3 gallon impulse buy

[Mystery]

I got a good deal online for a 3 gallon mini-aquarium. I admit it was a bit of an impulse buy, but wondered what suggestions people might have for it.

I was thinking for something simple and dramatic for my writing desk like just black sand and rocks with red cherry shrimp? Or a small planted tank with red-leafed plants and yellow shrimp?

Any other fun ideas for a small tank?

[HN1]

I like the planted idea... with black sand and shrimp!

[neurotik]

Small tanks are always a ton of fun to create little planted tanks out of and add some shrimp or snails and small schooling fish to help add a bit of contrast and color amongst the plants. Definitely go with a dark substrate, I think that would look best, and maybe some Red Cherry Shrimp, or even some Yellow ones which also look really cool. For fish, there's several different types of small tetras that would look nice in a small planted tank to help add some color to it. I've actually been thinking of starting a small tank similar to this myself sometime very soon, should be a lot of fun!

[Mystery]

I hadn't thought of tetras. What type would be happy in a 3g?

[Leeny]

Ember tetras would do very well in a 3g tank since they're so tiny.

[neurotik]

Any of the smaller type of neons would probably look nice. The standard neon tetras, or black neons may appeal to you depending on what type of color you're looking for once you get your tank set up with plants and such. Cardinal tetras may look nice too if you want to add some red to your setup.

Tetras prefer to be in groups of at least five or six because they enjoy schooling together and having a group of them will help to bring out their colors a lot more, so keep that in mind if you decide to go with tetras!

Edit: Ember Tetras would also be an excellent choice for your tank, as Leeny suggested above; however, in my experience, I've had trouble finding Embers in some of my LFS, but perhaps you will have more luck at yours.

[Mystery]

I wasn't really thinking of fish as I tend to assume 5g is the lower limit. But if embers would be happy in a tank that size (or microrsboras?) That would be nice. I will probably get it started with the shrimp and then think about maybe adding some microfish of some sort.

[HN1]

I agree that ember tetras, micro rasboras, or CPDs, would work. I'm sure there are others. Keep in mind that the amount of attention to detail required is inversely proportional to tank size. It's easier to reach stability and maintain it in a larger tank. Things crash faster in smaller.

[JustOneMore20]

CPDs are far to active for a 3g tank. I don't think Embers would be happy either. I have both in larger tanks and I can't imagine putting them in something so small.

I would stick to some shrimp and not fish. 3g is tiny. Ghost shrimp would look cool against some black sand. Cherry shrimp would be nice too.

[Mystery]

I have a 1g with two snails and 3 yellow shrimp and they all seem happy. But I don't want stock that willm feel cramped. I will probably go with some kind of dwarf shrimp.