I introduced myself in the appropriate section, but for background here I had fish before, learned all about cycling and so on, but it's been a few years. At the request of my kids I'm looking at dusting off my old 5-gallon betta tank. My boys are 5 and 3, and have been asking for a fish for a little while. I don't mind fish upkeep, and they've offered to do other chores in exchange. Seems fair, and I don't mind an excuse to have a fish again. They help feed our cats every day, so they've got an age-appropriate understanding of pet care and they know not to tap on the side of the tank and so on.
My goal here is something the kids can watch and enjoy that will thrive in the tank and be forgiving if I make some mistakes while relearning things. Nothing fragile or super sensitive, nothing fancy, just a simple most-likely-to-succeed setup. My first thought is that that's probably a betta, but I'm here for advice so let me know if I'm wrong. The lady at the pet store showed us guppies, Endlers, mollies, platys, barbs, danios and a few types of tetra. Most of those seemed a little large or active for a small tank, given what I've read, and I really don't want to push anything. The oldest really likes guppies, but I'm telling him about where bettas live in Thailand in the big rice paddies and I think that'll do the trick. They're also intrigued by the large snails, which I've never kept before.
The tank is a standard 5-gallon (not a hex or anything), the filter is rated for 5-10 gallons (I think I put some plants/decorations in front of the output when I had a betta in it before), I need to get a new heater (I'm looking at an eheim jager, 25 watts), I'll do a fishless cycle first, make sure to use dechlorinator, small amounts of food, and water changes once or twice a week. I have black flourite from before, and I assume I could reuse that and maybe have some luck with a few simple plants.
So -- your best advice on a foolproof setup? Many thanks!
My goal here is something the kids can watch and enjoy that will thrive in the tank and be forgiving if I make some mistakes while relearning things. Nothing fragile or super sensitive, nothing fancy, just a simple most-likely-to-succeed setup. My first thought is that that's probably a betta, but I'm here for advice so let me know if I'm wrong. The lady at the pet store showed us guppies, Endlers, mollies, platys, barbs, danios and a few types of tetra. Most of those seemed a little large or active for a small tank, given what I've read, and I really don't want to push anything. The oldest really likes guppies, but I'm telling him about where bettas live in Thailand in the big rice paddies and I think that'll do the trick. They're also intrigued by the large snails, which I've never kept before.
The tank is a standard 5-gallon (not a hex or anything), the filter is rated for 5-10 gallons (I think I put some plants/decorations in front of the output when I had a betta in it before), I need to get a new heater (I'm looking at an eheim jager, 25 watts), I'll do a fishless cycle first, make sure to use dechlorinator, small amounts of food, and water changes once or twice a week. I have black flourite from before, and I assume I could reuse that and maybe have some luck with a few simple plants.
So -- your best advice on a foolproof setup? Many thanks!