# Free tank



## Sincere (Aug 18, 2005)

Now I've never really been into fish before, just admired them from afar. My sister gave me her old tank. It's one of those little starter ones from Wal-Mart or the likes. I believe it is 5 gallons, but could possibly be less. It came with a filter and a light. I've set it up, and temp gets around 74-78 depending on how much or how little light I give it. 

Now for my question, I know this tank because of it's size is going to be very hard not to overstock, so I thought I would come to you guys for advise. I don't have a local fish place here, so all I really have to go on is Wal-Mart or drive an hour to a PetSmart. Anyways, anyone have any cool ideas for what I could put in this little badboy?


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## *Brooke* (Aug 18, 2005)

At the school where I work we used to have a Betta in a 5 gallon & it did well. :smile:


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## solar-ton (Aug 15, 2005)

first id like to tell you that sooner or later your probally gonna wanna get a bigger tank after a few months next a betta would be good for a 5 gallon,guppys,and dwarf gouramis.and youll need to cycle it as in let it run for a week and put about a tablespoon of ammonia in it.it may sound crazy but thats the the biological bacteria come about.and get a good filter to if you not gonna get a betta the an airstone would be good.


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, firstly welcome...
Like others have said, I'd suggest you to keep a betta. There're quite some tankmates suit your bettas or nothing at all. If you wish, bettas can do good with zebra danios or anything is not really colorful, is not a Anabatidae, anything can nip the bettas fin. As well as some inverterbrates like shrimps or snails.
Solar-ton's suggested about cycling your tank before using. You can also look up on other threads and articles about this as well


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## thecatdidit (Aug 15, 2005)

..........


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## Sincere (Aug 18, 2005)

Actually I have the box still, I just remembered....

It is called a Mini-Bow5 and the dimensions on it is 14-5/8" wide, 10-1/4" deep, and 15-1/4" high. Math was never my strong suit so if someone wants to do the math, then that would be cool. 

To be honest with you all, I am leaning towards beta right now, because they seem to be the easiest option here to take care of, and with me being a beginner and all, I think it'd be best for all parties involved. 

As far as betas are concerned is it possible to put ANYTHING in there with it, because I know they are very aggresive fish.

Now as far as water is concerned I am a little pressed for money at the moment and my town is pretty notorious for nasty tap water. I do, however, have 4-5 jugs of distilled water. Would this be a healthy alternative?


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

aggressive to their own species and similar species, not usually to others of totally different family or order. Maybe a betta and a dwarf platy or two (if you can find them). Tap water mixed half and half with distilled would be your best option as distilled doesn't have a lot of the minerals that fish need, but it would dillute the nasties, I also can't stress enough to cycle your tank before getting fish (can be done with a simple small piece of raw shrimp) or getting a bacteria culture from either a bottle (stability or biospira) or another tank. Also remember use a dechlorinator.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

I vote for white cloud mountain minnows. They are small and tough. Probably tougher than a betta, but I haven't had a betta so I can't say for sure. They don't need a heater, in fact room temp is ideal for them, whreas a betta should have a heater. 74F would be a good temp for the minnows.

You could have three of them and a couple of small shrimp (ghost, cherry) or an apple snail. Don't add all of this stuff at once! And you should look into fishless cycling, although if you had only 2 minnows in your tank to start out with you could probably cycle with the minnows without doing them too much harm.

Edit: I think zebra danios aren't suitable for this small of a tank. They are a bit larger than WCMM, and they swim much faster. I don't think they'd have enough room to roam in a 5 gal tank. Note: Even though a betta is bigger still they are suitable for this tank because they swim very slowly (those long fins are not good for swimming.)


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I can think of lots of suitable fish, but the odds of finding any of them at WalMart are pretty slim indeed. White Clouds are probably your best best among typically available Wallyworld fish. They're tough, easy to please, and a lot more interesting than Bettas, which pretty much just sit still most of the time. Myra is right on the money.


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## Hamm35924 (Jun 13, 2005)

i think a betta would work good. i have a betta and he seems very hardy.


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

Get like 4-5 white clouds or 1 betta. Either way, I'd get some ghost shrimp.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Actually bags when filled with air, often can keep a fish in them for several hours. I am in college and have made several moves with my fish. I never had to worry about the oxygen depeleting in a bag, but definately ammonia if you keep them in there for more than a few hours. Max length a fish I've bought in a bag that is still with me today - Pacific Blue Tang, 6 hours and 45 minutes, then another hour of acclimation time.


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

If you are worried about that, goa to walmarts fishing department (fishing like the sport). They sell a small batery operated pump called a bubble buddy for about $5. It rusn on D batteries, and the batteries last for like "ever". I use it in my livewell when I go fishing, never changed the batteries.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

I didn't, but if you're very skeptical about my methods you can  The blue tang I bought I bought at an lfs that was an hour away. Well I got to visiting with one of my friends that lived up there and ended up going to his dorm and hanging out. All I did was keep the bag warm by putting it in my sweatshirt pocket, which also reduced stress on Brianna (yes a human name, I give all my saltwater fish human names, they cost too much to give them pet names hahah). She went into qt for a few weeks and went into the main happy and healthy. (3 years ago)


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

I worked in the fish department and we always were told 8 hours in the bag... but the fish we get in from the distributor were in the bags 24-48 hours. The key is to keep them out of direct sunlight or direct air conditioning.


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