New tank, comments, help and suggestions?

[MABJ]

Didn't know what I was doing at first, but I finally have a tank I'm happy to call mine.

So, as is all I'm capable of, my tank is 5 gallons. I move around a lot -- I'm in college.

I've had the tank for 6 months with water in it, dosing it with fish food and doing water changes. I eventually got bored, call me what you will, I put a clan of shrimp in.

I kept the params in check, and before I knew it, it was cycled.

Through it all, I had a batch of babies and one passed from what I think is old age.

Now, after letting it sit for a few more weeks, I decided to put fish in it!

I searched and found the perfect fishie for me.

I bought a Red Flame Honey Gourami. I think. All I know is that it will fit my tank at 2 inches, and I'm happy with it

So. Any advice on taking care of her? She is warming up to the tank, but I'm obviously a new owner. How do you know they're happy/situated? What's a great food combination?


NEXT. I've never done this; I love how plants filtrate and how they look. So I want to make a planted tank. After light research, I've discovered I have a 10-15 watt light. I think Anarcharis and Java Moss might be good starters for me.

NEXT. I really want to add a few bottom feeders, in addition to the four shrimp.

Note: Since my dimensions are only an inch or two off a 10 gallon, I want to be polite in saying there is no big difference (TO ME) between the two other than height. To clarify, if a bottom feeder can fit in a ten, to me, it will fit in MY five gallon.

So let me know what y'all have to say
Can't wait.

 

[CleverBs]

Id say no bottom feeder can fit in a 5gallon tank, anything other then an Oto gets to big and an oto needs to be in schools and if you got a school of them they would make your water paramiters terrible. IMO a honey gourami and shrimp is a stocked tank adding more will give you some bad water. However for plants go for it shimp love nothing more then some good plants to run around in.

 

[MABJ]

Hey thanks for the reply I've actually done a little research on otos that says they like groups but are OK in groups roughly of two to three. I don't think that would kill parameters, do you?

 

[MABJ]

Some pictures, because pictures are always appreciated

 

[MABJ]

Some more pictures, because you can never have enough. Lol.

 

[ashleynicole]

Your gourami may try to eat your shrimp, so be careful. IMO, a 5 gallon tank is not suitable for oto's, as they are very active and need to constantly graze. If the gourami leaves the shrimp alone, then the dwarf gourami and shrimp are just about all you can do with a 5 gallon. Trust me, if you start trying to add more fish, you will start having more problems.

 

[MABJ]

Understandable. What kind of problems? What space do you recommend for ottos?

 

[librarygirl]

Stocking a tank is more than putting fish in because they fit. Things like their activity level, whether they need groups, etc should be accounted for. You Gourami is very pretty! You can tell a happy fish: if she's swimming, eating, doesn't look to be breathing hard or gasping at the surface, if fins are spread and not clamped. She'll let you know if something is wrong. Just don't over-feed, , test the water regularly to ensure ammonia and nitrite remain at 0 and nitrates don't rise above 20, keep up with regular weekly water changes using dechlorinator to remove waste, etc and replenish nutrients and you should be fine. As for food, you could do pellets, flakes, and she'd appreciate some meaty foods like frozen shrimp and bloodworms (the freeze-dried foods tend to cause bloat in some fish).

 

[eco23]

Even sites that make money selling Otos recommend a minimum 30 gallon planted tank. I'm not saying they can't be kept in smaller tanks...but there's no way I'd even remotely consider them in a 5 gallon (or imaginary 10).

 

[MABJ]

Stocking a tank is more than putting fish in because they fit. Things like their activity level, whether they need groups, etc should be accounted for. You Gourami is very pretty! You can tell a happy fish: if she's swimming, eating, doesn't look to be breathing hard or gasping at the surface, if fins are spread and not clamped. She'll let you know if something is wrong. Just don't over-feed, , test the water regularly to ensure ammonia and nitrite remain at 0 and nitrates don't rise above 20, keep up with regular weekly water changes using dechlorinator to remove waste, etc and replenish nutrients and you should be fine. As for food, you could do pellets, flakes, and she'd appreciate some meaty foods like frozen shrimp and bloodworms (the freeze-dried foods tend to cause bloat in some fish).

Thanks a bunch I'm not completely new to the hobby. Just plants and certain fish!

Thanks for the info on my little girl. She seems to be happy then, just not terribly active yet. Im sure she'll get there.

I know it is about activity and their detailed personalities

I just personally love how Corydoras and Otos look/eat/ and are. I know for a fact the poor guys in my area at my lfs get thrown in 1-3 gals or in 10+ gals which are vastly overstocked. They get flushed days later. :/

 

[ashleynicole]

Understandable. What kind of problems? What space do you recommend for ottos?

Problems such as, problems with water parameters and territorial issues. Gouramis can be aggressive and territorial, and in a tank that small he is probably best off by himself.
Personally I wouldn't put an oto in anything smaller than a 20 gallon due to their activity level. Mine are very active and swim all over my 29 gallon tank.

 

[MABJ]

I do understand. I may add a snail or two along with a few shrimp

SO now I have to figure out what is going on plant wise what should I add/how do I begin?

 

[ashleynicole]

Java fern on a small piece of driftwood would be a good start. I have two 5 gallons I am getting ready to plant, each has a female betta in it. I am thinking of getting a small piece of malaysian driftwood and cutting it in half so I can put half in each tank with some java fern. I put some of my dwarf sagittaria out of my main tank, but I am not sure how it will grow. It all depends on what you like. You can look on websites like plantgeek.net to get some ideas on what will grow in your tank and how much work you want to put into it. I think small tanks can be a lot of fun as long as you don't try to overstock them. And trust me, I know its hard when your looking at all the fish at the store, I am always like, I want one of each! lol.

EDIT: you also might want to think about fertilizers depending on how many plants you want. If you start with something simple you probably don't need fertilizer, heck I did my planted for 2 years without any fertilizer. But once i started using ferts I was hooked at how well it made my plants grow and look. There are some good articles that you can read in the articles section as well.