stocking suggestions

[littlefishie]

A friend of mine at the LFS gave me an old divided betta display tank, which measures 24x6x5, and is roughly a little over 3 gallons. I know I should probably just stock it with bettas, but I'm curious.
Since I checked out the pinned aquarium calculator and used these dimensions, it said my maximum inches of fish was 12. I'm assuming this is because of the massive surface area with a shallow tank.

I'm just curious as to what I could put in this tank, other than bettas. I can easily heat, light, filter, and plant it. I thought what might look really cool would be to heavily plant it, and then put in a few neons or something, but I'm not too sure about doing that. Like I said, it'd look really cool, but would it be good for the fish?

So yes, any ideas? I'm open to trying anything with this tank, since it's just sitting around.

 

[redtailblackshark]

I think you could squeeze in a white-cloud mountain minnow, I have one in a betta tank, and it does fine, the betta completely ignores it.

 

[fufanu360]

isnt tank more than 3 gallons!? and how many dividers are in it? just put bettas back in it!

 

[littlefishie]

I'd thought of more bettas, but the 4 I have are all in bigger homes than they'd have in the divided tank. Right now it's got dividers for 5 sections, but they can easily be ripped out.

And no, it's not more than 3 gallons.. I didn't make a typo with the dimensions. 2 feet long. 6" wide. 5" high. ..It's just a little over 3 gallons. I wish it were bigger, I'd have more options.

 

[fufanu360]

oo, see that is a small tank, you could buy a full grown plec, and CRAM him in it! hahahah JK (DONT GET ANY IDEAS)

 

[littlefishie]

lol I stay away from plecs completely.. I don't want any mishaps due to labelling.

I was thinking maybe a trio of WCMMs.. then I don't need to get an extra heater. I've already got the filter and a way to cover it/light it so that's not an issue. D'ya think that the trio would be okay? 1" per gallon, at the very least..

 

[wer34]

u could probly fit a school of neons in there and plant it if u wanted, there enough length for the neons to swim so u might be able to get away with slightly over stocking it, i would say 4 neons and maybe 2 or 3 pygmy cories with lots of smal plants would look very nice and should be able to work out just because of the length.

 

[OohFeeshy]

That is one wierd tank size.... Can we have a pic?

 

[littlefishie]

No problem.. it's a bit crappy, I was taking these earlier for the sake of showing someone what my room looks like.
It's at the top of my spare desk right now, just doing nothing. I want to rip the dividers out sooo bad. ..I know it's kinda oddly shaped, but it was custom made for my LFS. Then they got a bunch of employees who only understood how to clean a betta bowl, so they had to switch the bettas into that.

Tank = top right of picture.

 

[fufanu360]

u could probly fit a school of neons in there and plant it if u wanted, there enough length for the neons to swim so u might be able to get away with slightly over stocking it, i would say 4 neons and maybe 2 or 3 pygmy cories with lots of smal plants would look very nice and should be able to work out just because of the length.

thats overstocked, forget the size, think of it as 3 gallon, you wouldnt put 7 fish in a 3 gallon betta bowl, B)

 

[littlefishie]

Don't you have to take into account surface area and swimming space, though? I'm just going by the pinned aquarium calculator.. it gives me 12 inches of fish. I'm not thinking near putting that many, but I was thinking either 3 WCMMs or 3 neons or something.

 

[cutechic]

Although many would disagree, I think you could have 3 white clouds in there. It would be a little tight though.

Edit: I find neons like to be in groups more than white clouds do, and mine didn't do well in a 5g. You'd need a bigger tank for them.

Another option is ADFs (I can't remember if you're allowed those in dorms? ) or shrimp.

Edit x2: Yes, surface area does play a factor. #1- more gas exchange occurs. #2- more area on which the beneficial bacteria can grow (on the substrate).

Oh, and I'd definitely get a filter if you get white clouds.

 

[littlefishie]

Still not allowed ADFs here.. My don knows my tank is ten gallons over the limit and he's already keeping that quiet, so I'd rather not risk it.

I've got a filter designed for tanks 5 gallons and under, which I've been using in a betta tank. It doesn't really need to be in there.. I just figured it'd be nice.

I'm thinking I'll do it with sand, live plants, and a trio of the white cloud mountain minnows.. I'm not doing it yet, it's just a thought, but it's good to know I have an option.