# What are suitable fish for a Nano Planted Tank?



## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

In the past, I've kept Guppies, White Clouds, Glowlight Tetras and Serpaes in my 2.5g nano. They all did great and lived a long time (before I eventually moved them into my 55g tank because I liked them so much). My nano is also at work so I don't feed on the weekends but they get plenty to eat during the week.

Right now I've got a male Betta, though. Why do you feel the nano planted tank is too small for a Betta? I actually feel this is more ideally suited for it than a larger tank. I've never been able to keep a Betta in a larger/community tank for more than a year, while this one has been going for a little longer than that. Bettas live in cramped swampy rice paddocks in Thailand and tend to waste a lot of energy swimming around in larger tanks. Just a thought if you would seriously like to keep a Betta in the nano. To me, it is the perfect inhabitant.
He's in there with two Otto's, which do a good job in keeping up with algae.


----------



## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

Well, my betta seems to like his 10 gal planted tank. I have a 10 gal tank with 3 african dwarf frogs, a swordtail (another rescue from the feeder guppy tank) and the betta. Remarkably I have no algae problems probably due to the mystery snail and the mts and since I have to prune this tank on a monthly basis (has the Hagen CO2 injector thingie). This was my first experiment in substrates. It has a half inch layer of gravel, one inch in flourite, and 2 inches with normal play sand. The flourite layer is supplemented with plant tabbs upon the initial setup but with regular doses of kent's pro plant and plant formula this plant is flourshing to where I have a couple of 10 gal tanks with various substrates that has just plants and various shrimps. and snails. All from the offsprings.

Anyways he just seems happier but my guppy is about 1/4 of his size. 
My 29 gal houses the serpaes, and lemon tetras. They quickly outgrew 10 gal tanks but seem to school well in a 29 gall. They will be moved into a 55 gal planted tank as soon as I set up my 75 and/or my 125 gal reef tank. (200 gal sump in basement)

Ray


----------



## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

Well no other takers but I have actually seen someone keep kuhlie loaches in a 3 gal eclipse. He had 3 of them and they were very active. I would have thought they would outgrow something that small, but he had them for over a year.

Ray


----------



## Alex (Nov 6, 2002)

Sparkling Gouramis will do well in a small tank. I have a pair in a planted 2 gallon tank and they are doing well.

Alex


----------



## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

i want a golden gourami. i read that they are really peaceful with small fishes like neons and harlequin rasboras. i also read that some people have had problems with other dwarf gouramis bullying the other fish. i have a 5.5 gallon, so i cant have fish that are troublemakers and fish tend to cause more trouble in small spaces. what about the red fire dwarf gourami? gouramis don't need friends right? just one will keep it peaceful? because the tetras usually only cause trouble when they are not kept in a school.


----------



## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

I am not sure about gouramis. I have only had one in a 10 gal or larger. And I guess I am not a really big fan either way. I am more a cory person though. I think that there is nothing more pleasant to watch than a school of cories just busily exploring the substrate.


Ray


----------



## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

im thinking about a gourami even i don't really like the way they look because i need a solitary fish. most of the other fish that would do well in my tank we need small schools. Neons, harlequins, corys, otos. i have otos in there tho. 3 of them. gouramis don't need friends. haha. i don't feel like spending the money on getting a school of harlequins yet. its gonna cost me like 15 bucks.


----------



## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

I guess 15 bucks for a school wouldn't be that bad considering I have spent a hundred or more for a reef safe fish. I am really liking the guppy and pygmy cories in my planted nano tank. The corries are so active and the guppy seems to try to play with them. I am having a snit trying to keep the cacomba's under control And to think I started with one or two strands...now a tank full.

Ray


----------



## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

The "only" gourami's I would consider for a tank under 10 Gallons would be Croaking or Sparkling Gourami's. Gold Gourami's are simply colour variations of the typical 3 spot gourami (that can attain 6") so they will grow far too large for tanks under 27 Gallons.

There is a HUGE variety of Betta species that would be ideal as well. I think you'll find most small anabantids would be well suited to a small, filterless nano.


