What fish for 5 gallon tank

[jazzx101]

Hey, I just purchased a 5 gallon tank with some other things such as a filter. I'm new to the world of keeping fish and I'm looking to get a few smallish fish that are not too delicate. It is about 70 degrees all the time in my dorm room, and I don't have a heater.


What would you recommend? I have been looking at maybe Tetras or Danios.

 

[Alien Anna]

That's a very small tank so you won't be able to fit much in it. If you cycle your tank before adding any fish you shouldn't have to worry so much about fish being delicate. Follow the link in my sig for more information.

For a 5 gallon tank, the sort of thing I'd recommend would be a male betta, plus a snail and a shrimp, a dwarf pufferfish, a handful of cherry barbs (one male and a female), a school of white cloud mountain or rosy minnows or a school of small tetras, such as black neons. But you'd need a heater - a 25 watt would be ideal, unless you go with the minnows, who are cold water fish.

 

[jazzx101]

I just thermo'd the tank and it's running at about 75-76 degrees. I was thinking of picking up like 3 danios and maybe a snail.

 

[FloridaFishGuy]

I would go with a Betta and maybe one of those little frogs.

 

[Fishy_Fish74]

Dwarf frog would be nice..they are fun to have and they can live well in small areas contact me in the chat if u need 2

 

[jazzx101]

What about a single african Cichlids?

Although I'm planning on starting with either a pair of Kribensis or just maybe 3 zebra danios. And maybe tossing a small snail in.

How does that sound?

 

[kjathe]

how about chinese butterfly loaches?
with sterbai and kuhli loaches?

 

[Elrohirthehasty]

What about a single african Cichlids?

Although I'm planning on starting with either a pair of Kribensis or just maybe 3 zebra danios. And maybe tossing a small snail in.

How does that sound?

haha
i asked about putting a pair of kribs in a 10g and THAT got shot down

 

[Corleone]

Danios are too active for the size. A betta, dwarf or honey gourami, maybe a single apisto dwarf cichlid. Not sure about a paradise fish, they're compared to bettas a lot, but I think they get a bit bigger. Some of the smaller killifish might be ok, but can be hard to come by. Another drawback is that most of the suitable killifish I know of would be annual species - not only hard to come by, but short lived.

Shrimp would be nice, as well, if you can find some cherry shrimp or something else colorful. Room for a good number of them, even in this size tank.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Okay, I know what it's like to be on a college budget with really limited space, but unfortunately 5 gallon tanks really limit your choices a lot, especially for beginners, because smaller tanks are harder to keep stable, and generally most really small species of fish prefer groups and are somewhat delicate. Avoiding stress on your fish (causes include: too confined a space, poor water quality, not enough of the same species (which can cause fear or aggression problems), etc) is an important step to keeping your fish healthy and alive.

Danios are not only too active for a 5 gallon, they can also be a bit aggressive with one another when it comes to choosing a pecking order and having enough of them to diffuse the aggression would make it harder for you to keep the water clean.

The only african cichlids (that I know of) that can be kept in a smaller tank are certain species of shelldwellers, and the minimum for those is 10 gallons.

In terms of hardiness...a male betta is prob. going to be your most forgiving choice. And if you think they're boring: look up crowntails, halfmoons, and deltas because there really are some stunning bettas out there. Plus they have a lot of personality...mine dances for food. XD

 

[Miss Wiggle]

agree with the above, the following fish suggested so far are not suitable IMHO

Danio's - too active need around 15-20 gals min
Kribs & apistos - too big, too active, need around 15-20 gals min
Paradise fish - too big
I'd even be dubious on the dwarf gourami

If it was my tank i'd go for a trio of pgymy corydoras and 5 microrasbora. I think that's gonna get you the most small fish possible in that size of tank.

 

[AngelOfDeath]

Is it a 5 gall long or a fish gal high?
for a long, i would stick in some livebearers, guppies, probs about 2 males and 4 females.
or i'd stick in a fighter and maybe 4-5 african dwarf frogs
neon tetra, maybe a small shoal 5-7 (if it's a 5 gall long, btw i'm too lazy to read much, so if you don't have a filter, i wouldn't get tetra.
hmmmm....dwarf gourami would be okay imo.
hmmm
hmmm....There is realy not that much diversity, tropical fish kinda suck in comparison to marine, which is about 400% as expensive, (rant), i saw a shrimp for £26.99)

 

[waterdrop]

Perhaps jazzx101 is out of the college dorm room now... since this thread was posted back in 2003!

... was about to be surprised by the presence of Alien Anna, but then saw the date.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ooopps! missed that one...... gosh i'm not doing well today that's my second complete lack of observation today.

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, Alien Anna, who wrote the tank syndrome article we sometimes quote, hasn't logged on since 2004 I was just noticing.