Also, I am not too sure (it has been a long time) if they will feed off of the tank bottom. In time you may want to introduce some pond snails or a Cory or two.

A trio of guppies would probably be ok, if the temperatures range 75-80. Small aquaria are more likely to overheat. And the two of you might want to talk about what is to be done with baby guppies, before they are dropped.

For some background on white clouds, there is a snippet in http://www.guppylog.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2006/2/25/191055/850

If I were you, I would start her tank by filling it 1/2 way with tap water, treating it and letting it sit for a few days. Maybe put an airstone on it. (But you knew that.)

In the meantime could you put a sponge filter or box filter in one of your other tanks? Get that baby started!

When set-up time comes, fill the tank up the rest of the way with water from your healthiest tank. Bring over the filter, wet. Maybe put it in a bag or bucket so as to not drop water on the floor. If the bucket is a household bucket, carry the filter over it. ;)

Set it up and let it run. Please then, put some gravel (sift any gunk out with a net) from that healthy tank.

At this point you might want to go with fish-less cycling. Take a look again at http://www.guppylog.com/story/2006/2/19/1538/39830

That would be a low stress way to train her to use test kits. By the way, she can do much of her own work, but I would have an older person supervise water changes up to maybe even junior high age aquarists. Water can be spilled too easily on an outlet wire or a plugged in heater can be too easily left out of the water.

I'm sure that is only a general rule. There are kids younger than junior high responsible enough to do a lot of things very well, but I still would be very careful with kids around anything involving water and electrical connections.

When the fish-less cycling is done, get 3-4 white clouds. When the ammonia cycle has settled down, maybe add a 1 or 2 small Corys or a few pond snails. I don't know about that last Cory addition, a five-gallon tank isn't very big. Hexagonal aquariums are very attractive, but have less surface area (especially in proportion to total gallons) than most rectangular aquaria.

I would go for a little more than an inch of fish per gallon. By the way, (for the benefit of lurkers) larger, heavier fish need more space than that rule suggests. A pond book suggested one inch of goldfish per three gallons of water (maximum - monitored as they grow). Another book suggested a maximum of 1" of goldfish per square foot of surface. That same book felt that the maximum Koi density was to be 1/2 inch of fish per square foot of water surface.

Aren't you glad you are considering white clouds or guppies or one Betta or one paradise fish or maybe a pair of small livebearers or small killies. :)

If a light (and maybe plants) is/are put on that tank, make sure that there is a way for heat to rise from the tank. I would make sure there were plants around the sides of the tank or at least a partial cover along the top sides, if possible. If fish jump, they do so most often when they get to an obstacle, such as an aquarium side.

I had heard that white clouds (true minnows or Cyprinids) were easy to spawn and set some up in an old half barrel in our back yard. A couple of water hyacinths were planted in there. (Before any fish went in, I lined the bottom with a little, very old, composted cattle manure. Aquarium water followed. It was all allowed to settle.) Later a breeding sized trio (1 male 2 females) of white clouds was acclimated to that (20-gal?) barrel. The plants went crazy and there were obviously small fry all over. I didn't feed them much, trusting to mother nature to care for their needs. (Silly me.)

With the rapidly multiplying plants, wind, and just a few small fish, I didn't see a need for a filter. One day, a record (for us) of 8 water hyacinths bloomed. They were gorgeous!

In the fall, the barrel was drained. Plants were vigorously drained and the water allowed to settle. To my dismay, I found only about 8-9 fairly good-sized white clouds. Not many fry grew up to become adults. Most of them must have been eaten, probably by larger siblings.

Next time I try a breeding barrel "out back," they will be better fed, (maybe more flakes and a few mosquito larvae or Daphnia). I should do a census a couple of times to see how everyone is doing.