The modesty of a 5 1/2 gallon tank

[Lonewolfblue]

How about Chocolate Gouramis?

 

[ultratonic1]

Nice looking fish but tricky to care for according to the little bit of reading I've don. If this is wrong let me know.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, they are tricky, need very good water conditions.....

http://www.wetpetz.com/chocgourami.html

 

[ultratonic1]

hmm, the PH alone might knock them out. the water in my area stays up around 8. I need some tough guys. So far the white cloud minnows seem up to the task.

 

[malkore]

5 gallons really isn't enough for 2 paradise fish...they get almost 3" long as adults, and if you get em as juvies, they are harder to sex.

Thats why you buy pairs. Seriously, 5½ gallon tanks are all I use for spawning my paradise...and a 3" paradise is pretty uncommon (unless you count the huge tail)....they do fabulously in them....but, with no other tank mates and at least a few plants.

I'm down to one paradise fish now, but the one that recently passed was just shy of 3" not counting the billowy tail. The remaining one isn't much smaller than my adult male kribensis, but a lot skinnier.

And are you only using a 5gallon for spawning, or is that their permanent home?

 

[ultratonic1]

This would be a full time home. So I need to go with small guys or a single fish like a betta.

 

[Toirtis]

And are you only using a 5gallon for spawning, or is that their permanent home?

Both...I have 4 set up like this...plus grow-out tanks for the fry.

 

[ultratonic1]

Well.....I have finally stocked the tank with the first inhabitants. I could not find any white clouds and based on some reading I found that a small group of lemon tetras would do just fine in this tank provided I plant it well. This won't be an issue since the plants in my 10 gallon are growing like crazy. I can transplan (pun intended) into the 5 1/2. I hope these guys will be okay. I purchased 2 and threw in some gravel from my established 10 gallon to shorten the cycle time.

 

[frenchpea2002]

so you got 2 lemon tetras? tetras, as a whole, do best in groups, and usually the very minimum number recommended is 3...and since lemon tetras get to be about 5 cm, or 2 inches, you really shouldn't put 3 in the 5g, is you go by the 1 inch rule. Personally, I think the one inch as a rule is rubbish, some need to be way under, some you can get by with over, but the fish need room to swim, and in a 5.5g, they aren't getting much. What are the actual dimensions of the tank?