Tropical Fish Keeping banner

New desk tank suggestions

3K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  sam7152004 
#1 ·
I am thinking about setting up my desk tank again. It is about a 1.5 gal. tank. Any suggestions for fish/plants/other would be greatly appriciated.
 
#2 ·
Male or female betta and ghost shrimp that is about it.

Jave fern would work in that size.
 
#4 · (Edited)
you have a few options...

you can pick 1 off this list:
school of 6 ember tetras
school of 6 Rasbora merah, nana, or brigittae
school of 5 pygmy chain loach*
a single male dwarf gourami or honey gourami
a single male betta
trio (2 females 1 male) sparkling dwarf gourami
trio (2 females 1 male) badis badis, or dario dario*
2-3 male guppies or endlers

Except for the gourami and betta, you can add a handful (3-6) of shrimp (red cherry or ghost are good) and 1-2 nerite snails...

* are somewhat sensitive species... Stay on top of water quality.

A small tank can turn out really well... I'd definately encourage you to go planted though...These are some easy plants of suitable size-
mosses
anubias nana
anubias nana petite
cryptocyrne lucens, parva, petchii
narrow-leaf java fern
small marimo balls
Monosolenium Tenerum
You could leave it open top and add a Echinorodus 'Kliener Prinz' or small aponogeton crispus in the back as a centerpiece..

Dry-start method could make the tank much easier to set up planted... It's essentially where you add the substrate (with a tiny amount of soil mixed in), add rockwork and wood, add the mosses and some select plants (like hairgrass, glosso, or dwarf baby tears), and keep covered with plastic wrap. The plants grow faster in high-humidity than they do submerged, and you can get a really nice tank with 'difficult' plants the easy way. Mist with weak fertiliser mixture every day or every other day.. it only takes 2 weeks or so, but you can let it go as long as you like that way.
 
#6 ·
i have to say that none of the fish on that list are actually suitable for a 1.5 gallon IMO. and for the betta suggestion, i think that the minimum tank size for a betta has to be 2.5 gallons, 1.5 is TINY, and plus . even with a filter you cant cycle the tank so you would need to do 1 50 and 1 100 percent water change a week to keep the water parameters at the right level
 
#8 ·
It depends on how much work you want to do. In a planted tank with frequent water changes, most of the fish would do well.

The larger rasboras, tetras, and betta would be a stretch... but Badis and Dario stay substantially less than an inch from what I've read. The ember and spotted rasbora max out at closer to a half inch.
 
#10 ·
I still wouldn't put 6 fish in a 1.5 gallon, I'd say that the minimum tank size fr the embers are more like 5 gallons, and the same goes for the badis, just because it is only an inch big doesn't mean that it will be okay in such a small tank considering that they are really active fish
 
#11 ·
Oh, badis are active? I retract the statement then. I had always heard they were inactive and hang out in the plants.

The males chase each other a lot (slightly aggressive), is that what you're calling active? I've never kept them, so if you have, I appreciate the insight.
 
#12 · (Edited)
you have a few options...

you can pick 1 off this list:
school of 6 ember tetras - You are right that these fish stay quite small, but are schooling fish that deserve to be in groups, of 6+ so a small tank like a 1.5 cannot support a group of these fish. Neither can the filter. These small delicate fish are a bad choice for suh a small tank as it would be hard to hold a cycle in that tank and it is highly likely that the cycle will crash, resulting in the deaths of these fish, and they are also very active fish and I wouldn't keep these in anything short of 12 inches

school of 6 Rasbora merah, nana, or brigittae - these fish a quite delicate, and aren't suitible for any aquarium unless the person with them is willing to do more than usual water changes to keep these fish happy, and with a 1.5 gallon tank it Would be hard to have pristine water quality with the amount of fish that micro rasboras should be in groups of. And plus these fish are really active, and skittish so would be zooming around the tank at times. That's why the minimum tank length is 15 inches.

