fun scavenger for the bottom?

[JHZR2]

Hi,

I have a 5 gal galaxy tank with a real filter and biowheel. I currently have 3 serpae tetras and two zebra danios in there with live plants. I have two questions currently:

-I want something to live on the bottom, I had two ghost shrimp, but the other day my apartment's AC broke and the water temperature got to be 94F! Thye fish are all fine, but I do not see the shrimp any more. Talking to a local fish guy, he said that ghost shrimp are quite delicate and hard to keep. I dont anticipate any more AC problems, and so am wondering, what is the best bottom dweller? I have heard that red claw crabs are ok if theyre small. I wouldnt mind another shrimp either. I just need to mind the constraints of the tank, and make sure that my fish dont get eaten, as they are smaller sized fish. Any suggestions would be great.

-I currently have 5 small fish in there. They have a lot of room, and the tank seems kind of bare. Could I get away with, say two leopard danios? Would they school with the zebra ones? Whould I be better off getting two more zebra danios? I really like the two I have, they are a very nice silver/blue/yellow/black mix.

Thanks,

JMH

 

[Zic]

Well, I think that if you want more fish, you should get a bigger tank. I know it seems like they have plenty of space, but if you get a bottom feeder and two more fish, that's just too many for such a small tank.

At Petsmart, you can get a ten gallon tank with a lid for twenty five bucks. A filter will run you about twenty bucks. And you don't need a heater yet, but soon enough it will get cold, and ten bucks will get you a heater.

So, for fifty five dollars (Plus how ever much you decide to spend on decorations), you can have a ten gallon tank, which will hold the amount of fish you want with no problems. Plus, the more space you have, the more you can bend the old One-inch-per-gallon of water rule.

 

[Megalofyia]

I'm not sure what the minimum gallon requirement for a cobolt blue crawfish is but I think they are really cool scavengers.

 

[madasafish]

If you're going to get crabs or lobsters/crayfish, beware of their claws--they'll shred any live plants in your aquarium (oh, and your fingers...)!! They're also very aggresive to other fish often, especially other bottom dwellers. Otherwise, both are great ideas. But the lobsters can get relatively large (5"+), and certainly too large for a 5 gallon.

My recommendation: either get a dwarf pleco (bushy nose, hairy tiger, candy stripe come to mind), which grow to about 4 inches or less, or get a smaller loach. I have two beautiful Gangetic Loaches, also known as Angelicus Boatia loaches (Botia rostrata). They are adorable, and good bottom feeders. They will grow to 4 inches and are a lot of fun to watch--they are very lively and quick. Check them out at fishbase.org:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Botia&speciesname=rostrata

Caution, though. The lobsters, crabs and gangetic loaches are not reliable for keeping algae off your tank's sides. Plecos will do the whole deal, and if you get dwarf plecos, you won't have to worry about excessive size!

Here is a good site for info about plecos. Check out the profiles, and see which ones are smaller than 5".
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=837

Also, for the blue lobster, the same site has a blurb and a pretty picture:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1641

Oh, and please don't choose a Chinese Algae Eater, which pet stores will often encourage you to get. They grow to 10 inches and get very aggressive. Plus, they're not that pretty!

In my opinion, you should go for a 10-gallon tank. Then you can get the Danios you want, too!

Good luck with your choice!

 

[e-cat]

in such a small tank you might not want a pleco of any size do too the amount of wast that they produce, if i was you i would get acouple of cory catfish the more the better but id say no more the 4 in that size of a tank, they like being in groups, and will be boring and lonley if kept by them selfs

 

[tkos]

I would suggest a big snail. They are light on the bioload, pretty hardy and kind of fun.

Any more fish will just cause too much of a bioload on a tank that small, especially a pleco. Maybe some khuli loaches, but you will need to change the water quite often and any slight problems could lead to total tank failure very easily.

 

[e-cat]

good choice tkos, but make sure it wont eat your live plants jhzr2

 

[madasafish]

It's true... plecos are too big for that size a tank (trying to get JHZR2
to upgrade!), but I stick to my Gangetic Loach suggestion, even for the smaller tank (I've got two of them in my 10 Gallon). They are really cute.

Cory cats are a great suggestion, too. And the Kuhli loaches are fabulous, but nocturnal and sensitive to any water parameter changes. I wouldn't recommend them to new owners, having lost several myself. Also, they don't do well with commotion in the tank, and get very scared when their hiding places are taken away for cleaning.

 

[e-cat]

im sure tnhey will upgrade sooner or later i dont know any one that hasnt, yeah kuhli loaches look really nice but hide too much and mif you do get them make sure there is no openings at the back of your tank i found the only 2 iv ever owned stuck too the wall a few years back.

 

[Megalofyia]

I agree about the chineese algae eater. While he is a good little algae eater he isn't really the most attractive fish around.

 

[tkos]

Excpet for ottos, any of the algae eaters will get far too big for that tank. And ottos should be put in nothing but the most stable of tanks, as they are very fragile fish.

 

[TankGirl]

I had a crayfish and he ate all of the fish in my tank, except the large oscar, and he had the oscar cowering in a corner!

I vote for the snail, but many of them do eat plants. I got nerite snails from azgardens.com, which eat algae and do not eat plants. They also do not reproduce as prolifically as other snails, but I have never seen them offered in a LFS. They remain pretty small, about the size of a garbanzo bean

 

[Megalofyia]

Is there a difference in the temperment of blue crawfish and regular crawfish?

 

[TankGirl]

Not that I know of, but maybe someone else can say for sure. I would like to hear from anyone who has successfully kept them in a tank with fish.

 

[e-cat]

chineese algae eater will out grow that tank and will also get aggressive when it gets bigger