# Fishes For 5 gallon tank?



## Alanthebro (Dec 20, 2011)

I got a 5 gal tank in our storage and wanted to know what kind of small fish(other than bettas) than bet can live happily in there.


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

Probably only teeny guys like guppies and tetras, but if a betta goes in there, be careful what you put with it. I reccommend a max of 5 fish if all fish are 1inch full grown. It's still a little much in my opinion, but many people say 1in of fish per gallon.

I usually house 1 or two bettas (divided of course) in a 5gal. The more room the better, and the less fish in one tank, the healthier and cleaner they are.


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## Nijis (Jan 25, 2012)

The only fish that can live in a 5 gallon tank is a betta. But you could get a snail or some shrimp.


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## Philnominal (Dec 22, 2011)

1 Betta or 1 Dwarf Puffer, orrrrr i have read conflincting opinions on these but 1-3 (not sure as i havent kept one myself) Scarlet Badis. If you went for Scarlet Badis i would go for a pair or 1 male and 2 females for a 10 gallon. Also you could house shrimp. For everything i listed but the betta (bettas do better in it too) you should have it planted. You could also do a pair of Endlers Livebearer.


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

The one inch of fish per gallon is just wrong, completly wrong.

There are numerous fish that can fit in a 5g aside from a betta. It's mostly just a matter of whats available to you, and are you willing to order online? Although for one fish it's probably going to wind up being an expensive fish.

You could do some of the endlers liverbearer mentioned previously, a trio of male guppies, a platy. 

Get the tank set up and cycling, have a look at whats available at your local fish store. If you see something you like or something is recommended to you come back and research before buying


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

ladayen said:


> The one inch of fish per gallon is just wrong, completly wrong.


It's an overused theme set by petstores mostly. Not saying it's really right or wrong - though in most cases...wrong. Depending on the type of fish, you can vary in numbers.

Like I said before, tiny fish like a school of 5 guppies or up to 2 bettas can fit happily. Just be sure they have plenty of room to move freely, feed, breath, hide, and explore.

Overcrowding, as I'm sure you know, can lead to death from stress or illness. Also, if you put more fish in there, no matter the size, there's more waste and ammonia, which means more cleaning or your fish will certainly become ill.


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

Forgot to mention, you also need to choose individual fish based on the condition of the fish itself and its tank. Petstores may be more likely to carry sick fish, but you can at least see and examine the fish before buying, to help choose better. It's cheaper than buying from breeders in most cases - and if your fish die, you can refund the purchase or replace the fish easily.

There's downsides to both breeders and stores. Just decide what you want that is compatible (not just because they're docile, but because of similiar temperature range) and decide how much money are you willing to spend to find the perfect fish?


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

A shrimp colony would be fun.


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## DysontheLoach (Nov 3, 2011)

Alanthebro said:


> I got a 5 gal tank in our storage and wanted to know what kind of small fish(other than bettas) than bet can live happily in there.


Well, common misconception You can house in a 5 gallon, shrimp, dwarf aquatic frogs, guppies, snails, a couple tetras, I had 2 dwarf frogs and 2 shrimp and a apple snail, they were really happy and healthy for 2 years. and i threw in 2 feeder guppies for the frogs and they didnt eat them and they grew up happy as well.

:lol: :-D


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## Alanthebro (Dec 20, 2011)

thx for all ur comments.I think I'll get a couple of coldwater fish.Or would 5 tetras also work in there?


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## TheJadeBetta (Mar 31, 2010)

There is several species of fish you can keep. A lot of keepers on Nano Planted Tanks keep small fish, Shrimps, Snails, and Microcrabs. Here are two schooling fish I can think of right now off the top of my head, chili rasbora and strawberry rasbora.


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

It depends on the type of tetras. Some grow too large to keep in a 5gal in a group of 5. Especially if it's heavily planted/decorated.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

What kind of coldwater fish are you thinking? If you're thinking goldfish, they require 20g and up.


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## CarmanDirda (Feb 20, 2012)

bettafish15 said:


> What kind of coldwater fish are you thinking? If you're thinking goldfish, they require 20g and up.


+1 for supporting proper fish care.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

-Tetras are too active for a 5g 
-Rasboras are too active for a 5g
-Guppies are too big for a 5g
-Platties are too big and active for a 5g


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Thank you, Maisy. Please guys, don't promote guppies, tetras, rasboras or platies as suitable for a 5 gallon. They are simply too large, or have schooling needs a 5 gallon can't support or are too active, or some combination thereof. Just because a fish seems small, like a tetra, does not make it suitable for 5 gallons. There are many other factors to consider. 

Microfish such as badis, microrasboras and puffers are suitable, but be aware that they can require much more advanced care.


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

I would look at doing a shrimp community of Cherry shrimps, bumblebee shrimps, and crystal red shrimps. They will all get along fine together in a 5g tank.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

I've got a marble crayfish living with 6 white cloud minnows in my 5 gallon. They have been together for 2 years and all is well. The crayfish self clones and the offspring are fed to my cichlids in another tank.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Bombalurina said:


> Thank you, Maisy. Please guys, don't promote guppies, tetras, rasboras or platies as suitable for a 5 gallon. They are simply too large, or have schooling needs a 5 gallon can't support or are too active, or some combination thereof. Just because a fish seems small, like a tetra, does not make it suitable for 5 gallons. There are many other factors to consider.
> 
> Microfish such as badis, microrasboras and puffers are suitable, but be aware that they can require much more advanced care.


