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What fish and how many of them can i put in a 2.5 GALLON TANK?

please let me know all of them, including cleaner fish!!

Last edited by derek9305 at 04-Jul-2005 15:03

There are a few posts on this topic, so a search might help you, but here's a pretty comprehensive thread on small tank stocking: http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/General%20Freshwater/55574.html?200503090056

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Welcome to FP

That is a great link to follow for ideas...but if you don't feel like following it...I'd suggest a Betta, boy or girl both would be happy in a 2.5 gallon...and the boy would definately be able to show off his finnage, given that much room

heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

IMO only a Betta is good for a small tank & no Corydoras & Tetra's, as they need to stay in schools & it's impossible in a 2.5 gal. tank.



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From that link:

EDIT: (just so you know) Pick ONE of these choices, not all of them.

2-3 gallon
*1 Male Betta
*1-2 Female Bettas (depending on aggression)
*Trio: male guppies
*Trio: male endlers
*Trio: small killifish
*1-2 ADFs
*Shrimp
Possible betta tankmates: Shrimp, ADF, snails

If you want something as a "cleaner" I would suggest shrimp, they don't add much to the bioload of the tank and are really easy to keep in general. For a tank that small however, you shouldn't need anything to clean it because it is too small to be properly cycled and you will be practically tearing it down weekly to do large water changes of at least 50%, possibly even 100%. When you do the water changes you can siphon the gravel and wipe any algae from the tank sides. The most important thing to remember with a very small tank is to NOT OVERFEED. Small tanks will quickly fall victim to bad water quality and you will have dead fish on your hands if you feed them too much. Feed very sparingly, keep up on your maintenance and there will be no reason to have anything for cleanup duty. I personally have 3 2.5 gallon tanks on the go right now with bettas in each of them, and a few spares lying around waiting to be filled. Small tanks are great because of their portability and because they are cheap, but IMO they are a lot more work than larger tanks and much harder to keep stable. I generally do not recommend them to beginners.

Last edited by trystianity at 05-Jul-2005 03:50

Yes, shrimp make a great cleaner fish for the bettas, but Leslie had the same problem with them as I do smaller snails in my betta tankThey become fish food so just be fair warned, if the betta thinks it might taste good it will become fish food, even if it isn't supposed to beBut, in all honesty go with the Betta boy or 2 betta girls if they are not too aggressive...

let us know what you decide a new tank is always fun, hint of advice don't decide that it goes on the headboardsounds like a great plan till you suddenly sit up too fast in the night

heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle