Fish advice 5.5 gallon tank

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mespo365

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 18, 2012
Messages
5
I will be getting a 5.5 gallon tank this weekend. So hopefully by the following weekend I will be all set to put some fish in it.

My thoughts were to get 5 white clouds. In addition I would like to add a dwarf frog and perhaps even a mystery snail

My understanding is that 5 clouds could potentially be pushing a 5.5 gallon tank, so just wanted to hear some feedback.

For reference I was looking at the Top Fin 5.5 starter kit.

thanks!
 
i think that could be a bit too much but then it all depends on what you have in your tank.
if you have plants in it that could actually help keep the ammonia down.
also do you mean have a mystery snail? instead of mystery shrimp?
 
i think that could be a bit too much but then it all depends on what you have in your tank.
if you have plants in it that could actually help keep the ammonia down.
also do you mean have a mystery snail? instead of mystery shrimp?

Mystery Snail - Tropical - Fish - PetSmart

Yea a mystery snail sorry.

Thanks for the quick reply. I have no experience with real plants. Could you explain what types of plants and care for them are required?

I would like to try and have at least 4 to 5 of the white clouds so they can school. You have any tips for things to cut back on or tinker with?

Thanks again
 
Mystery Snail - Tropical - Fish - PetSmart

Yea a mystery snail sorry.

Thanks for the quick reply. I have no experience with real plants. Could you explain what types of plants and care for them are required?

I would like to try and have at least 4 to 5 of the white clouds so they can school. You have any tips for things to cut back on or tinker with?

Thanks again

no problem! :)
and i don't have much experience with plants either but I know a bit about them. they are quite easy. I have plants called anubias nana and java ferns. you can find them at petco or petsmart. they need very low lighting and a bit of fertilizer. i recently got me a deluxe kit from petco by aqueon. i kept the light that came with it and it looks like its giving off enough light for my plants.

also my advice is that you should try to get at least 10g.
its really hard to keep schooling fish in a small tank such as a 5.5g.
 
no problem! :)
and i don't have much experience with plants either but I know a bit about them. they are quite easy. I have plants called anubias nana and java ferns. you can find them at petco or petsmart. they need very low lighting and a bit of fertilizer. i recently got me a deluxe kit from petco by aqueon. i kept the light that came with it and it looks like its giving off enough light for my plants.

also my advice is that you should try to get at least 10g.
its really hard to keep schooling fish in a small tank such as a 5.5g.

Thanks on the plant advice. That deff sounds like a good idea and will add a nice touch.

The problem with the tank size is I'm only allowed less than a 9 gallon tank at my apt.

So I really have to work with the 5.5 gallon.
 
Thanks on the plant advice. That deff sounds like a good idea and will add a nice touch.

The problem with the tank size is I'm only allowed less than a 9 gallon tank at my apt.

So I really have to work with the 5.5 gallon.

i see. well honestly i think you might be able to pull it off with a 5.5 gallon but if you can find an 8 gallon then i would go with that. if not I'm sure the community here can help you make it work if you have any other questions :).

I have a 10g tank with 7 fish in it (had 9 but i had to take out 2). it is way off the whole 1 inch fish per gallon rule. as long as you keep up with your water change then it should be find. the only reason I'm saying you might be able to pull it off is because in my other 10g tank i did have 9 fish instead of 7 but i took 2 of them out bc they were aggressive towards my guppies and killed one of them. the fish i took out of that tank are minnows as well and it seems like they like a lot of room to swim but don't get discouraged yours might be okay since its their own kind that they have to share space with haha =p
 
Yea I'll take a look if the petstore has anything between 5.5 and 9. I would prefer a starter obviously.

So if I had a few plants as mentioned above I should be ok? If anyone else has any feedback that would be helpful too.
 
Hello and welcome to AA!

Dwarf frogs are social critters and should be kept in groups. They don't typically fare well in communities because it's difficult for them to compete with fish for the food. Fish see the food and frogs take longer to find it by smell. With WCMM I wouldn't be so worried about that. I don't think they are really the kind of fish that eat off the bottom much. I'd be more worried about the frogs potentially catching the fish. The combo may work, but it does have it's risks.

