5 Gallon Snail Tank
I’ve had this 5 gallon tank since around 2018. The tank started as a tropical community tank, basically a smaller-scale version of my 45 gallon tank. I learned a lot about the differences in maintaining different sized tanks, how plants grow differently because light penetrates easier, and how water quality changes more quickly. I kept low maintenance fish over the years such as mollies and cory catfish as well as ramshorn and malaysian trumpet snails. When I went to college, I only kept snails to make it low maintenance enough for my parents to care for. It became a tank to grow extra snails and I did minimal maintenance on it. In May 2026 I decided to finally give this tank some direction and I’m excited to prepare it for a new fish!
The Inhabitants
The tank is currently stocked with Malaysian trumpet snails and ramshorn snails, which together make a great cleanup crew and maintain a source of nitrates for the plants. Plants grow well in this tank - I have amazon swords, java fern, tiger lotus, dwarf water lettuce, duckweed, and jungle val. Many of these plants I only introduced in the past month and they’re already adapting well.
Current State / Future Plans
I am in the process of tweaking the aquascape in this tank as well as adding leaf litter. I plan to introduce a pea puffer within the next few weeks. Pea puffers are known for having personality and being intelligent. They love to hunt snails, and I always have an overpopulation of ramshorn snails. They are a bit more complicated than most fish I’ve had because they require live or frozen foods rather than flakes. I’ve read that they can thrive on their own and a well planted 5-gallon tank is appropriate. After not having a clear goal for this tank in many years, I’m excited to turn it into a pea puffer tank and will absolutely be providing updates throughout the journey.