experienced F/W tropical fish owners!

JMoran1097

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is it absolutely necessary to have a lid on a small 1.5 gallon aquarium? the lid that came with my tropical starter setup broke accidentally and i'm wondering what to do. i know some fish are known to jump out, but what advice could you give me on what to do about this predicament?
 

Mushroom Spore

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If a fish is going to jump, there's nothing you can do but prevent them from jumping, which is generally done by putting a lid on the tank. I'm not sure what you're looking for. :? I'm pretty sure you can't train fish like that.
 

JMoran1097

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well that's what i'm assuming would happen. any recommendations on what to do? any makeshift lids i can make?
 

dtknow

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A screen lid(window screen) would not be a bad idea...depending on what kind of fish you are going to keep. That being said, if the water goes bad any fish that can will attempt to jump ship.
 

JMoran1097

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ONE MORE QUESTION
================

What kind of tropical F/W fish would you recommend for a 1.5 gallon setup? preferably beginner species.
 

ZooRex

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Bettas, tettras, mollies, ect, any fish that stays pretty small. There are alot of them out there so it depends on what you're looking for. ~ Rex
 

moose35

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sorry but a 1.5 gallon tank is a death trap for anything. except for maybe a betta. you won't ever be able to establish good biological filtration in such a small amount of water.


*edit....or if you could keep the tank warm you could keep 2 african dwarf clawed frogs(Hymenchirus boettgeri). they might work and are pretty cool to watch. if you do get them and your tank has a power filter please put a sponge over the intake tube. this will prevent the frog from getting sucked to the filter. they are cool to watch. they seem to play with each other.



moose
 
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JMoran1097

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sorry but a 1.5 gallon tank is a death trap for anything. except for maybe a betta. you won't ever be able to establish good biological filtration in such a small amount of water.


*edit....or if you could keep the tank warm you could keep 2 african dwarf clawed frogs(Hymenchirus boettgeri). they might work and are pretty cool to watch. if you do get them and your tank has a power filter please put a sponge over the intake tube. this will prevent the frog from getting sucked to the filter. they are cool to watch. they seem to play with each other.



moose
i totally get what you are saying, but i used the thing way back in the day and never had any issues with 4 or 5 goldfish.
 

AneesasMuse

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The rule of thumb for f/w tropical fish is "an inch per gallon"... so that would be an inch of fish per one gallon of water for ANY tropical fish. Any dwarf frog requires 2 gallons of water per frog due to waste. And there are exceptions to the fish rule... mostly cichlids and definitely goldies (but not all goldies would be classified as "tropical" due to cold temp tolerance).

The fact that you have kept "4-5 goldfish in a 1.5g tank" in the past is not any indication that the fish were healthy. They may have been alive, but they were not even remotely healthy or thriving. Goldfish need at least 10 gallons per fish, preferably 20g. When you put a fish in too small of a space, the toxins in the water damage the fish internally. The fish may eat and even grow, but it is not healthy and will not thrive. It will die in a much shorter time than its properly kept counterpart.

It is impossible to cycle 1.5g of water. I used to breed Bettas. I tried many times. I know others in the hobby that tried many times. It just isn't enough water to support a bioload. However, 5g is manageable. It is still difficult, but it can be done. A 10g is even easier and will allow you many more choices for beginner fish and much longer to enjoy them.

I hope this helped.
 

JMoran1097

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k, i see what you are saying. so perhaps a siamese fighting fish or something would be better?
 

eelnoob

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Betta is a good choice, you just don't really have much options with aquarium that small.
 

Mushroom Spore

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that's what i was thinking would work. can i just cover half of the aquarium top because i want room for feeding and filter. so maybe like the first half or something?
If you only cover half the tank, they can jump out of the uncovered half.
 

JMoran1097

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k, well i guess i'll hafta cover all of it then. man, that's gonna be a hassle trying to get food in there and then securing the saran wrap again.


btw, in regards to the cycle thing, i have a 1-3 gallon Whisper filtration system. that still wouldn't do the job?
 

AneesasMuse

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I'm not familiar with the filtration system you speak of, but if you link me to it or I can find it by googling.. I'll check it out. It usually isn't the filtration system itself, but the amount of water to make the "chemistry" work.

Also, I totally forgot to address the "top" issue. Have you considered plastic canvas? You can get it in many colors from your local crafty store.. about $.49 a sheet (10x14) usually. It's easy to cut with just some desk scissors and you can customize it to fit your tank. I have it on top of my African dwarf frog's tank and she's never jumped out. I even cut small pieces of dowel (square kind) and stapled it onto the plastic canvas to give it some weight.

Good Luck!
 

dtknow

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I once kept some swordtails in a 5 gallon bucket while their tank was being overhauled Their as about 8 inches of water in the bucket. A mesh was lai on the top, though it was not on tight. Many got out multiple times. Don't even trust holes meant for airline tubing or filters either. While most fish can't get much higher than 3-5 inches...many fish, esp. surface dwellers can clear impressive heights.

Plexi glass, while it seems like a good idea, for jumping fish it is not. Eventually, it will warp due to the moisture, and then your fish can jump out through the opening created(trust me I've read this and tried using plexiglass for lids/breeder partitions). i'm not familiar with plastic canvas but that sounds like a good option.

For that small of a tank...a betta, possibly 2 dwarf frogs as mentioned. Ghost shrimp, maybe a few apple snails? A few male guppies might work, esp. the feeder kind as they are small, but those are going to be some boring/bored fish...much more interesting in a bigger tank with some girls. Not many truly tiny fish are available through stores but their are fish out there that can live in pretty small containers if you use lots of live plants, keep the water clean, and feed only live foods(to prevent water fouling from prepared food). But I will assume you don't want to go through that trouble.
 

JMoran1097

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i'm considering a betta with 2 dwarf frogs. can they last harmoniously?

what are good communal tiny fish that can last with dwarf frogs?
 
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