6 is the minimum you want to stock for most schoolers, so I'd for for atleast that many of the WCMM.

ADF's need to be kept at around 80 degrees. I believe that will be too warm for the WCMM, but since I don't know too much about them I'm not sure, it may just be that keeping them at that warmer temp will shorten their lifespan. Definitely don't keep the frogs at cooler temps though.

Mystery snails get huge and make giant waste, so you'll need to keep a close eye on your parameters if you're adding one to a small tank like this.

Do you already know about cycling? It's crucial to understand the nitrogen cycle and how to make your new tank safe for fish. You'll need a master test kit. Here's more info on that: The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling. I recommend you do a fishless cycle if this is your first aquarium.

With your 8 gallon limit you may want to check out the 6.6 bookshelf tank at Petco. It's usually on sale on their website. It's pretty nice, my favorite of my smaller tanks. It's atleast as long as a 10 gal, so it feels much larger than it is. It has a fl tube light which makes it a decent little med. light set up, great for many plants. :)

If you do decide to go with ADF's you may want to avoid the kit, or change the filter out. Frogs can become stuck in the filter intake of power filters and drown. Something I have experienced myself. I highly recommend a sponge filter for frogs.
 
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Hello and welcome to AA!

Dwarf frogs are social critters and should be kept in groups. They don't typically fare well in communities because it's difficult for them to compete with fish for the food. Fish see the food and frogs take longer to find it by smell. With WCMM I wouldn't be so worried about that. I don't think they are really the kind of fish that eat off the bottom much. I'd be more worried about the frogs potentially catching the fish. The combo may work, but it does have it's risks.

6 is the minimum you want to stock for most schoolers, so I'd for for atleast that many of the WCMM.

ADF's need to be kept at around 80 degrees. I believe that will be too warm for the WCMM, but since I don't know too much about them I'm not sure, it may just be that keeping them at that warmer temp will shorten their lifespan. Definitely don't keep the frogs at cooler temps though.

Mystery snails get huge and make giant waste, so you'll need to keep a close eye on your parameters if you're adding one to a small tank like this.

Do you already know about cycling? It's crucial to understand the nitrogen cycle and how to make your new tank safe for fish. You'll need a master test kit. Here's more info on that: The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling. I recommend you do a fishless cycle if this is your first aquarium.

With your 8 gallon limit you may want to check out the 6.6 bookshelf tank at Petco. It's usually on sale on their website. It's pretty nice, my favorite of my smaller tanks. It's atleast as long as a 10 gal, so it feels much larger than it is. It has a fl tube light which makes it a decent little med. light set up, great for many plants. :)

If you do decide to go with ADF's you may want to avoid the kit, or change the filter out. Frogs can become stuck in the filter intake of power filters and drown. Something I have experienced myself. I highly recommend a sponge filter for frogs.


Thanks Siva!

Yea thanks for the recommendation on the tank. That just may be perfect!!

In regards the the frogs, I was told that that 70 -82 was fine (at the pet store) and the white clouds would be fine up to 75(their max).

So perhaps it may work to keep it low 70's. I would rather not stress either one if I can help it.


I saw a few people have something like 2 frogs 2 beta and a few shirmp or snails.

Personally I'm not the largest fan of beta's but I suppose it could work.


You have any suggestions to something else that might play better?
Maybe a substitute for the clouds?
 
That is absolutely not correct. These frogs come from warm waters in Africa. The average temp of their native waters is 80 degrees. It is often much warmer than that. They really should be kept no lower than this. Frogs kept at lower temps are not as active and are prone to illness.

