what fish for a 5 1/2

[bluelobster]

i went to the store today and bought a 5 1/2 gallon fish tank and a whisper filter and a heater. i bought some very small gravel, not sand, and i put some small rocks in the corner. what kind of fish would go good in this small of a tank? i want to have something different than normal guppies of tetras. i was thinking a couple of freshwater puffers or maybe shrimp and another kind of fish? what do you think would make a good fish or invert to add that would draw attention to the tank? how about chiclids? i dont know much about them.or maybe eels???

Thanks.

[lauraleellbp]

I don't know any cichlids that would be appropriate for a tank that small. I only use mine for a QT tank.

I used to keep a betta in mine, and will probably pull it out and set up a betta tank again as soon as I get a new 20gal QT tank...

I'd check out the list of nano fish in the nano tank forum; there's not too many fish that are small enough to not be crowded in a tank that small.

[eden_angelfish]

Even the smallest of cichlids would not do well in such a tiny tank. I think you're pretty much stuck with bettas, small tetras, zebra danios and livebearers. You could maybe have two or three small rainbowfish like threadfins, but they would likely not be as active with less swimming space.

[daFrimpster]

Heterandria Formosa would do nicely in there.

[waterfaller1]

Dwarf puffers are cool, but I would only keep one. I keep one in a 4.3 gal with rednose and cherry red shrimp.

[NeonShrimp]

I'd check out the list of nano fish in the nano tank forum; there's not too many fish that are small enough to not be crowded in a tank that small.

The fish I know of that look nice and can live in these conditions are endler liverbearers. I would not keep shrimp and fish together I keep them seperater except for amano shrimp in my display tank.

[rasetsu]

3-5 of white clouds and some shrimp would work.

[bluelobster]

i think that i will go the dwarf puffer route. what kind of other fish can go in with them? i have lots of snails to get rid of but what else do they eat?

thanks, BLUELOBSTER

[waterfaller1]

No other fish. They are very aggressive/territorial. They can/will kill fish , even larger than themselves.They will eat bloodworms. I use frozen Hikari, they are enriched with vitamins.
Here is a forum about dwarf puffers

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/forum/

[aznkonner]

well i've kept dwarf puffers along with other fish and they get along fine as long as they're fed really well. if not they'll nip at your fish until the fish die. doesn't matter how big the fish is either. my 1 inch dwarf puffer was nipping at my 5-6 inch roseline sharks. i'm guessing it killed a few of my cardinals and rummy noses as well.

[waterfaller1]

That may be true in a larger tank. Personally I wouldn't try it in a nano. Nowhere for that other fish to go if he is being tormented. Shrimp are alot of fun, just give the tank some time to mature before adding them if you decide to. You might get away with two puffers, but they would have to be monitored closely. The tank should be set up with lots of plants and hardscape to break up the line of sight.

[TheXman]

Sorry to say, but if you didn't want the "normal" guppies and tetras, you probably should have bought a larger tank. Having such a small tank really limits what you can keep. However, if you want something different and interesting that you can put into a 5 gallon tank, look into killifish. There are hundreds of species that run the gamut of colors, and interesting finnage, but many have colors that rival cardinal tetras and any other tropical fish. Only problem is that they're hard to find. You won't find them at Petsmart or Petco. Most likely, you'll have to buy them online, or from your local fish club, but I have, on rare occasions, seen a few in Mom and Pop fish shops. Do your research, some species are annuals that don't live more than a year, but some species will live longer.

[waterfaller1]

I tried killis, thought I really wanted them when I set up my cubes. I didn't like them at all because the male relentlessly pursues the female. They also jump.

[TheXman]

I have found that most fish jump, best to just keep your tanks covered, or lower the water level a little, as for overzealous males, my lyretails don't have this problem, they're very chill, but often you can deal with rambunctious males by keeping more females than males, just keeping a single male, or separating the male and female until you want them to spawn.

[James From Cali]

I dont know if this was suggested but Paradise Fish are nice. Just get one male and he will be nice and colorful.