Another "New Fish Mommy" Question

Why not just go back to the old plan and set up a "real" aquarium? Very few animals can be housed in a 5-gallon long-term. Even when properly set up and maintained, a 5-gallon is not easy to care for. Small desktop aquariums are just unstable and not recommended for beginners.

The other problem is that you really need some sort of filtration. And even if your house is warm you'll want a heater for anything tropical to make sure the temperature stays consistent.

Honestly, there just isn't much you can do with such a small tank. Desktop tanks are nice for shrimp and other small invertebrates but the only fish you could keep are bettas, pygmy gouramis, or maybe a small school of white cloud minnows, celestial danios, or harlequin rasboras. And even with those you'll want at least some sort of filter and a properly cycled tank.

My advice would be to keep the 5-gallon as a hospital tank and set up an aquarium of at least 20 gallons with the proper equipment and everything. While you're setting the tank up and letting it cycle, research different fish species and pick out some favorites . Once you've narrowed it down a bit, we can figure out what you'd need to keep them.

That's the thing though - I was only going to get that other aquarium to save her goldfish - I am really not that keen on having an aquarium in general. With my bunnies and rats and two kids and husband and school and everything, I don't think I would have the time to maintain a community tank properly. I just really didn't want her goldfish to die by my hand, so I was going to work in the time to keep up with it somehow.

I don't have filters or heaters for Nova and Lucy (the bettas - LOL), but I do weekly 25% water changes with them, and they are both happy as can be, making HUGE bubble nests, eating all their food, swimming like crazy and flaring at each other when they get their exercise time (and sometimes just flaring up for no reason at all). I guess we'll either get another betta or she can just get used to having no "fishies!!!" in her room.

I've seen filters (at least, I think that's what they were) that were just tubes going down into the rocks. If that was a filter, would something like that work in the critter keeper? It would be very easy for me to drill a hole in the lid to insert the tube.

To be honest, a larger tank is easier to maintain. In a small tank, one mistake can cause a crash...you have more room for error in a larger aquarium. You can also be more lax about water changes since any wastes are being diluted a bit.

Of course, after a certain point, a larger tank can definitely be more work. But I'm talking more like 75+ gallons, not a little 20-gallon . I find my 50-gallon to be less work than my 10-gallons and 5-gallons, in fact. It's also easier to clean (in small tanks it's so easy to knock stuff over and it's also annoying to fit the gravel vacuum, ugh!).

Maybe go for a 20-gallon or 29-gallon with a small school of hardy, undemanding fish. Look up white cloud minnows, cherry barbs, celestial danios, harlequin rasboras, and zebra danios. Many of the smaller tetras would also work, just stay away from sensitive species like neon tetras. Then maybe a few fish for the bottom--a group of cory cats or kuhli loaches? Or just a single bristlenose pleco . All of the fish I've just mentioned happily eat commercial flakes/pellets, are inexpensive to purchase, not messy (the pleco is the messiest of the bunch, though), and tolerant of less-than-ideal conditions (not that they should be subjected to them but they can survive most "beginner mistakes"). Some of the species don't even need a heater (the danios and minnows, for example).

There are also brightly-colored "Glofish" that might be good for your daughter . Glofish are zebra danios that have been genetically modified to have a gene for florescence. They're just as healthy as regular zebra danios but the bright colors might be fun for a kid's room. They look a little silly to me but hey! :lol: They wouldn't need a heater or anything special, just a properly cycled aquarium with a standard filter.