What to put in a 1 gallon tank

[mr86mister]

Now i am a pretty experienced aquarist with my mom having tanks since i was a kid and i know the rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water, but what could i put in a one gallon with undergravel filter....like a combination of two fish or a bottom feeder and a regular fish that looks good....maybe a guppy and amano shrimp? i dont know....any suggestions?

 

[Fluff]

The guppy and shrimp sounds good. Or a betta. Or killifish.

 

[mr86mister]

thanks cindy I have heard of killifish, they seem small enough...but are there any others that would go good in it, i take good care of all my tanks and keep them well maintained and have all the meds. and tests to keep up to date, so anymore ideas anyone?

 

[lyquidphyre]

I think a betta and a snail or two would be neat =o)

 

[Fluff]

There are some other small species but, your very limited with one gallon. Maybe a pair of endlers. There are lots of small fish but most like to school and wouldn't be happy in such a small space.

 

[An t-iasg]

I would caution against a betta in a one gallon tank or bowl. Bettas are very sensitive to temperature fluctuations and ammonia levels that can happen, even with the best of care, in such a small tank. Most of the sick betta questions I help answer are due to the betta living in such a small environment. It's very hard to keep a small tank or bowl at a constant temperature and cycled to remove ammonia.

 

[mr86mister]

i do have 2 bettas in 1/2 gallon bowls and boy do i know the temp. problem and ammonia, luckily i have the perfect spot in my room and i've read up enough on that, i love my bettas very much but i dont need another one so thats why i'm just looking around for others.....thank you all for suggestions...i will look up on endlers and killifish, if anymore pop up just let me know...THANKS

 

[megladonsharky]

Personally the betta will be nice for a while, but mine is outgrowing his one gallon

 

[Andos99]

Not meaning to offend, but why a 1 gallon tank? I don't think such a species exists that really appreciates such an envirnment. JMO

 

[mr86mister]

its only because of space and cost......shoot if i had lots of money and a huge room i would have no problem having a couple hundred gallon freshwater tank and probably breed certain species....but thats once i get a house, at the moment.....i'm squeezing in what i can....and unfortunately a 1 gal. is all that will do

 

[malkore]

Andos beat me to it (and for that he gets some Kudos).

I don't feel that a 1gallon tank/bowl/whatever is enough space for any fish. Not even a betta.

Something that tiny, I'd say put some cherry shrimp in , and a couple of little java ferns or something.

I understand your need for an aquarium (I have 6 myself) but you can't let that outweigh what's healthy and ethical.

 

[mr86mister]

i've never heard of cherry shrimp before....i think i'm just going to use the 1 gallon as a sick tank or something else, nothing permanent for my fish...who knows maybe i might have little fish and have to put them in there to not get eaten....thank you everyone

 

[oxymoron]

I agree, 1 gallon just seems small to me. A 5-6 gallon tank still has a pretty small footprint. The little Eclipse tanks seem really nice.

 

[scarf]

I have a 2 gallon tank and I think that's tiny. Lucky for me the inhabitant is a few month old betta.

For a 1g, I'd think shrimp and plants would be the way.

 

[malkore]

good choice mr86mister. Cherry shrimp are all the rage right now, but not always easy to find. They are small like ghost shrimp, but have red markings on them, and will nibble algae and also scavenge. Problem is that places want $4 a pieice for them (vs. 20 cents for a ghost shrimp), and my tiger barbs would make a quick meal of them.

 

[Zezmo]

I have a one gallon hex, with UGF. I put the smallest heater i could find, that had an actual thermostat (25w) so the temp seems to stay within a few degrees.

Interestingly enough, my entire Aquarium hobby started with this tank, I bought it so I could keep a Betta on my desk at Work. He lived a good long time in there, and when he eventually died, I was given some poor advice at my LFS, and bought a dwarf Gourami. The DG lived in there for about 18 months, but he really was getting too big for that Tank (probably he was always too big for that tank). Which was the excuse I used to buy my 55, and now that same DG is the King of his own kingdom in the Main tank.

So now I still have this 1gallon Hex. It sees various duty, for one thing I can tear it down, clean it, and set it back up with gravel and water from the main tank. So now I have used it for QT, as a Hospital (the 1 gallon makes dosing meds easy, and the size and ease of cleaning help there too). Right now, I am using for a couple baby Rainbow Fish I an raising.
They started in a net breeder in the Main tank, but I had probs maintaining water quality within the net. So now they live in the 1 gallon hex. There are two Rainbows under 1/2 inch each, and two small Ghost (Grass) shrimps. The shrimp makes it a bit easier to feed the Babies, as they eat any thing that fall past the rainbows. The rainbows only eat food thats falling, not on the bottom, and not on the top.
Very soon, they will outgrow this tank, and be big enough to survive the main tank. So all in all, I'm happy with my one gallon. Mostly cuz it is easy to set up, tear down, and clean. It works well in support of my other tanks.

 

[mr86mister]

So i have decided, to put some plants and possibly ghost shrimp......what plants wont outgrow my tank and how many ghost shrimp should i get for it, because everyone says something different....so give me your opinion and i'll estimate it.....THANK YOU!

 

[RoK]

how many ghost shrimp should i get for it

3 or 4? I don't know what are everyone else's opinions?

 

[megladonsharky]

I say three to seven... depening how big the ghosts are .. i had some that were like half inch and one that was three inches

 

[RoK]

I don't think ghost shrimp get to 3", it must have been a different species of shrimp.