Fish for small tank

[jonnythan]

I have a 5 gallon Eclipse tank on my desk at work. My old betta just died, probably of old age (no signs of disease, water chemistry is fine), and I put in two sunset platies to replace him.

I know they'll get a little bigger, but they look a little lost in the tank. I'm looking for another 2-3 fish to put in.

The tank is thick and rather heavily decorated with driftwood and silk plants, so there are a lot of dark spots. Less brightly colored fish tend to get a little lost, which is why I got the brightly colored platies.

I'm thinking 2-3 fancy guppies or maybe even neon tetras, though those are so typical and boring. Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[dkpate]

I would only put a betta in there, by itself, but that's just my opinion.

 

[mellawson]

+1 on the betta 5 gallons is pretty small, maybe some snails.

 

[jonnythan]

These two little platies look pretty lost in there.

Why is one betta and a few snails different from two platies and a pair of guppies, anyway?

 

[BigJim]

I don't even like bettas in a 5g. They do so much better in bigger tanks that I feel bad for putting them a 5g. I just talked my wife into letting me have her 5g hex for a shrimp tank in exchange for setting up a spare 20H I have lying around.

 

[mellawson]

The platies will grow to 2.5 inches and they are live bearers (so are guppies but I have never kept them so I won't comment on them) you could wind up with 5 gallons of babies. I agree that bettas are more enjoyable in a larger tank but they are labyrinth breathers so they will be ok in just a small tank.

I just think snails are neat.

 

[toddnbecka]

For a 5 gallon tank with livebearers that will be breeding you need something to eat the fry. I'd go with an Akysis catfish; they only grow to about 2.5" max. Look like Asian bumblebee catfish, have the same wide mouth, but aren't big enough to eat anything much larger than guppy fry.

 

[mgamer20o0]

ember tetras

Pseudomugil gertrudae

pseudomugil signifer

Boraras maculatus

boraras brigittae

Clown Killifish

Microdevario kubotai

Galaxy rasboras

do i need to keep going?

 

[Crepe]

Galaxy rasboras remind me of miniature brook trout...omnomnomnom. Okay a 5g I would probably just keep as a shrimp tank you could probably even try your hand at aquascaping.