Newbie Help!

[TonyBreezy]

Hi guys, i am new to the forum and new to aquariums. I recently bought an eclipse 5 gallon hex system w/ filter from the pet store. i set up the tank last week (gravel, water, plants, ornaments, heater, water conditioner, etc.). I go back to the fish store 3 days later to see what type of fish they recommend. The guy recommended tiger barbs and rosy barbs. Not knowing anything, I said fine...so i bought 2 rosy barbs and 2 tiger barbs.

Tonight, I notice one of my tiger barbs hanging out in the back of the tank by himself, isolated from the other three. He has been acting very strange the past few days, and i think he hasnt eaten in two days. I am worried about him. After reading many forum topics, i see tiger barbs and rosy barbs need to be kept with 6 or more of their own kind...in at least a 30 gallon tank.

Do I have the wrong fish for a 5 gallon hex tank?? If so... what type of fish is the best fit for my tank. I want at least 5 or 6. Thank you for any help you provide.

 

[fiki]

you definately have the wrong fish... those barbsneed grorups... and the eclipse 5G hex is actually too small for them...

what i recommend... considering a 5g tank is small... is scrap the barbs... (and since you want at least 5 or 6) get some type of small liverbearer fish... and put those in a school...

or just get a betta

 

[Torrean]

however do not get mixed sexes if you get livebearers. If you do then you'll have more babies then you know what to do with.

I suggest that you find a nice dwarf puffer and heavily plant the tank, then get lots and lots of snails (snails are a major food source for dwarf puffers) Make the plants the centerpiece. I believe you can put freshwater gobies or something like that with DP not sure though. Just about anything else that will work in a 5 gallon will get eaten by a DP. Make it a water garden with a fish in it rather than a fish tank with maybe some plastic plants in it. 5 gallons are very limited.

You could also go with a betta but they are kinda overdone IMHO. If you go for a betta I'd get a crowntail or a halfmoon. Something a bit more exotic than the dime a dozen veiltails you find in every wallmart accross america.

Other options include white cloud mountain minnows...although no more than 3-5 would be suitable. Lots of people would argue that a 5 gallon is too small for WCMM and I'm inclined to agree with them but those same people are going to tell you that a 5 gallon is too small for guppies, endlers, platies, swordtails, and most anything else you'd put in a fishtank

One final option is a shrimp tank. You could get away with say 20 ghost shrimp 2 ADF (african dwarf frogs) and maybe a large snail like an applesnail or similair. Although the apple snail is going to raise your Nitrates significantly...I think you'll be able to get away with that stocking with weekly 10% water changes and a good filtration system. There are other types of shrimp too but not all are suitable for a tank that size. Do some research on your own and see what you can get away with. Make sure you read up on what Ammonia, Nitrite, nitrate, PH, and Gh/Kh are and how they pertain to your fishtank. Goodluck in your new hobby, be carefull it can become a habit.

 

[TonyBreezy]

thanks guys for the help ...im gonna see if i can bring these guys back to the pet store. if i get a betta... what other fish can i keep with the betta??? i know i cannot keep two males, but can i keep a male and female... or two females

 

[fishboy619]

no other fish should be kept with a betta in a 5gallon, males and females usally dont get on, and more than 1 females can turn out nasty too, shrimp might go well with your betta if he doesnt eat them, or snails, or ADF's i think are the only option to what to add to a 5gallon with a betta,on the other hand a shrimp tank would look great,20 shrimp would be too many IMO, not enought room to move about, about 10-15 max, so would a ADF tank aswell.in the list of fish, maybe a few endlers or guppies but personaly i would not do this, a group of bumblebee gobies would be fine,they is some debate of freshwater or brackish but mine live in fresh water and do well dont know much about dwarf puffers but maybe one would work, also a figure 8 puffer?.apart from them, a betta is probally the only fish well suited to a 5gallon, defintaly NOT any shoaling fish like barbs,shame on the fish shop for selling them to ya, go back and tell them what u have learnt and impress them with your knowledge

 

[billpayers]

Maybe you could use it as a breeding tank, you can get much pleasure out of it. Im taking it you have about 20-25 litres ? you could have about 3 cape lopez lyretail Killifish not are they just beautiful to watch but also easy to breed. Just a thought mind.