3 gallon desktop for work

[eddiefebuary]

I plan on setting up a 3 gallon desktop aquarium at work. I plan on stocking it with a single Cory Cat and a single Angelfish and possibly a chines algae eater. Anybody see a compatability or space problem? If so, give me a suggestion for a "centerpiece" fish for a 3 gallon, other than a Betta.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Well, what I can suggest you is to place a betta only. The angel may not be able to live in such place! They need bigger tanks!
Luck

[maxpayne_lhp]

Sometime 'simple' and 'single' cause troubles!

[Scuba Kid]

wow....thats an extremely small tank for the angelfish and the chinese algae eater. you could even keep those in a 10 gallon. id suggest a betta. or 1 dwarf puffer, but they are harder to take care of because u have to feed them snails and frozen or live bloodworms or blackworms. they wont eat flakes. get a betta

[Scuba Kid]

couldnt***

[eddiefebuary]

Will the Betta attack the Cory Cat?

[Scuba Kid]

dont get a cory cat either. just the betta

[Mery]

I wouldn't put any fish in a 3 gallon "tank". It's difficult to keep water good, when the tank is so small, and fishes have not enough space to move around. Wouldn't you buy a bigger tank, it's so much easier to keep and make beautiful.

[Fishfirst]

Just the betta... the betta will be fine in a 3 gallon tank with frequent water changes... No cories, no angels, just betta.

[Mery]

I know I'm straight-laced, but still...

The fish will be stressed with very frequent water changes, but if you don't change the water, it will die. That's the another problem of the small tank.

[TheOldSalt]

What is the average temperature in your office? Will this tank have a heater?
You say you don't want a betta, and I can dig it; they don't DO anything.

How about a few White Clouds? They have color and are nicely active. They also won't mind if they get cold.

Ember tetras-- these guys are very tiny. They are orange and pink. I have some in an unheated tank that stays in the low 70's and they are doing very well. They must have very tiny food and don't eat much, which means they're cheap to feed and they don't make a big mess, which is important in a desktop tank at the office. They're also sooooo cute, which your coworkers would appreciate.

Killifish-- These guys are well-suited to a very small tank, and their appearance is nothing short of spectacular. Tough as nails and not too sensitive to small temperature variances, they're easy to keep and might even spawn right on your desk. They'd be a big hit in the office, bringing you a steady stream of ooohs and aahhs.

Neolebias sp.-- these tiny west african tetras are hard to find, but well worth the search. That goes double for Butterfly Barbs. a six-pack of either would be great in a 3 gallon tank.

[eddiefebuary]

Thanks for the options OldSalt. I'll look into those.

[TheOldSalt]

Originally Posted by Mery @ Sat Mar 12, 2005 1:01 pm

I know I'm straight-laced, but still...

The fish will be stressed with very frequent water changes, but if you don't change the water, it will die. That's the another problem of the small tank.

I'm glad you brought this up, because a lot of people have the same misconception. The truth is, a big water change after a long time without any water changes can be harmful. A big water change after frequent too-small water changes can also be harmful. ( a 10% weekly water change actually changes considerably less than 10% of the water, and less and less old water is actually replaced each week )

However, regular LARGE water changes are not harmful at all, for they keep the water chemistry stable in the tank while keeping the pollutant level very low. In fact, frequent large volume changes are the very key to keeping and/or spawning many species. It doesn't cause stress; it relieves it.

Wanna keep/breed discus? Frequently make large volume water changes.
Wanna keep your goldfish or Betta happy? Make frequent large volume water changes.

The problem with water changing lies in the new water being too different from the old water. Making frequent changes prevents the tank water from drifting too far from the properties of the water used to make water changes.

Naturally, the new water should be allowed to aerate fully before use, and the temperature should be as close to that of the tank's water as possible. ( Unless you're trying to simulate the rain in order to spawn those species which spawn after the rain, in which case you'd make the new water 2 or 3 degrees cooler. Using distilled water is also handy for that, as it further simulates the rain by diluting the levels of dissolved solids in the tank. )

[Mr Aquarium]

If you take care if this "w/c ect ect" and run a small filter with it, you should be able to pull it off just fine with up to 5 or so Guppys, smaller ones and maybe a couple nice ones.
I have a 2 1/2g cheese ball cantainer that had 6 guppys in it, gravle, n a small box filter,
they did just fine and even grew a little bit,
I would not suguest white clouds myself, I have some in my 75g and they was tiny tiny when i got them and they are almost the size of my zebra danios, and I have seen over and inch, beside that isn;t really enough room to make them happy as they do love to swim, and should be in schools of at least 4 or more, IMO

[Fishfirst]

The only problem with guppies, is you need to expect more if you get males and females

[Lexus]

How about a blue Paradise gourami and a few ghost shrimp?

[Pia]

What don't you like about Bettas? LOL .. Well, if you decide to get a betta, make sure you get a small one. I made the silly choice of buying a big betta, and whoopsie .. it died 2 weeks later of old age. ¬_¬

[garfieldnfish]

How about 1 applesnail for algae control and 2 African Dwarf Frogs?

[Mobern]

No gourami. With only 3 gallons there's little space. Most schooling fish such as White Clouds, Killifish or Ember Tetras all need more room to swim about in their little group than just 3 gallons.

I think you have 2 options.
1) a single betta. They are beautiful, fun to watch and easy to care for. You could plant your tank with dwarf live plants and make it very beautiful
2) 2 African Dwarf Frogs and a Ghost Shrimp. This would be a critter tank but ADF's are very interesting creatures while ghost shrimp are fun to watch as they scurry aroudn cleaning up the tank.

Please don't overcrowd your tank. You have plenty more options if you just update to a 10 gallon if you want a dwarf gourami, cories or schooling fish (you couldn't keep all of them together in a 10g though). If you want to stock a nice planted peaceful 3g tank choose a simple easy setup so you won't have to worry too much about overcrowding or the huge bio-load other fishes might dump on your tank.

[Lexus]

Blue paradise only grow to be about 3" and are labrynth fish. They also can live at room temperature and prefer to be by themselves as they will fight with other males much like bettas. I see nothing wrong with one in a 3 G.