5 gallon...Help me out.

[xIHaKIx]

Im gonna go out buy one, I dont want nothing to fancy in it. Its not gonna have a heater or filter. I dont want a goldfish but I want something cool looking help me out, what can I do with a small 5 gallon to have on my desk with no heater or lamp. I was thinking a few shrimp and snails?

 

[Lance M.]

Why aren't you going to have a filter? I could understand a heater but I don't know why you wouldn't have a filter.

What types of shrimp/snails are you thinking of putting in?

 

[id10t]

Get a 5 gal with filter and light at walmart for $30, put a betta and 3 of the smallest corys you can find (julii, schwartzi, or dwarf are all small)

 

[DepotFish]

Betta or two-three females, I don't know of any other fish that does well without a filter.

 

[xIHaKIx]

What will I be able to do with a filter and a light?

 

[mvigor]

Filter the water and light the tank, plus provide a little bit of heat.

Please scrounge up $30 and buy THIS TANK at Wal-Mart:

http://www.vigorfamily.com/post_images/fishnpics/betta_aquarium/betta_aquarium.html

 

[xIHaKIx]

link dosent work...Im guessing its the betta tank in your aquarium link?

 

[TankGirl]

You can have a filterless, heaterless 5gal tank on your desk, and if the room gets any natural light, or if you have a desk lamp you can grow java fern in there and have a white cloud minnow and some snails. This is what we call a "natural" aquarium, where the plants use the toxic waste products from the fish and produce oxygen for it. A friend of mine has two such tanks (bowls, rather) and they do very well. She has no light on the tanks and the java fern grows fine on ambient room light. These tanks stay cool but unless your house gets extremely cold in winter it is warm enough. White clouds do not mind this a bit.

The caveat with a tank like this is that you need to do a PWC every day or every other day, at least that is to what I attribute my success with natural aquariums, and the success of my friend's setup.

 

[An t-iasg]

Please do not consider a betta for this tank unless you can provide a 25 watt heater and a sponge filter. Bettas do not do well with fluctuating/cool temperatures, and even though they can breathe at the surface of the water, a filter is still necessary. If a betta is in water with a high ammonia level, it will get gill burns. A filter will prevent that, and a 5 gallon tank will stay cycled nicely with a sponge filter.

 

[Guest]

I would get one of those little internal filters from walmart made for a 5-10 gallon tank, a small heater.. and set it up for a betta and some otos' or cories and snails. Not much maintenance and it would be nice.

 

[TankGirl]

There are more and more products available now for tiny tanks - I have a Hydor heater (a pad, really, it has no thermostat) that you can bury in the substrate or suction it to the side, and it raises the water temp a couple of degrees. There are also the new Stingray submersible filters for very small tanks that are like a powerhead with a sponge filter inside - they move more water than you would think but are small and would work for a 5gal.

 

[mvigor]

Strange, the link works for me, but yes, it's the 5 gallon hex betta tank with the light and filter built into the hood with a bio-wheel. Damn good value and I'm thinking about buying them for Christmas presents.