH and makes the environment more suitable