Got a spare 5 gallon, need help deciding what fish

[BettasRFriends]

I was given a free 5 gallon tank (long) with a 10 gallon filtration system. I want a densely planted tank (was thinking anubias nana petite, java fern, java moss, micro sword, anything else that is small). About the fish, I have a couple of choices (add more if you can): 5 neon tetras OR 1 kribensis OR just plants. Any suggestions?

[Pac-Man]

maybe a betta??/ african dwarf frog??? ember tetras???umm.. 2 apple snails... ghost shrimp...dwarf puffer..... you really dont have so many choices with a 5 gallon...

[Ownager2004]

i would go with the dwarf puffer. those things are cool

[redpaulhus]

I've done dwarf "honey" gouramis in a 5g... many of the killifish would work in a 5g.
I kept "golden wonder" killies in a 5g tank on my desk for a while.
I've also kept white clouds (4 or 5) in a 5g with javafern, moss, and anubias. They actually bred in there

I've occasionally put a baby krib in there and grew it out, but they seem easily spooked in the little tank.

Right now my desktop tank has one curviceps (dwarf cichlid) and one red-tail blue variatus platy (male) - I'm considering adding either a female curviceps or platy (I can easily handle the fry in a different tank).

Depending on where you have the tank - a trio of pea**************** gudgeons would also work, but they tend to prefer live or frozen foods (my office tank is limited to flake foods) - so I keep mine at home

[MyraVan]

Currently, my 5 gallon tank has:
1 apple snail
1 nerite algae-eating snail
3 white cloud mountain minnors plus lots of fry

I would like to raise at least some of the fry to a size big enough that I can give them away, so I'm setting up a 10 gallon tank into which I will put the apple snail and the minnows and the fry. When they are gone I will put in the 5 gallon tank:

3 male guppies
some shrimp (amano, ghost, or cherry, whatever small shrimp I find in the shop)
And the nerite algae-eating snail will remain there

So there are some ideas.

[Alin10123]

If you already have a larger community tank. What you could do is have the 5 gallon running and cycles and ready to go in case some of your fish misbehave and you need a "time out" tank, or even a "quarantine" tank. If you have livebearers in your community tank you could even use your 5 gallon as a tank to raise fry.

[bsmith]

go with the puffers !

[TheOldSalt]

My vote goes to Ember Tetras.

[euRasian32]

Puffers are cool, not sure about the dwarves... Puffers need to be fed a variety of foods, which should include hard shelled food like apple snails. If you don't feed them something of a hard shelled variety, you'll have to manually trim their teeth. It involves catching them and placing them in a shallow container, and add a chemical solution (don't know the name) that "knocks them unconcious", similar to how humans are put under when being operated on, then you have to trim their teeth with clippers.

[fishboy]

a few dwarf livebearers or least killi fish (are these the same thing?)

[osteoporoosi]

My vote goes to shrimp and apple snails.

[Damon]

Originally Posted by euRasian32

Puffers are cool, not sure about the dwarves... Puffers need to be fed a variety of foods, which should include hard shelled food like apple snails. If you don't feed them something of a hard shelled variety, you'll have to manually trim their teeth. It involves catching them and placing them in a shallow container, and add a chemical solution (don't know the name) that "knocks them unconcious", similar to how humans are put under when being operated on, then you have to trim their teeth with clippers.

Dwarf puffers don't require trimming of the teeth or hard shelled foods.