 +1
When I looked at this tread I wanted to scream! D: I can't imagine 5 guppies in a 5 gallon.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

stevenjohn21 said:


> I've got a marble crayfish living with 6 white cloud minnows in my 5 gallon. They have been together for 2 years and all is well. The crayfish self clones and the offspring are fed to my cichlids in another tank.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Not to be a stocking Nazi, but that is very overstocked. Minnows are active little critters and really do need the length of a 10 gallon to be at optimum health (not to mention the bioload of that many creatures in a 5 gallon). Obviously I'm not a cray expert, but I've never heard of them being kept in less than a ten gallon.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I THINK I few mosquito raboras would be good (not sure if that the same as the microrasbora). They are very colourful, it says a small group can be kept in 20x40cm, I don't know what that is in gallons.
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Boraras&species=brigittae&id=772


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Yep, they are a type of microrasbora.  They are borasus brigittae - another possible species is borasas maculata. However, in my experience these little fish are extremely delicate. They died in my heavily planted, lightly stocked (yes, it was acutally lightly stocked once), well-established tank, and in similar conditions in a friend's tank.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

Bombalurina said:


> Not to be a stocking Nazi, but that is very overstocked. Minnows are active little critters and really do need the length of a 10 gallon to be at optimum health (not to mention the bioload of that many creatures in a 5 gallon). Obviously I'm not a cray expert, but I've never heard of them being kept in less than a ten gallon.


5 gallons come in all footprints, but with mine being 2" shorter than a standard 10 gallon tank i feeel they have plenty of room to move around even though they pretty much play around the waterfall made by the filter. The cray is 2" long and wont get any bigger, both fish and cray have had babies, which i think you will agree that fish dont spawn in unsuitable conditions so im confident they are happy;-)


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

" The crayfish self clones and the offspring are fed to my cichlids in another tank"

Which cichlids are you feeding crayfish too?


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

stevenjohn21 said:


> 5 gallons come in all footprints, but with mine being 2" shorter than a standard 10 gallon tank i feeel they have plenty of room to move around even though they pretty much play around the waterfall made by the filter. The cray is 2" long and wont get any bigger, both fish and cray have had babies, which i think you will agree that fish dont spawn in unsuitable conditions so im confident they are happy;-)


The footprint does make a difference - I have a 17 inch 5 gallon which I love.  The bioload still worries me, though - you must have to do a lot of cleaning. 

Not saying that this is true of your fish, but DYK that some fish actually ONLY spawn in unsuitable conditions? They do so because the lower water levels and dirty water usually precede an influx of clean water and new food in the wild, so they think it is the perfect time to make babies.
That's my daily trivia.


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## mzxeternal (Feb 24, 2012)

MaisyDawgThirteen said:


> +1
> When I looked at this tread I wanted to scream! D: I can't imagine 5 guppies in a 5 gallon.





Bombalurina said:


> Not to be a stocking Nazi, but that is very overstocked. Minnows are active little critters and really do need the length of a 10 gallon to be at optimum health (not to mention the bioload of that many creatures in a 5 gallon). Obviously I'm not a cray expert, but I've never heard of them being kept in less than a ten gallon.


Quoted for truth!

5 Gallons, I wouldn't put anything with the betta except for maybe some cherry shrimps, or the betta and 4 dwarf cory's. or the betta and a couple of african dwarf frogs, That's about it.


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## dmuddle (Nov 14, 2011)

Go for wither a betta or some livebearers, livebearers breed easily so if you dont have another tank i wouldnt recommend.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

dmuddle said:


> Go for wither a betta or some livebearers, livebearers breed easily so if you dont have another tank i wouldnt recommend.


*facepalm*


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

You could do a killifish; they're very cool, pretty hardy, and fine in small tanks.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

Tazman said:


> " The crayfish self clones and the offspring are fed to my cichlids in another tank"
> 
> Which cichlids are you feeding crayfish too?


I feed the juveniles to my 12" Red Devil & the babies get fed to my Convicts & Kribensis


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

I personally LOVE ghost shrimp... I got 3 on Saturday and they're just so fascinating. They clean themselves (They SCRUB themselves all over with their little "hands".... how cute can it get??), they pick around, and they like to climb on plants ^_^


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## SnowySurface (Apr 25, 2011)

To be honest, I think bettas, African dwarf frogs, shrimp and snails are the only fish that should be in a 5 gallon tank. Bettas are solitary so you don't have to worry about room for an entire school. African dwarf frogs do well alone and can be kept as a pair in a 5 gallon if both are male or one is male and one is female (2 females get a bit large to share a 5 gallon). Shrimp and snails would have a field day in 5 gallons.

As far as a "5 gallon community tank" is concerned, this is my list.
Shrimp Colony
Snails
1 betta + shrimp (Shrimp have small bioloads, but don't go overboard) 
1 betta + snails (snails have huge bioloads for their size)
2 male African Dwarf Frogs (pushing the bioload a bit ^_^
1 betta + 1 African Dwarf Frog 

But that's just my opinion. I like to give my fish more than just enough swimming room so I always understock my tanks a bit.


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