Chilli Rasbora in a 3.5 Gallon

[Benny]

Hey all!

Putting together a 3.5 gallon tank I happened to have on hand. Never kept chillis before, so wondering if this is an okay size for them. It will be fairly heavily planted and water changed as needed. Minimal hardscape so as to not get in the way of swimming space.

Plus, any advice on specific / less than obvious requirements are more than welcome.

[Scapexghost]

It depends on the dimensions. If its reasonably long itll be ok but i wouldn't try them if its a cube.

[Fish Folk]

I think you'd be better off with a school of 6-10 in a 5 gallon aquarium. But there are amazing fish that you could happily keep in a 3.5 gallon. Have you ever considered the Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish? You could put a trio in here, heavily, heavily planted, and they'd probably lay eggs and hatch fry. No heater needed. Gentle filtration...

[Native Keeper]

I personally don't think that'd be a good idea, I never put fish in anything less than 5 gallons, so if you ask me, shrimps and snails would be the best option.

Though these are my personal limits, so good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Edited April 21, 2022 by Native Keeper

[Guppysnail]

@Fish Folk that is a stunning fish. Do they take well to commercial foods?

[Fish Folk]

On 4/21/2022 at 8:04 AM, Guppysnail said:

@Fish Folk that is a stunning fish. Do they take well to commercial foods?

I do love them! We bred the closely related Okefenokee Pygmy Sunfish (species separated from the Gulf Coast back in 2009, if I recall reading correctly).

You bring up a major difficulty: they DO NOT like commercial foods. They must be fed live foods. We seeded our tank with black worms, and didn't feed them again for months. We also hatch live baby brine shrimp several times a week in our fish room. So . . . maybe the caution should be: Pygmy Sunfish require live foods, and should be limited to experienced aquarists who are equipped to provide such fare the them.

Here's our intro video on the Elassoma Okefenokee...

 

[Guppysnail]

Something interesting you could try in this tank are Thai micro crabs.  My LFS has a 3 gallon rimless as a store tank. It’s a Thai micro crab habitat. It’s lovely. It’s done in beautiful Riccia fluitans moss and wood. 

[Patrick_G]

My chilis don’t really “do” much. I mean the don’t seem to need much space in the water column, they swim around but aren’t active like danios. I’ve considered trying six of them in a three gallon. I think it would be roughly like keeping six cardinals in a ten gallon. 

Least Kilifish would be a better fish to try. They’re smaller, don’t need a heater and probably don’t even need a filter in a planted tank with regular water changes. 

[Hannah Parker]

I have chilis and I think they might be okay, but would fare better in a 5 gallon. They don't swim around a ton but love to hide under plants and driftwood and stuff, so I feel like they would appreciate something semi-heavily planted. I thought about keeping some rogue whisker shrimp that mauled some platy fry in a 3.5 gallon by themselves, they're really active and hardy so that could be cool. 

[Benny]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will look for least killifish in my LFS. If they don't have them, I pry will just do a shrimp tank.

On 4/21/2022 at 4:48 AM, Fish Folk said:

I think you'd be better off with a school of 6-10 in a 5 gallon aquarium. But there are amazing fish that you could happily keep in a 3.5 gallon. Have you ever considered the Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish? You could put a trio in here, heavily, heavily planted, and they'd probably lay eggs and hatch fry. No heater needed. Gentle filtration...

I doubt my store will carry these, but I wish they would! Very stunning fish.