Best fish for 3 gal tank

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

a betta, shrimp, snails or sea monkeys.

A betta!?! Really.
'Sea Monkeys' are brine shrimp. Were these food for the Betta?

 

[Obsessed with fish]

A betta!?! Really.
'Sea Monkeys' are brine shrimp. Were these food for the Betta?

i have a betta in a 3 gallon, and no the sea monkeys was a joke.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

A betta!?! Really.
'Sea Monkeys' are brine shrimp. Were these food for the Betta?

i have a betta in a 3 gallon, and no the sea monkeys was a joke.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

You need to add other options to the poll;

• None of the above
• Snails
• Shrimp

 

[Ch4rlie]

A betta!?! Really.
'Sea Monkeys' are brine shrimp. Were these food for the Betta?

A betta will be fine in a 3 gallon, though this would be about the smallest sized tank for them imho

Betta Splendens Caresheet

Marble Rosetail OHM Species: Betta (pronounced bet-uh), also known as the Siamese or Thai fighting fish. Scientific Name: Betta splendens (although the domesticated versions are a result of breeding wild betta splenden complex members together) Wild Betta Splendens Lifespan: 2 - 10 years...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

A betta will be fine in a 3 gallon, though this would be about the smallest sized tank for them imho

Betta Splendens Caresheet

Marble Rosetail OHM Species: Betta (pronounced bet-uh), also known as the Siamese or Thai fighting fish. Scientific Name: Betta splendens (although the domesticated versions are a result of breeding wild betta splenden complex members together) Wild Betta Splendens Lifespan: 2 - 10 years...

www.fishforums.net

That depends, however, on a variety of different factors...and I was aware of the original posters current abilities.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Something else, endlers livebearers: not sure.

Aisen stone catfish: Often hard to find because there not vey popular.

Pea puffer fish: Needs 15 gallons MINIMUM.

Scarlet gem: 3 gallons or 5 gallons is WAY to small.

Guppy: Sure, you could fit 2 or 3 in there.

Neon, cardinal tetra: Neon's need 8 gallons minimum, cardinals need 10 gallons minimum.

Your only options on that list are endler livebearers or guppys.

 

[Essjay]

Guppies need more than 3 gallons, they need a tank at least 45 cm/18 inches long
Neons and cardinals both need a tank at least 60 cm/24 inches long.
These are minimum tank lengths, they will always be better in bigger tanks.

No idea what scarlet gems are

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Guppies need more than 3 gallons, they need a tank at least 45 cm/18 inches long
Neons and cardinals both need a tank at least 60 cm/24 inches long.
These are minimum tank lengths, they will always be better in bigger tanks.

No idea what scarlet gems are

oops, sorry i gave bad imfomation.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Actally, scarlet gems can go in that size tank but thee imposiible to find. I have never seen 1 youtube video mention one or heard someone mention one. You can try find one but i wish you good luck.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

The Scarlet Gem is another name for Scarlet Badis, (Dario dario).
They'll eat baby shrimp and it's very clear on several sources that 10 gallon is a minimum tanks size.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Actally, scarlet gems can go in that size tank but thee imposiible to find. I have never seen 1 youtube video mention one or heard someone mention one. You can try find one but i wish you good luck.

No...they can't.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Choosing fish for any aquarium of any size is always a complex matter....you have to research everything and not just see a Guppy, for example, as being small so a tiny aquarium will do.....the aquarium length and width is often more important than the depth and volume.

You can have a really nice column aquarium of 50 gallons or a hex like mine with 17 gallons and mistakenly think that the short distance from side to side will be made up by the excess depth cos it won't be...fish swim side to side/end to end.....not up and down, fish are generally horizontal swimmers, not vertical (there are some fish who will love the depth but not all will)

An aquarium footprint is vitally important when choosing the approriate fish for your aquarium, especially when you have a small one. Despite the pretty pictures of big fish on the box it came in, a small aquarium is severely limited on what will be healthy within it....not enough horizontal swim space will inevitably lead to stunted growth, health problems and often an early departure.

Always measure the length and width of the aquarium, then research the fish best suited to that measurement and then cross reference that shortlist of potential residents with the volume of the aquarium and you will find that your shortlist of potentials will shrink. And to add yet more complexity, if you have a tall aquarium you need to factor in whether you want surface breathers like Betta, Gourami etc cos it can be a very long way from their usual prowling space to the surface, and harder work if like the Betta you have huge tails and fins to drag up there too.

Finding fish to fit an aquarium is not as easy as people might think...its a science.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Choosing fish for any aquarium of any size is always a complex matter....you have to research everything and not just see a Guppy, for example, as being small so a tiny aquarium will do.....the aquarium length and width is often more important than the depth and volume.

You can have a really nice column aquarium of 50 gallons or a hex like mine with 17 gallons and mistakenly think that the short distance from side to side will be made up by the excess depth cos it won't be...fish swim side to side/end to end.....not up and down, fish are generally horizontal swimmers, not vertical (there are some fish who will love the depth but not all will)

An aquarium footprint is vitally important when choosing the approriate fish for your aquarium, especially when you have a small one. Despite the pretty pictures of big fish on the box it came in, a small aquarium is severely limited on what will be healthy within it....not enough horizontal swim space will inevitably lead to stunted growth, health problems and often an early departure.

Always measure the length and width of the aquarium, then research the fish best suited to that measurement and then cross reference that shortlist of potential residents with the volume of the aquarium and you will find that your shortlist of potentials will shrink. And to add yet more complexity, if you have a tall aquarium you need to factor in whether you want surface breathers like Betta, Gourami etc cos it can be a very long way from their usual prowling space to the surface, and harder work if like the Betta you have huge tails and fins to drag up there too.

Finding fish to fit an aquarium is not as easy as people might think...its a science.

U give such good advice i can't get over it!

 

[anewbie]

I believe a dario dario will do ok in a 3 gallon aquarium with proper treatment despite the claim above that they require a 10 gallon aquarium. The thing is they also require live food (though with a lot of patience some can be talked into taking frozen food) and I suspect the poster is not in a position to care or feed for such a fish so it is likely mute. Anyway I think it is off topic to get into thrive vs live comfortably esp when it is not really clear what that means from the fish perspective. The real problem is keeping a 3 gallon aquarium stable for any small fish is more difficult since many of them are not robust to poor water quality.
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I would actually suggest that ember tetra and green neon are probably ok in small quanity in a 3 gallon as both are small and neither are active swimmer but they do require decent water quality and will not tolerate a lot of abuse which is hard to achieve in such a small aquarium.