g/f wants a tank

[Gubernaculum86]

My g/f has taken interest in my old eclipse 5g hex tank. I know hex tanks arent ideal bc of their small foot print but its free and at least she's getting into having her own aquarium.

I have a 55 gal FOWLR and have had FW tanks when I was younger, so I have some idea what needs to be done.

I know that 5 gal are small and limits the number and type of fish, but I was wondering if you guys could recommend some easy to care for beginner fish. She has had betas before so can take care of her fish but has never had her own aquarium, the beta were in the vase with the plant in the top. So shes kinda excited.

Also she was wanting to make it a planted tank, I have never had live plants before so I am completely lost in that aspect. What kinds of plants are good for beginners and what kind of lighting/care do they need? Also will gravel be ok for keeping the plants or do we need soil/sand?

Any and all advise is appreciated, Thanks in advance

 

[adeebm]

There aren't too many options for a 5gal fishwise. You could go with another betta or some small schooling fish like neon tetras. Otherwise, it would make a great shrimp tank. Red cherry shrimp are cheap and easy to take care of, and you could have a large colony in there. For live plants, you could go the easy route and stick with low light plants, unless you have cash to burn. I would personally just upgrade to a 10 gallon. The are cheap and will really expand your possibilities for fish and plants.

--Adeeb

 

[daileene]

Hello...I am currently cycling my 5G right now...and although we could be limited in stocks, there are a lot of options. Someone recommended me the following species: microrasboras, sparkling gouramis, endlers livebearers, celestial pearl danios (CPDs), a betta, RCS (red cherry shrimps) or ghost shrimps. I know there are more variety but these are some of the suggestions.

When it comes to planted tanks, you need to know what you want to maintain. Are you willing to have a high tech tank? Meaning dosing CO2 and fertilizers so you can have any kinds of plants you want. If you just want a low tech maintainance, you can go low light. Smaller tanks doesn't go with the wattage per gallon rule when it comes to lighting. Lighting is very vital when it comes to planted tanks. Use the Daylight Compact Flourescent lighting with at least 6500-10000K color temperature. Incandescent lighting will not be suitable for plants. They won't thrive. Low light plants normally can have the 2-3 watts per gallon, but since you have a smaller tank, it really does not matter. They did say that a 18W CFL will do good in a 15W. You still can go low light and you don't have to dose CO2.

If you go ahead with low light plants, here are some list of them for you to choose:

Excellent List of Low Light Plants

Keep us updated....

 

[fort384]

There are lots of options. Fw shrimp are great, as mentioned. There are lots of nano fish out there. Google frank's nano fish. He lists several on his site. I just added some boraras brigittae to one of my 5 gals today. I keep a couple of small fw planted tanks. You can check the links in my signature below for some ideas.

There are easy to care for low lightbplants that do not require a lot of tlc. Java moss, java fern, crypts, anubias nana and anubias nana petite all cone to mind as good options or a low tech planted setup.

 

[daileene]

And oh, any subtrates are okay for planted. Gravel and sand are okay, but you do have to make note that they don't carry much nutrients compared to the substrate that has most of the nutrients that the plants needed like the floramax, flourite, eco-complete, and the like. But they are more expensive. If you decide to go with the gravel or sand, just put root tabs and/or fertilizer later on to make your plants more greener and healthier...Leaf Zone or Seachem Flourish are good products...

 

[Gubernaculum86]

Thanks for the advice guys. Definitely going to stick to low light plants to start with. How often do u have to fertilize them?

 

[The_Desacrator]

I add fertilizer every time I do a water change.

 

[jenatron]

I personally disagree with the suggestions for schooling fish. IMO, a small hex just isn't appropriate for fish with activity levels like tetras and microrasboras/microdevarios. There's not much "back and forth" room.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I personally disagree with the suggestions for schooling fish. IMO, a small hex just isn't appropriate for fish with activity levels like tetras and microrasboras/microdevarios. There's not much "back and forth" room.

+1

Planning a 5g Fluval Chi now and was told the samething.

Sent from my Epic 4G using Aquarium

 

[arangarajan93]

You can again put a betta in that.

 

[fort384]

I personally disagree with the suggestions for schooling fish. IMO, a small hex just isn't appropriate for fish with activity levels like tetras and microrasboras/microdevarios. There's not much "back and forth" room.

Agree on the tetras. The microrasboras though are so small. A 5 gal tank looks huge even with 10 in it. Of course a hex does have less room for lateral movement... So I can see where it might be pushing the edge a bit.
We can agree to disagree on this point. There are lots of room for varying opinions and you will certainly find them on a site like this...especially when it comes to stocking. It's one of the things that makes it great.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Agree on the tetras. The microrasboras though are so small. A 5 gal tank looks huge even with 10 in it. Of course a hex does have less room for lateral movement... So I can see where it might be pushing the edge a bit.
We can agree to disagree on this point. There are lots of room for varying opinions and you will certainly find them on a site like this...especially when it comes to stocking. It's one of the things that makes it great.

I think she meant tetra schools, not all schools. As you say fort, there's lots to choose from. What about Glass fish? Too big for a hex tower?

 

[doogle]

get a open top tank and get t5 ho lights, some plant substrate, BAM, low-mid light plants-easy...not very specific, i know

 

[fort384]

T5ho over a a 5 gal? Are we having a BBQ ?

 

[doogle]

HA HA...coralife makes a unit ( for refugiums and small tanks)with 6 watt high output bulbs in it(might need a top for it though), less heat than most power compacts or 25w incandescents(maybe 15w)...ya, why you do want plants right? oh ya, everyone likes spiral compact fluorescents because they r cheap, or a 27w compact fluorescent desk or floor lamp... last i checked hex tanks are taller so... get tall plants or more light...low light =leggy plants that may grow stemmy looking to get closer to light source. find a 8" anubias plant(slow growing low light needing) and have a couple small fish or beta.. have fun with it, if your girl wants it you might be able to get another one...(bigger tank)

 

[fort384]

Wow haven't seen that fixture. It sounds great! Do you have a link to it?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Sounds like something made for an ADA mini tank.

Sent from my Epic 4G using Aquarium

 

[doogle]

Aquarium T-5 Fluorescent Light Fixtures: Coralife Mini Aqualight T-5 Dual Lamp Fixture

 

[doogle]

looking it seems it has 10.000k and actinic, but im sure you can change that, in the freezer that has the frozen fish food and stuff, they have a small 8w daylight coralife t5, lol

 

[Gubernaculum86]

thanks for the advice everyone... shes got a lot of decisions to make, but thats why i love setting up tanks, so many options. tank wont be set up for a while, going to cali for spring break so its gonna have to wait until i get back.