Someone make a decision for me

[cmwalters]

I have been wanting a nano for a while. But I also wanted one I could keep fish in. So today I finally pulled the trigger on a 5.5 gallon. (about 16" wide, by 8" deep" by 9" tall) it's set up right now, waiting to be filled. It's going to be planted fairly heavily and will definitely have shrimp. Now my dilemma becomes, what fish to put in it. My list right now, in order of preference:

Scarlet Badis
Celestial Pearl Danio
Sparkling Gourami
Any type of Killifish
Pygmy Sunfish (Everglades or Okenofee)
Endler's or other livebearer

There is not a huge difference in preference for any of these. I like all of them. I don't want a betta, as I already have one. Someone make this decision for me. And feel free to suggest something different!

 

[Fishguy1111]

I would go with the scarlet badis, celestial pearl danios are overrated and expensive in my opinion.

 

[Fishman007]

I would go with the scarlet badis, celestial pearl danios are overrated and expensive in my opinion.

+1 on this, celestial pearls are very hard to keep and usually do not survive in the home aquarium do to the need of very stable water perimeters and the chemistry must be perfect.

 

[Fishman007]

I have been wanting a nano for a while. But I also wanted one I could keep fish in. So today I finally pulled the trigger on a 5.5 gallon. (about 16" wide, by 8" deep" by 9" tall) it's set up right now, waiting to be filled. It's going to be planted fairly heavily and will definitely have shrimp. Now my dilemma becomes, what fish to put in it. My list right now, in order of preference:

Scarlet Badis
Celestial Pearl Danio
Sparkling Gourami
Any type of Killifish
Pygmy Sunfish (Everglades or Okenofee)
Endler's or other livebearer

There is not a huge difference in preference for any of these. I like all of them. I don't want a betta, as I already have one. Someone make this decision for me. And feel free to suggest something different!

How about the scarlet badis and some adult RCS?

 

[cmwalters]

That's what I'm heavily leaning toward right now. Especially since my lfs has a few available right now.

 

[Fishman007]

That's what I'm heavily leaning toward right now. Especially since my lfs has a few available right now.

That would be the best choice, if you do RCS make sure you have lots of moss and plants to hide the fry from the scarlet badis and every once in a while he may get a treat

 

[cmwalters]

I have heard they are hard to feed. Is this true?

 

[Fishman007]

I have heard they are hard to feed. Is this true?

Yes the scarlet badis are, heres a couple quick reads i found online-

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+836+2823&pcatid=2823

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/Dario-dario/

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/labyrinth-nandids-fishes/13510-scarlet-badis-dario-dario.html

 

[GodFan]

I have heard they are hard to feed. Is this true?

Not usually. They are my favourite fish. I am about to buy some. Mine actually ate some flake but their staple was tiny frozen. The baby rcs should supply them some food as well.
I would recomend a small group of scarlet badis (no more than 2-3 males) and rcs.
I am thinking about making my 36 gallon a nano....

 

[cmwalters]

Thank you! So would it be best to keep a pair, or one male and two females?

 

[bettaowner]

I would go with the basis or sunfish. If you want a brightly colored male, the best food would be moina

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

sorry to interupt but before i forget, good luck with your scarlets we have some at work and they are really pretty but they never ever move... like ever... cant wait to see your final product happy fish keeping

 

[cmwalters]

Thanks everyone. The tank has been filled, but yet to be planted. I am waiting until I'm going to get the fish before I move some media over from my 20 gallon. If I can get to my lfs tomorrow then I am going to look at driftwood. I'm still trying to figure out my layout, as a lot of that will depend on finding a nice piece of driftwood lol. I know I want some downoi, maybe some dwarf sag, definitely some java fern. I love the process of setting up a new tank.

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

Javas?!?! Cool ... What substrate will you use? clay, dirt, gravel, sand, stones, crushed?

 

[cmwalters]

It's just regular old black sand. I use it in all my tanks along with root tabs and ferts. I've never had a problem growing heavy root feeders. I thought about dirting this tank, but I figured I wasn't going to go use a lot of heavy root feeders and I didn't want to screw up lol

 

[Rivercats]

Sparkling gourami's are much more difficult to feed. I have 11 scarlet badis in my 55g nano fish tank and 6 Dario sp Junita Hill in my 24g. Both are fed Repashy Superfoods. I mix up small batches using different ones mixed together and they have done very well on this diet. They also get frozen Cyclops and very small tubifex worms maybe once a week. S. Badis love fresh foods when available and it's fun to see them hunt. I would only do 1 male and 1 female in that size tank as multiple males fight.

 

[cmwalters]

Thank you! I'll look into the repashy foods. Also, would it be okay to keep like 5 or so chili rasboras along with the badises. If that's too much it is not a big deal. I just don't know how to stock this small of a tank because I like a busy tank.

 

[Rivercats]

Chili's are tiny so you could do 5 or 6 and a pair of scarlets since they are very tiny also. Just keep up on water changes and do put a sponge over your filter intake or you might have the chili's sucked up. I have 30 Chili's in my 55g and when they came in some were about 3/8"!

I also try keeping their kh/gh/ph lower. I mix RO water with tap water and keep my kh and gh at 4. That keeps my ph around 6.8 in the 55g. It's not a must but I have all wild caught fish so I didn't want to take any chances.

Both species will like plants so you can add as many as you want.

The Repashy foods are powders that you mix with boiling water to form a gel that can be kept in the fridge up to 10 days. I mix 1/2 teaspoon of the community food, 1/2 teaspoon of the meat pie, and 1/2 teaspoon of one of the algae foods. Then you add 3- 1/2 teaspoons of water for each 1/2 teaspoon of powder you use. Boil the water, which takes seconds and add the powder on top of the boiling water. Stir fast and pour into little tiny container (I have tiny little Rubbermaid ones) as it will start turning into a gel very quickly.

When I feed I cut off a small amount and gently smush it so some tiny bits float in the water. Some will fall and your shrimp will scarf them up. Repashy also has a shrimp food you can buy. Just mix the same and drop a chunk in and watch the rioting begin. I use this food in both in the 55g and 24g nano/shrimp fish tanks I have.

 

[cmwalters]

Cool that's what I like to hear! I will probably end up getting the repashy. I'll look into my tap water, I know it's not terribly hard, but I'm not entirely sure the exact numbers. I may end up having to get a RO system. Thanks for all the information!

 

[Rivercats]

API makes a test kit that has both Gh and Kh tests in it. I use that but watch if you get it as they also sell a kit that only has Kh and they are easy to mix up.

I have this portable RO unit that I've used for a few years now that I make 8- 2g jugs like they have on their site. It's easy to use and put away and the jugs stack away also. I have the Pro-100 unit.... portable countertop reverse osmosis drinking water system - remove fluoride, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs and more