some ideas for my 5 1/2 gallon

[wrs]

im hoping to be getting a light for my 5.5 g in a few weeks, or so. Now its home to some cichlids that we will be returning to the store hopefully. thye are my brothers, so I cant really do anything about it. I know they need to go back but he wont return them, you cant even seem them in the tank w/out a light, so i dont know why he wants them. and i have to idea at all what kind they are.

but, thats not what this is about....
i have 4 ideas, i dont know if any of them are even good ideas at all though,

1. planted, 1 betta and 3 ottos
2. planted, a small school of tetras, small ones like neons
3. mini tangunyika shell dweller tank, read that a pair of small ones can live in a 5 gallon, 2 multifacitus, or a monogomus type.
4. a nano SW tank,

what do yall think?

 

[Discomafia]

I wouldn't really recommend the 3 ottos as they'd need more territory than that. It'd work in a 10 gal. tho'. And you don't want to keep a lone otto either, so I guess ottos are out of the question. The betta would definitely work, you could even put in a partition to divide the tank and then keep 2!

And I think you'd need 5 or 6 neons for a nice school, so I don't know if 5.5 gallons is enough space for them.

I know that a 5.5 gallon SW nano would be a lot of hard work, so only go into this if you have prior experience in SW or are getting a lot of help.

A lone dwarf puffer would be a good solution for an empty 5.5 gallon, and if you're interested in something different, you can also get a Fire Bellied Newt in there, as long as the temp. is below 75F.

How many watts do you have, because you mentioned you wanted to make it a planted tank. The betta would do well in that tank IMO.

 

[sylvia]

I think the otos and betta idea would work...

6 neon tetras would also work IMO.

The tanganyika shelly tank would work but I wouldn't go for multifasciatus. A monogamous type would be best. Multifasciatus live in colonies so I don't think 2 only would suit them.

Have you considered Endler's?
Or maybe honey gouramies?
Or some small rasboras (up to or under 1")?
4-6 pygmy cories could also work.

I have to say I like the dwarf puffer suggestion.

If you go brackish, you could get bumblebee goby - or go for the freshwater bumblebee.

There's also killifish to choose from.
American flag fish are nice but you probably could only keep one as they are territorial. Kind of like a mini-cichlid that'll eat algae, is very adaptable and not as aggressive except when breeding.

 

[DarkSide]

Wow this gives me plenty of options to choose from, as I was wondering the same thing. You would aslo be able to get ADF's and some small snails.

And if you were up for it you could maintain a small colony (1-4 ) of fiddler crabs.

 

[sylvia]

And there's always shrimp too

 

[wrs]

the ideas, lol. i really like them all.

i dont know what the watt of the light is because i havent gotten it yet, lol. I am hoping to this weekend. Ive been meaning to get it for ages, lol.

Ill have to think about what I want to do, i have like 3 tanks that Im getting new fish for, its exciting to try diffrent things. Im sick of guppies and platties, lol.