Some do keep bettas with frogs. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I would never attempt it, since bettas are the type of fish that hunt and peck every little spec of food all over the tank, they are certainly not good tankmates for the nearly blind frogs. My frogs get in nasty altercations from time to time. I can't imagine having a betta in there with them. I'm sure it would be ripped to shreds. The last time I saw frogs with a betta, the betta was endlessly harassing the frogs. It didn't seem to be doing any real damage but the frogs were stressed and contantly trying to get away from the fish. Just be aware these combos certainly do not always work. I would expect small shrimp to become a snack in an ADF tank, but snails typically do well. I stock only nerite's in my ADF tank since they can't reproduce in FW. It's one of the only tanks I've kept all "pest" snails out of, because the frogs would likely end up overeating on baby snails and could possibly end up with bloat or worse. They have sensitive digestive systems. They should not be feed any pellets or wafer that are designed for frogs, and definitely never any freeze dried foods. Frog and Tadpole bites like those made by HBH and Reptomin are perfect, as well as frozen foods like bloodworms and brine shrimp. I alternate between the two. Because the frogs can't see well, I use a feeding dish and deposit their food into it with a turkey baster. Otherwise there is uneaten food on the substrate that needs cleaned up regularly. In a community setting, you'll often need to hand feed them, by depositing the food right at the tip of their nose.

As far as two betta's in the same tank, that's generally not a good idea unless maybe you have a large heavily planted tank.

I don't. I'm all for keeping ADF's in a species only tank. Besides the temperature compatability issue, which again it maybe be fine to keep the fish at 80 but I'm not sure, because of their size and nature WCMM are one I would worry about a lot less than many others when it comes to mixing them with the frogs.
 
There's another thread you might be interested in. It was started by FreshObsessed and he was hunting for stock ideas for a 5 gallon. There have been a lot of ideas discussed there.

My 5 gallons are both betta only tanks. My bettas are rather anti-social fellows who don't play nicely with others.
 
A really cool nano bottom dweller that would work well instead of the frogs are hara jerdoni (aka asian stone, mini moth, and dwarf anchor catfish). They are really neat looking and just adorable. They like cool water, same as your WCMM, so you wouldn't need a heater (depending on the room temps you'll kept the tank in). Their only special requirement is a sandy substrate, and some plants because they rest on the leaves a lot. Pennywort seems to be a favorite for them. I love mine. :)
 
i was at petco today and i saw 8g aqueon evolve LED aquarium kit. you might want that but its a bit pricey =p.
 
Frog friendly filter modification

Hello and welcome to AA!

Dwarf frogs are social critters and should be kept in groups. They don't typically fare well in communities because it's difficult for them to compete with fish for the food. Fish see the food and frogs take longer to find it by smell. With WCMM I wouldn't be so worried about that. I don't think they are really the kind of fish that eat off the bottom much. I'd be more worried about the frogs potentially catching the fish. The combo may work, but it does have it's risks.

6 is the minimum you want to stock for most schoolers, so I'd for for atleast that many of the WCMM.

ADF's need to be kept at around 80 degrees. I believe that will be too warm for the WCMM, but since I don't know too much about them I'm not sure, it may just be that keeping them at that warmer temp will shorten their lifespan. Definitely don't keep the frogs at cooler temps though.

Mystery snails get huge and make giant waste, so you'll need to keep a close eye on your parameters if you're adding one to a small tank like this.

Do you already know about cycling? It's crucial to understand the nitrogen cycle and how to make your new tank safe for fish. You'll need a master test kit. Here's more info on that: The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling. I recommend you do a fishless cycle if this is your first aquarium.

With your 8 gallon limit you may want to check out the 6.6 bookshelf tank at Petco. It's usually on sale on their website. It's pretty nice, my favorite of my smaller tanks. It's atleast as long as a 10 gal, so it feels much larger than it is. It has a fl tube light which makes it a decent little med. light set up, great for many plants. :)

If you do decide to go with ADF's you may want to avoid the kit, or change the filter out. Frogs can become stuck in the filter intake of power filters and drown. Something I have experienced myself. I highly recommend a sponge filter for frogs.

Any filter can be made frog or fry friendly with one of these. It fits over the water intake pipe and keeps frogs from getting stuck to it or fry from getting sucked in.
Fluval Edge Pre-Filter Sponge - Filter Media - Fish - PetSmart
 
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