Office Tank

[grass nerd]

I was just wondering if anyone had a tank in their office and had a few pics to share. I am wanting to set up something small (but not tiny) with relatively little maintance in my office at work. Any suggestions or expiernces?

 

[Hrafnkel]

How small are you thinking?

 

[grass nerd]

Not too sure, that's why I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with an office tank and maintance. I would say for sure under 10 gallons.

 

[Hrafnkel]

I dunno. Maybe a five gallon with a dwarf puffer? Or something with a betta.

 

[grass nerd]

I have considered something small with a betta. However, bettas are not all that active are they? Or is that my ignorance.... I like somewhat active fish that will swim around a little.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

IME bettas are active fish and are almost always swimming.

 

[talloulou]

Bettas tend to be "inactive" when kept in bowls with no heater. But give one a decent size tank with some tropical water and they are pretty entertaining in my opinion. Plus if you feed them bloodworms they will love you! I think a Betta and some corydoras would make a nice tank. I think tonystarks has some smaller office tanks if I'm not mistaken.

 

[talloulou]

Irelatively little maintance

Any tank is going to need a regular partial water changing schedule. If you are sure not to overfeed and understock your tank then you can go longer between water changes. But the maintance is fun......it's part of the hobby.

 

[grass nerd]

I understand that. I enjoy cleaning and maintaining our 55g and 10g. I was just trying to think about about syphoning, water changes, etc. in an office.

 

[Hrafnkel]

Just make sure whatever you get has a filter unless you wanna be doing nearly constant water changes.

 

[mvigor]

I keep a Betta at work. He is very active in a 5 gallon tank.

 

[severum mama]

I keep a betta in a 5 gallon Eclipse hex tank at work. I like it because the filter and light are both included in the hood, and it has a Biowheel. I got mine at Petsmart, and you can probably get them to match their online price- it will be much cheaper. You can replace the incandescent bulb with a 10 watt CF bulb, which gives you 2 wpg to grow plants. Here is a pic:

One problem I've had with it since I replaced the bulb with a CF is that it grows a lot of hair algae, and I don't have room in there for other fish that will eat it. Instead of a betta, you could try an American flagfish or maybe even a pair of them. I hear they love hair algae, and they are very pretty fish. But if you keep the incandescent bulb in there, I think the tank would get too hot.

 

[qwertie]

Bettas tend to be "inactive" when kept in bowls with no heater. But give on a decent size tank with some tropical water and they are pretty entertaining in my opinion. Plus if you feed them bloodworms they will love you! I think a Betta and some corydoras would make a nice tank. I think tonystarks has some smaller office tanks if I'm not mistaken.

That is verry true, my betta enjoys parading across the tank and trying to steal the attention from all the other fish.
if you want a bigger tank get clown loaches they are soooo fun to watch especialy if theres a sand bottom (they dig!) if not polkadot loaches are entertaining they are good for algae to. tetras IME neons do nothing special. bettas do. shrimps are fun to watch i have some yamatos and i can watch them all day.
IMO fish on the bottom of the tank seem to be most interesting. and bettas.
so if u got a 10 gal you could get polkadots and a betta and some yamato shrimps! like me!
It is cool when you havent seen the shrimps for a while but then. ohh there one is swimming out from behind the java moss. if not bettas perhaps paradise fish? or perhaps a small veriety of gourami (moonlights are nice, the only gourami i like)
ill post anymore fish as i think of them.
you must get some type of loach!

 

[severum mama]

My betta ate my shrimp! 8O Watch out!

Don't get clown loaches unless you have a large tank for them to live in after they quickly outgrow a small office tank. They can reach 12 inches in length, given the proper conditions.

 

[qwertie]

wow really? im gonna be watching him! what sort was your shrimp?
yep i agree with severum mama completley. the people that i got my clows from told me that they only grew a bit bigger! liars i rang up the next day after tankgirl (i think) told me that they grew up to a foot long. but if you want a bigger tank definatley get clowns they are brilliant! like i said before all loaches that i have seen are fun to watch.
did you see the betta eat it? or was it the shrimp and the betta only in the tank? well i think my shrimps wont fit in his mouth anyway lol, and i doubt he could catch them. silly fish. now hes flaring at his girlfriend lol. hes wierd he either loves her or hates her.

 

[rich311k]

I have 7 gallon with the light and filter built into the hood at the office. We have a school of 8 neons in the tank. Looks nice.

 

[severum mama]

wow really? im gonna be watching him! what sort was your shrimp?

I think I had some amano shrimp. They were the same size, at any rate.

did you see the betta eat it? or was it the shrimp and the betta only in the tank? well i think my shrimps wont fit in his mouth anyway lol, and i doubt he could catch them

No, I didn't see the betta eat them. They mysteriously disappeared. I never even found the bodies. 8O The only inhabitants were the shrimp and betta. I didn't think he could eat them either!

 

[QTOFFER]

Nice tanks, mvigor and severum mama!

How do both of you do water changes in an office environment?

 

[qwertie]

No, I didn't see the betta eat them. They mysteriously disappeared. I never even found the bodies. 8O The only inhabitants were the shrimp and betta. I didn't think he could eat them either!

shrimps are invertibrates so in that temp of water theyll rot quickly won't they?

 

[severum mama]

How do both of you do water changes in an office environment?

I sneak 'em in when no one's paying attention. Or, I can do them off the clock. But mostly I just sneak them in. It doesn't take very long to change one or two gallons of water, you know? My problem has been keeping the algae in check. I may have to take the tank home because of it, since the only way I can remove it is manually. That actually does take a while. That's why I suggested a flagfish or two for grass nerd. I was going to get a couple otos, but then I learned here that it wouldn't really do any good.