5 Gallon Questions

Cody

I plan on adding a piece of driftwood to my set-up as well.

Any thoughts on the fish?

herefishy

CPD's, dwarf razzies, endlers(neat little livebearer and a change from guppies), Trigonostigma espei (Rasbora espei)(a change from harlequins, similar but more beautiful imo), copeina tetras,.... any would make a neat tank. And most are not all that common so ithe tank would be rather unique in that respect.

The problem with smaller tanks, that I don't like, is I don't like "bread and butter", the humdrum. Almost all have the same thing. You need to find ways to make them unique. Much easier to do with larger tanks.

okiemavis

I would worry about the incandescent over that tank. I think it might produce too much heat. Also, I wanna restate (although I think you've already gotten the message) a Dwarf Puffer would tear your betta apart in less than an hour. No way could a DP and a betta live together in a tank that size.

Cody

I know about the Incandescent; I plan on switching it out for a 10W Coralife Colormax Flourescent Bulb.

I know about the DP too. Thats why I was thinking of dividing, but I will not have any DP's in this tank.

Well, I plan on ordering my things from Drs Foster and Smith today. This is where I getting most of my SW things, and I have just added the filter and light into my cart.

I also plan on stocking this with Endler's. What would be the best M/F ratio? I was thinking 2M, 3F.

okiemavis

Endler's are pretty similar to guppies, so that ratio sounds ok, but it might be a few too many males. Also, be forewarned, they breed like guppies.

Oldman47

One of the big differences between endlers and guppies is the male's reproductive strategy. A Guppy is pretty much a hit and run kind of breeder that will harass the females. Endlers take a more courtship kind of approach and will not usually be very forceful with the females. This means that although they are always ready to mate they won't end up harming the females. You can easily get away with equal numbers on the endlers and don't need the female surplus that you need with other livebearers.

herefishy

Cody, I'm going to use a 1m/2f ratio on the endlers. Ghreed is correct in saying that the ratio need not be as great with endlars vs, guppies. You may also want to check out Mgamer's ad in the classifieds for endlers. There are many varieties and you may want to stick with a single one to prevent hybridization.

Cody

Thanks everybody with the inputs. I will either get 2M with 4F, or 3M with 3F.

What are some good plant suggestion? They can't get too big, as the tank is only about 14" tall. I wouldn't mind some that "overlap" the surface (grow to the top and out on the surface).

Also, where would I trim the plants when they get too big? I am also having this problem in my 30G, and I dont want to kill anything.

Cody

Well, I set the tank up last night after my package from DFAS came in. The light is pretty... :) . I put my gravel in, started my Whisper filter, filled it with water, installed heater, etc etc.

I also still need some plant suggestions. What can I grow at 2WPG?

okiemavis

Pruning a plant depends on the type. If it's a stem plant you can kinda just snip wherever you want. If it's a rooted plant just cut off the entire leaf & stem. That way you won't have any rotting plant matter (like if you just cut off the leaf the stem would rot). If it's a plant like corkscrew val I always just snip off the part that's too tall, like trimming grass, but I don't know if I'm actually going about it right.