school of 5 pygmy chain loach* - I know very little about this species so I cannot comment on these

a single male dwarf gourami or honey gourami - dwarf gouramis, get 2.5 inches on average and due to inbreeding are susceptible to dwarf gourami disease, which they get in stressful, conditions, and when in a 1.5 gallon will create stressfull conditions for a dwarf gourami, and honeys are also fish that are territorial and like to roam a full tank, during mating season so should be in tanks of 10 gallons or more

a single male betta - bettas are known to be hardy fish, but still get to large to be placed in a 1.5 long term

trio (2 females 1 male) sparkling dwarf gourami - sparkling gouramis are delicate fish's and therefore requi pristine water quality so should be placed in a lightly stocked tank with lots of cover, and with 3 sparkling gouramis, it would be hard to keep the water clean, and the gouramis are territorial so should be in tanks like 15 inches+

trio (2 females 1 male) badis badis, or dario Dario* - Dario and badis, are really delicate fish that require mature, cycled tanks and pristine water quality, so are not suitable for a 1.5 gallon, because it would be hard to keep the water clean, they also setup territories and like to raom the territory so they require larger tanks,

2-3 male guppies or endlers - once again, too active for this tank
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jayy
#16 ·
you have a few options...

you can pick 1 off this list:
school of 6 ember tetras - You are right that these fish stay quite small, but are schooling fish that deserve to be in groups, of 6+ so a small tank like a 1.5 cannot support a group of these fish. Neither can the filter. These small delicate fish are a bad choice for suh a small tank as it would be hard to hold a cycle in that tank and it is highly likely that the cycle will crash, resulting in the deaths of these fish, and they are also very active fish and I wouldn't keep these in anything short of 12 inches

school of 6 Rasbora merah, nana, or brigittae - these fish a quite delicate, and aren't suitible for any aquarium unless the person with them is willing to do more than usual water changes to keep these fish happy, and with a 1.5 gallon tank it Would be hard to have pristine water quality with the amount of fish that micro rasboras should be in groups of. And plus these fish are really active, and skittish so would be zooming around the tank at times. That's why the minimum tank length is 15 inches.

school of 5 pygmy chain loach* - I know very little about this species so I cannot comment on these

a single male dwarf gourami or honey gourami - dwarf gouramis, get 2.5 inches on average and due to inbreeding are susceptible to dwarf gourami disease, which they get in stressful, conditions, and when in a 1.5 gallon will create stressfull conditions for a dwarf gourami, and honeys are also fish that are territorial and like to roam a full tank, during mating season so should be in tanks of 10 gallons or more

a single male betta - bettas are known to be hardy fish, but still get to large to be placed in a 1.5 long term

trio (2 females 1 male) sparkling dwarf gourami - sparkling gouramis are delicate fish's and therefore requi pristine water quality so should be placed in a lightly stocked tank with lots of cover, and with 3 sparkling gouramis, it would be hard to keep the water clean, and the gouramis are territorial so should be in tanks like 15 inches+

trio (2 females 1 male) badis badis, or dario Dario* - Dario and badis, are really delicate fish that require mature, cycled tanks and pristine water quality, so are not suitable for a 1.5 gallon, because it would be hard to keep the water clean, they also setup territories and like to raom the territory so they require larger tanks,

2-3 male guppies or endlers - once again, too active for this tank
+1,Once again a 1.5 is too small for fish. Like said above these fish may be small, but NEED space. If oyur profiles list the min being around 5gal, more or less, but 1.5. Certainly schooling keeping a school of fish even if they're small is not going to work. Shrimp is the ONLY way you can go in a tank of this size. I you don't want to keep them then, don't keep anything.
 
#13 ·
I would recommend a lightly planted tank, with river stones, black sand, a pice of driftwood with moss, and 10 cherry shrimp, 2 Nerite snails and another type of small shrimp
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top