# Tropical Freshwater fish...



## matt020593 (Oct 10, 2006)

Hey,
I am going to be making a paludarium(cage containing land and water) soon, and I need some ideas on what small tropical freshwater fish I can keep in the water area.
I have never kept tropical fish before.

The water area would be around gallon or so big, I have thought about guppys and neons but as I said i'm a complete newb to tropical fish :lol2:, so I havent really got a clue.

Please help.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

sorry to tell you but a gallon is not enough water to hold any fish even the smallest ones


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## matt020593 (Oct 10, 2006)

ok, thanks.
how big would it need to be to hold a few small sized fish, like guppies?


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

normal stocking is an inch of fish per gallon of water depending on the filtration you have in my opinion i would not have a water volume smaller than 10 gallons but thats just me someone else on here will give you there opinions also


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## matt020593 (Oct 10, 2006)

Its actually 2 gallons I did the maths wrong lol, but its still too small.


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

sounds good, get a bigger tank and get some archer fish : victory:


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## matt020593 (Oct 10, 2006)

Right, redisigned it again 2.5 gallons.
Could i keep any fish in that?


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## PendleHog (Dec 21, 2005)

Betta splendens (Siamese Fighting Fish) wil happily live in 2.5Gallons. Some people have even kept these in cups - I am not for this and personally kept mine in 2/2.5 Gallon tanks. They can cope with poorly oxygenated water better than guppies and the like as they take air at the surface.

They are found in rice paddies and puddles in Thailand and are beautiful fish. You can find them in your local fish shop or even Pets @Home (not recommended).
There are various tail fin forms availabe such as half moon and butterfly.

These are solo fish and will aggressively attack other bettas, so you would only be able to keep the one. The colourful specimens in shops will all be male - females are less attractive and dont have the long fins.

Dont know if this will suit but it is probably your only option.

James


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

I know this doesnt go as low as 2.5 gallons but maybe you can do some maths?

Aquarium tank volumes/capacities and stocking levels - UK


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## matt020593 (Oct 10, 2006)

Would I be able to keep any other type of fish with it or would it kill them?
also would they be ok with amphibians going in and out of the water? (There will be a filter)


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

i wouldnt mix amphibians with fish....2.5 gallons will only hold male fighter not big enough for more than that


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Killi fish would be good as they are puddle specialist as somtimes in the wild that's all they get to live and breed in.You could have around four in the volume of water you have.Not sure if you've considered it but you could also have some African DWARF clawed frogs they are 100% aquatic they come a both normal and albino form.

Info on killi fish.Possible also where you could buy them as there uk based.
Killifish - maintenance, breeding, conservation

And info on african DWARF clawed frogs.
Meet my Frogs : African Dwarf Frogs


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## matt020593 (Oct 10, 2006)

Never thought about african clawed frogs, great idea!

Thanks for the links, will check them out.


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## susanamck (May 22, 2007)

ave kept fire bellied newts with tropical fish before without issue, and a african frog (which btw they grow massive and will eat most fish once they about about the size of a £2 coin), but the water size is very small.

couldnt you consider making the land area smaller and the water area larger as my newts and frog hardly came out of the water, in fact i never seen the frog out of water and the newts just used to bask on floatin cork bark.


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## RussianTort55 (Jun 9, 2007)

alistu said:


> normal stocking is an inch of fish per gallon of water depending on the filtration you have in my opinion i would not have a water volume smaller than 10 gallons but thats just me someone else on here will give you there opinions also


Many fish keepers myself included agree this is an outdated rule, there are many other factors, this rule would allow a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank which everyone knows wouldnt work.


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

susanamck said:


> and a african frog (which btw they grow massive and will eat most fish once they about about the size of a £2 coin), but the water size is very small.


The African clawed frogs i am recommending are DWARF they are tiny only growing to around average guppie size.

Adult African dwarf clawed frog pictuered with guppies.
http://www.geocities.com/~amazingaquaria/pics/frog1.jpg


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

RussianTort55 said:


> Many fish keepers myself included agree this is an outdated rule, there are many other factors, this rule would allow a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank which everyone knows wouldnt work.


i totally agree all my tanks are always kept under stocked and with loads more filtration than recomended for the tank size but this formula is still quoted to new fishkeepers if they looked it up on the net as a guideline as you say there are many factors to consider


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## RussianTort55 (Jun 9, 2007)

alistu said:


> i totally agree all my tanks are always kept under stocked and with loads more filtration than recomended for the tank size but this formula is still quoted to new fishkeepers if they looked it up on the net as a guideline as you say there are many factors to consider


Yeah very smart move, i do the same. I always find it good to over filter (bigger filter than recommended) aslong as the water isnt to fast as i had that problem with my male guppies but sorted it out with a filter cap which slows the water flow down a bit.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

go big!!!:no1:


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## dmrich (Nov 29, 2007)

I'm no expert but I once saw a guy at a show who had set up a beautiful land/water tank and he used White Cloud Minnow. The water area could have been more than 4-5 inches wide by 6 inches deep and about 1 foot long but he had 5-6 fish in there. 

Not necessarily recommending keeping fish in such a small area, but can certainly say that White Cloud Minnow are really hardy, low maintenance fish and can withstand vast swings in temperature. If any fish would live in the water area you are creating then these would. They need not be heated (although can be kept in a tropical tank), they stay small and I can say they outlived any other fish that I kept when I was young as they lasted years without requiring much care at all.: victory:


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

thought of getting some amano/cherry shrimp?


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## stefcorn (Jan 11, 2008)

give mollies a turn they are small and hard as u like ive swaped mollies from marine to tropical and back again with none of them dying and mollies are well cheap as well !!!


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## ArranP (Jan 12, 2008)

mud skippers? what about them


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Mud skippers need brackish water, lots of water, and i speficic AIR temperature, too. They need very high humidity as well.


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## Fudge Gecko (May 15, 2006)

I think maybe the best way forward is to decide what exactly you WANT in there!!! If you want frogs/ newts/ salamanders, you should decide which and then design the tank around them. Mixing fish with anything else could easily end badly (for the fish!). But if you look at all the available species of toad, frog, newt and salamander you could make a really interesting exhibit, with a mixture of land and water.


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