# 5 Gallon desktop Aquarium



## NJFisher (Apr 17, 2009)

Hey I have been wanting to put a small tank on my desk at work so I have something to stair at between emails lol. Does anybody have a suggestion as to what to place inside? I assume betta would be the only fish, however are there anyother different suggestions such as a frog or crawfish? Let me know im curious and i think i am purchasing the Tetra Crescent Aquarium if you would like to take a look.

Thanks for any help!


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

You could do a shrimp tank. Cherry shrimp are interesting little critters.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

I looked on their site and couldn't find the LxW dimensions of the 5g.

The scary thing about small aquariums is the fact that the smallest water issue becomes a big problem quite fast.

How sturdy is your desk? A ten gallon weighs just over 100 lbs and a 15 is about 170 full of water. I have a 15 with Tanganykian shellies on my (solid) bedside table. Highly recommended.

kevin


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## NJFisher (Apr 17, 2009)

Well the issue lies with IT not the desk it is plenty sturdy, but my IT guy doesnt like a glass of water with 16OZ of H2O let alone 15 gallons. And I know beta are hardy so i guess maybe i should stick with them with such a small amount of water.


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## westcoastkid (May 24, 2010)

you could do a 5 gallon shellie tank. i've seen an awesome pic of fmueller 's in the rate the tank above you thread. same volume of water your looking at.


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## KiDD (Aug 20, 2010)

You could do a Betta


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## roffels (Jul 27, 2010)

bettas are nice but like its been said a billion times just because its a betta doesn't mean you can stick it in a glass jar and say its home for the betta ... have you ever seen rice patty fields where bettas originated from they can be thousands of gallons or way way more (sorry end of rant but i hate seeing bettas in small tanks) ..... i recommend the shrimp idea because they are very peaceful and relaxing and they are very neat to watch .... other suggestions are male guppies you could put 2-3 in there ... with them you may be able to throw a apple snail in there to keep it clean ... you can also find filters for 5 gallon tanks and also make sure you get a heater in there to!

hope this helps a bit

- Roffels


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I'm telling you, Shrimp and a few plants. Maybe a piece of driftwood and you have a interesting relaxing tank.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

ok even fmueller admitted that he had loads of problems with that tank, also his tank had a larger footprint than a normal 5 gallon, i would not do shellies in a 5, especially if it's not a standard rectangle


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## TexasFishGuy (Aug 20, 2010)

I have some Amano shrimp, and they really are quite interesting....I ended up with one tiny male and 3 females...all have been pregnant, but so far no luck with babies. Either way I love those little things.

That would be what I personally would go with for a 5g.


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## mthom211 (Dec 22, 2009)

I don't think you will get baby amanos I thought they require brackish water to breed or I'm getting confused with something else.


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## TexasFishGuy (Aug 20, 2010)

I had researched that they needed brackish water for the fry (or whatever you call baby shrimp) to actually survive. I tried it in a 10 gallon...2 of them dropped their eggs, and after about 3 weeks I didn't get anything, so I just put them back in the 55g. Not a big deal...don't really care to have more than the 4 I already have until I get more tanks...i.e. when the wife and I move into a bigger home.


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## limpert (Aug 28, 2007)

Shrimp is an awesome idea... my buddy had bamboo shrimp and they're freaking hilarious. :thumb:

Also, if you decide to get a tank such as the 5gal hex tank they sell at walmart, the filter on that thing is crapola (it just trickles). It took me 5 minutes to modify one to accomodate a 10gal HOB filter:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Assuming you have other tanks as well, I might suggest some fry to grow out. While long term is not good, it would be fine to put several small yellow labs for color and perhaps other 1/2-3/4 inch fry. Lots of action and not timid makes them a better choice than a betta. Move or trade them when they are too big.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Eh, I don't like the fry idea. I doubt you will have the time to do WC's at work and you could end up stunting their growth.

You could try a "mini" community. Cherrie shrimp, a snail or two and those really small dwarf rasboras. Heck you could probably have 5-6 of those dwarf rasboras.

Throw in some plants, drift wood and w.e other decor you like and you would have a nice looking mini community.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

the aqueon 5 gallon mini bow doesn't have the worst dimensions for a 5 gallon

also one chain store has a store brand 6 gallon aquarium that is actually pretty long, which imo would be the best option for a smaller tank, that's somehting to cosndier over the tetra


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

here is a thread on one of them
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/99750-6-6-gallon-bookshelf-aquarium.html


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## iCichlid (Sep 21, 2009)

I have a Fluval Edge on my desk (@ home).

It has a live plant, root wood, 2 neons and a clown loach (snail patrol).


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## limpert (Aug 28, 2007)

Just to follow up, a desktop aquarium is a good idea only if you want to get very little work done due to distraction.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Check out Dario Dario.

You may can do a pair of least kilifish with a male dario dario and then add three our four shrimp!


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## sarah (Feb 22, 2003)

I did my five gallon with a ghost shrimp and a dwarf pleco. The goldfish lasted 3 years and the dwarf pleco is still kicking and the water levels are perfect.

Also, I LOVE ghost shrimp for little tanks. They are so active and weird and mine had bunches of babies which I kept transfering to 3 gallon tanks as gifts for my coworkers. PLUS ghost shrimp are super cheap (mine were 33 cents) because they sell them as feeders for bigger fish. Great pets, though.


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## sarah (Feb 22, 2003)

Indian Dwarf Puffers!!!! Super tiny. Love brine shrimp. Easy to maintain water levels. Very cute and entertaining.

Look them up on a search engine. 2 or 3 of those would do just in a 5 gallon.


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