5 Gallon Hex

[Greg]

Hmmmm....

I have a 5 gallon hex tank and I'd like to stock it.
Preferably with some detritivores and limited live plants (silk/artificial preferred).
The fish don't have to be anything especially pretty...
I've got some experience with bettas in 3-5 gallon tanks and I am ready and willing to take on new challenges... But not too challenging; I have a life! ;P (Right?)

So...
...easy fish and possibly some crawlies (shrimp? crayfish!...?) in a 5g hex.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,
Confused

 

[SeverumGuy]

Sad to say a 5g doesn't give much option. Since it's a hex, that will limit you more because the tank is taller than it is in length. You could go with a few ghost shrimp for the bottom. They're really low maintainence and are a great cleanup crew. Small schooling fish such as zebra danios will do well in a 5g, but you really only have room for 3 danios that you can put with like 3-4 ghost shrimp. That's only if you have proper filtration. I don't feel like the shrimp take up much room, but they will get into arguments if you have too many in one area. You could always look into 2-3 platies. I wouldn't push more than 3 in that tank. Good luck. Let us know what you decide on

 

[Greg]

Thanks for the reply!
Yeah... I had thought of that with the length:width:height factor...
Bamboo shrimp? I know ghost shrimp are an option, but I don't necessarily want too many- this tank is in my kitchen and something about translucent crap eaters with creepy pale eyes is not appetizing...
Danios are shoaling fish-- wouldn't they want more company?

 

[bluerose]

Danios are too active for a 5g, much less a hex.

I have 7 Amanos, a female betta, and 3 cardinal tetras in mine. The tetras are OK but I think would prefer a larger tank.

You could do red cherry shrimp instead, but you might need to make sure you have a fish that will either snack on the baby shrimp or get all males or females... you'd be overrun shortly with shrimp. They also like live plants... which, if you do, say, java moss, anubias nana, and java fern, would be very simple to take care of. Live plants also give you some more flexibility since they help keep your nitrates in check.

 

[SeverumGuy]

Yeah, danios are one of those fish that do better with 6 or more. I have a 10g with glofish which are actually just an genetically altered zebra danio. For the longest time, I only had 3 (one of each color). They did just fine in there, but they did like to venture away from each other. Now I have six in there and they're even happier. It's a lot more interesting to watch a larger group of schoolers. That's why I brought up the platy idea. You can do three of those just fine as well. They're happier with more company as well, but I have seen plenty of tanks with only a couple and they are happy. Platies grow larger than danios so 2 would probably be as many as you could go. If you have proper filtration and plan on maintaining the tank well, you can put 4 danios in there. Most of the schooling fish I keep I only get 4 because I like a bunch of different fish in my tank.

 

[LemurLad]

If you can find them, Dwarf Croaking Gouramis (Trichopsis Pumila) are great for nano tanks. They'll do just fine in a hex as they only get 1.5" and aren't as active swimmers as danios. You could probably get a trio in there, the males will flare up at each other and once in a while they make these neat croaking sounds. They kinda have the same form factor as a betta, but IMO are much more interesting fish, can be shy though.

Another great little fish is the Scarlet Badis. They top out at just under an inch, but have all the personality of a full sized cichlid. As with the gouramis, a trio or a pair would be fine in your tank. These guys can be a little uncommon too.

 

[BigJim]

Shrimp tank! Skip the ghosts and go for a red cherry shrimp. In addition to red, they come in white, yellow, and blue. If you're really up for a challenge, look at crystal and sulawesi shrimp.

 

[Greg]

How expensive are cherry shirmp? I haven't seen any at my LFS ever or any that I've been to, actually...

I've in fact had a java fern but a bloom of zooplankton got me freaked out-- the copepods scared me and I boiled the heck out of everything-- Does this always happen? Are these kinds of organisms harmful to a tank?

I like the idea of a shrimp tank but those Gourami's look fabulous, LemurLad!

...Would the shrimp really breed like rabbits as described??

 

[BigJim]

They're not very common in my LFSs either. I actually found my RCS on Craigslist. I had to drive a little ways to get them, but I paid $1 a piece for them. I'd seen them in one of my LFSs for $3 a piece. They've dropped in price recently. You can get RCS online for about $0.50-$1.00 a piece. I was in another LFS last week and I found yellow shrimp and blue pearl shrimp. They're both color variants of RCS. I traded some RCS for a few blue pearls, so I didn't ask the price. I have to go back this weekend to get some more to establish a breeding colony.

They do breed readily, but they don't take over. I have java moss in all three of my shrimp habitats and I don't realize how many shrimp there are until I dig through the moss. They're pretty valuable as trade fodder at the right LFS, so a big population isn't a bad thing in my mind.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

How about red cherry shrimp and galaxy rasboras or endlers guppies?

 

[MartinBlank]

Couldn't a single dwarf gourami do ok in a 5 gallon hex? Or do they do better in pairs?

 

[LemurLad]

Yeah, one would probably be fine on it's own, but you wouldn't get to see them flare up and they probably wouldn't make the croaking noises. They definitely enjoy the company of their species, at least in my experience.