Fish for a 5gal or 10 gal?

[Aqua315]

I finally have a full time desk job and I want to get a small fish tank at my desk. I MIGHT have room for a 10gal but most likely I'll be looking for a 5gal (I need to be able to carry it to the sink for water changes). I know most people will say only bettas are suitable for tanks that size but I'm looking for something different. I know there are some nanofish that don't need a lot of room and shrimp and snails are always an option. Does anyone have any stocking suggestions?

[FishCr8zy]

Originally Posted by Aqua315

I finally have a full time desk job and I want to get a small fish tank at my desk. I MIGHT have room for a 10gal but most likely I'll be looking for a 5gal (I need to be able to carry it to the sink for water changes). I know most people will say only bettas are suitable for tanks that size but I'm looking for something different. I know there are some nanofish that don't need a lot of room and shrimp and snails are always an option. Does anyone have any stocking suggestions?

Dwarf puffers will be ok. But for a 5 gal, I would go for a nano planted tank with shrimp. Those kind of tanks look really cool.

[azmodan]

Here are some options:

Scarlet badis
Dwarf puffer (1 per 5 gal)
Dwarf shrimp
Small school of chili rasboras or CPDs
Sparkling gourami

[FishCr8zy]

Originally Posted by azmodan

Here are some options:

Scarlet badis
Dwarf puffer (1 per 5 gal)
Dwarf shrimp
Small school of chili rasboras or CPDs

Chili rasboras are pretty cool fish.

[bettaowner]

Elassoma evergladei is another cool nano fish native to north America

[Mebbid]

Have you thought about a nano reef? Some corals and a few inverts would be nice. Also, you can get away with only changing 2 quarts of water weekly on something like that.

Other than that the already suggested ideas are all good plans.

[PockX]

Could do a like 2 dwarf frogs in there..shrimps..I would personally do a puffer myself.

[Aqua315]

Originally Posted by azmodan

Here are some options:

Scarlet badis
Dwarf puffer (1 per 5 gal)
Dwarf shrimp
Small school of chili rasboras or CPDs
Sparkling gourami

It says on Live Aquaria though that Scarlet badis are best kept in a species only aquarium so how many would be good for a 5 gal?

The dwarf puffer looks really interesting! How active are they? If I can only have one, I want to make sure they're interesting to look at! Also Live Aquaria says they're carnivores. Can they eat dried food like bloodworms? I'm not sure my co-workers would appreciate me sticking brine shrimp or worms in the fridge.

How many chili rasboras could I get if I also got a sparkling gourami in the tank?

Can I put any inverts like shrimp or snails in the tank with any of these fish?

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

[Jds1202]

Could get frozen bloodworms. The pack they come in is like 5"x3" maybe and could put them in a brown bag so you can't tell what it is. If you got a puffer of course

[Mebbid]

You could just thaw some bloodworms at home and bring them to work in a small tupperware container. Just be sure to feed them as soon as you get to your desk because they will go bad after a few hours.

[FishCr8zy]

Originally Posted by Mebbid

Have you thought about a nano reef? Some corals and a few inverts would be nice. Also, you can get away with only changing 2 quarts of water weekly on something like that.

Other than that the already suggested ideas are all good plans.

I thought small SW tanks were really hard to take keep parameters correct?

[FishCr8zy]

Originally Posted by Aqua315

It says on Live Aquaria though that Scarlet badis are best kept in a species only aquarium so how many would be good for a 5 gal?

The dwarf puffer looks really interesting! How active are they? If I can only have one, I want to make sure they're interesting to look at! Also Live Aquaria says they're carnivores. Can they eat dried food like bloodworms? I'm not sure my co-workers would appreciate me sticking brine shrimp or worms in the fridge.

How many chili rasboras could I get if I also got a sparkling gourami in the tank?

Can I put any inverts like shrimp or snails in the tank with any of these fish?

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

I think the only fish that shrimp and small snails can't go with are dwarf puffers and maybe scarlet badis. Dwarf puffers will enjoy eating bloodworms definitely. Small pond/ramshorn snails are also a good treat.

[Aqua315]

I think I'm definitely leaning toward the dwarf puffer after reading about how active they can be. I'm finding a lot of conflicting information about care though. Some websites say they need fine sand as substrate only because of their sensitive skin as well as a heavily planted tank. Also, how much should I feed? I'm assuming those frozen blood worm cubes are too much for one feeding. Is there a way to get less?

[Mebbid]

Originally Posted by FishCr8zy

I thought small SW tanks were really hard to take keep parameters correct?

They can be. But if all you are keeping is a few corals and shrimp then there is almost no ammonia making its way into the system and it shouldn't be terribly difficult to handle.

[Jds1202]

Could cut the cubes.

[azmodan]

Originally Posted by Aqua315

I think I'm definitely leaning toward the dwarf puffer after reading about how active they can be. I'm finding a lot of conflicting information about care though. Some websites say they need fine sand as substrate only because of their sensitive skin as well as a heavily planted tank. Also, how much should I feed? I'm assuming those frozen blood worm cubes are too much for one feeding. Is there a way to get less?

Sand is preferred but not a requirement. Plants are also beneficial and you could do low light low maintenance plants if you want. With the bloodworms I always just cut the cubes into quarters and put them in a Tupperware.

[Jds1202]

Reading this is making me want a dwarf puffer lol

[FishCr8zy]

Originally Posted by Mebbid

They can be. But if all you are keeping is a few corals and shrimp then there is almost no ammonia making its way into the system and it shouldn't be terribly difficult to handle.

Oh. Interesting....
Maybe I'll try doin one of those one of these days.

[FishCr8zy]

Originally Posted by Aqua315

I think I'm definitely leaning toward the dwarf puffer after reading about how active they can be. I'm finding a lot of conflicting information about care though. Some websites say they need fine sand as substrate only because of their sensitive skin as well as a heavily planted tank. Also, how much should I feed? I'm assuming those frozen blood worm cubes are too much for one feeding. Is there a way to get less?

Yeah, as azmodan said, sand is preferred but not required. And low light plants can be grown to be heavily planted. And a heavily planted 5g is very easy to fill up since its pretty small. I would also just cut the cubes into quarters or something smaller.

[Aqua315]

Thanks so much for all the information! I think I'm ready to start looking into tanks but I have two questions left:

What are the best low light plants I can get to plant the tank?

I'm going to have to let the puffer stay in a holding tank overnight until I can get it to work the next day. What is the best way to transport it since it will no longer be in a bag?