----------



## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

the dwarf gouramis are good. they are all the same fish except different colors. mine seems pretty happy. he swims all over the tank like he owns it or sumtin. haha. im gonna get him a girlfriend sometime even though females are pretty ugly. (oxymoron) haha.


----------



## Pooky125 (Jul 30, 2002)

What about Honey gouramis? They only get 1.5-2" in length, and are pretty calm. I have a pairin my 5 bowfront planted tank. Beautiful fish, and worth looking into atleast.


----------



## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I'm a little biased on the Dwarf Gourami's.. I have had SEVERAL of them simply turn evil on me and try to kill everything in the tank. I'm sure thats an oddity but still.. I'm tainted.. lol


----------



## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

hahah. dwarfs don't usually do anything. they do stuff like that when there are other gouramis around. they mostly quarrel with other gouramis.


----------



## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I had one decide that he wanted a piece of my Botia Helodes.. a 6" monster of a mean loach...

Needless to say I didn't have to worry about the mean gourami any more... He was dead by morning!

Although not appropriate for a small tank, I much prefer 3 spot gourami's and Pearl gourami's to the dwarf's...


----------



## digger (Feb 18, 2003)

I've had problems with male Dwarf Gouramis fighting each other (to their mutual destruction). The would also harass angelfish and whatever else wasn't faster then them. They are little bastards and I would recommend only keeping one.


----------



## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

hah. thats weird. in my tanks, the gouramis seem to be ones being picked on! by Tetras! ,not even biging ones! they are really annoying fin nippers because im not keeping them in a school. this was when i first started the fish hobby, and i still haven't got a school of them. o well.. :shock:


----------



## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

I think whatever thinks he is the dominant fish. I have never seen an aggressive neon goby, ever. My wife has a damsel, neon goby and a tang in a 29 gal tank (yeah I know the tang will out grow it eventually)But the neon is the most aggressive yet the smallest fish in the tank. Kinda weird.

Ray


----------



## ritt (Sep 10, 2003)

I keep dwarf puffer fish in my 3 gal they are really interesting to watch but aggressive

you could try an Otto 
or maybe even a bumblebee goby 
all these fish only get to be about 1 inch

you could also get a few ghost shrimp or even a frog


----------



## ritt (Sep 10, 2003)

I keep dwarf puffer fish in my 3 gal they are really interesting to watch but aggressive

you could try an Otto 
or maybe even a bumblebee goby 
all these fish only get to be about 1 inch

you could also get a few ghost shrimp or even a frog


----------



## BonesCJ (Jan 13, 2003)

I have a Peruvian Puffer(fw) in a planted 5 gallon cube, he loves the open swimming space and is a scream to see buzzing around the aquarium, he picks on the oto a little and made short work of a ghost shrimp but they are so full of personnality.


----------



## Ngaio (Jul 31, 2003)

Hi:

I've been thinking of putting a nano tank (maybe 5 or 10 gallons) at my work and having a pair of dwarf puffers in it. I did see one comment that puffers need to be fed every day (and I'm not here weekends). What do you think? No skipping weekends feedings?


----------



## Ray1214 (Aug 6, 2003)

Ngaio,

They should do okay but I would caution you to go with one. Make sure you make provisions for when you are not at work though. My puffers get fed every other day. So I don't think you will be hurting them by making them skip a weekend.


----------



## Ngaio (Jul 31, 2003)

So they are too agressive to have a pair in a small tank? Would one dwarf do well in a 5 gallon tank?


----------



## digger (Feb 18, 2003)

Another consideration with puffers is that they won't eat flake food and prefere live foods. I don't know about you, but I don't have time for live foods at work.


----------



## Ngaio (Jul 31, 2003)

I hate to complain about this, and it's the first time in my life I have not worked like a dog at my job, but I have almost nothing to do at work. I work 20 hours a week and there is four, maybe five hours of actual work to be done. It's so bad I've begged my boss for more things to do! So time to spend on the tank is not a problem. And there is a frige - but I don't know if the other employees would appreciate wiggly worms stored with their lunches (some people are just weird that way). 

So some puffers wouldn't take frozen food? I might have to re-think the tank if that's true. But I'm not planning to set it up for a couple of months so that is not a hardship.


----------

