What fish should I get for a 5-gallon?

Question

My little bro's 2nd B-day is coming up and I wanted to get him some fish.So I bought him a small 5-gallon tetra products fishtank.And I wanted to get him a small african frog you find at walmart and some fresh water trapoical fish.Does anyone have any good suggestions he only need 5-7 fish? And can anyone tell me if guppies would be a good idea since he is so young?

Answer 1

I would stick with the guppies and ask the fish supply place if they could suggest something else that he might enjoy. There might be something that he could pick out on his own and that way he would feel more interested since he was involved with making the, "big" decision. What an awesome big brother you are and I bet the two of you will have a lot of good times with finding out and learning about these fish. This gift is far more thoughful and will be entertaining a lot longer than some silly toy.

Answer 2

What kind of fish? Guppies are great. Easy to keep, in most cases. Put a small heater in there if it didn't come with one, any pet/fish store will have them for that size tank.



Any gold fish you get will out grow the tank. (1" of fish per gallon is a good rule of thumb for numbers and size of fish in a tank.) That old yarn about fish growing only to the size of the tank? That's crap. They stop growing because they're being stunted by lack of oxygen and room! Give them the room they need and most goldfish will out grow even a ten gallon tank.



Smaller amounts of water are more unstable when you're talking temperatures and chemical make up.



The frog idea? Well, keep a lid on that tank. I've had them crawl out. They can, when wet, stick to the glass and work their way over the side.



Kev

Answer 3

Do you've a heater, solid lights and a good clear out? if so then gourami's ought to do superb besides as maximum docile tropicals. i ought to stay remote from education fish like neon tetras as you'll not be ready to purchase adequate for them to college in that small a tank and that i ought to stay remote from something which will strengthen a lot higher than that is once you commence out. An inch of fish per gallon is the common tropical rule. you may continuously do a betta. they're quite not aggressive to different fish, as a count number of reality they have an inclination to be those who get their fins picked via different fish. for sure you may in hardship-free words get one. different concepts should be platies as they arrive in a good number of colours (they even promote mickey mouse platies lately with little mouse ears on their tails) and mollies. for little ones they look the finest (and most inexpensive) and maximum interactive. My son has his experienced to all swim to the proper the 2d he turns the light fixtures on contained in the morning (they understand it really is feeding time). some even enable him hand feed them now (he's 5).

Answer 4

In a five gallon you can only have 2 to 4 fish.



I would not suggest getting them from walmart either. I would go to your local Pet Store (Pet Smart or Pet Co).



You have to completely set up the tank and let it run 48 hours before putting any fish in it. You can use tap water you just have to make sure you put in the water conditioner.



When you go to buy fish you only want to add them 2 at a time If you add to many at one shot your ammonia levels and nitrate levels will sky rocket and kill the fish.



No goldfish can go in that tank. As one goldfish needs at least a 10 gallon. Reason being they create a lot of ammonia and if there is not enough water to break it down they will die.



I would recommend doing Guppies, Neon's or Danios. As these fish stay small and they will not out grow the tank.

Answer 5

Please do not get goldfish. A goldfish will easy outgrow that tank; even the smaller types need 20 gallons of water each. Kept in a 5 gallon tank, they will not live longer than a few months - and their lifespan is actually more than 15 years.

A 5 gallon tank is pretty small, so keep that in mind. You will need to stock it fairly lightly if you want to have a healthy tank that does not require too much cleaning (a once a week 30% change is normal for a decently stocked tank).

Your options are fairly limited, because you can't go with anything over 2" or anything that needs to be in school, but are as follows:

1 male betta OR

2 female bettas OR

3 cherry barbs OR

3 white cloud minnows OR

2 african dwarf frogs and a snail OR

2 guppies.



Also, before you get fish, you'll need to cycle your tank... if you skip this step, your fish stand a good chance of dying. First of all, have you cycled your tank? In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down toxic ammonia from fish waste and excess food into less toxic nitrates. In a brand new tank, these bacteria don't exist, so any fish in the tank will produce ammonia, which, not being broken down by bacteria, will kill or weaken the fish. So, it is vital to cycle your tank.

There are a few methods. Do you have access to an established tank? These bacteria live in the gravel and in the filter cartridge, so if you can get some from another tank, you can put the bacteria right into your tank (don't let the gravel or filter cartridge dry out). If you do this, in a day or two, your tank will beready for fish.

Another way is to get Bio-Spira. It is the actual live bacteria in a little pouch, and your tank will instantly be ready for fish. http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html



Other methods, which include putting a source of ammonia in the tank and letting the bacteria build up on its own, or putting a fish in and letting the fish produce ammonia (which borders on animal cruelty, because the fish will suffer from the ammonia in the tank), take 2 to 6 weeks before your tank is ready. If you rush that, any fish you buy may die, so try one of the instant methods I mentioned above (bio-spira or gravel from another tank)

Answer 6

Please don't get any schooling fish for this tank! Tetras, barbs, danios, and even cory catfish only thrive in groups of their own kind--at least 6 is best. A 5 gallon tank simply will not support this. Goldfish get far too big and need at least 20 gallons per fish. Two or three male guppies (males only so they don't reproduce!) would be fine, or a betta and two african dwarf frogs. These are really the only two combinations of fish that I would recommend for such a small tank. Make sure to read up on cycling before you stock your tank.



As for bettas, it is a MYTH that they thrive only in tiny amounts of water. Yes, they are found in Asian rice paddies in the wild. However, these bodies of water are actually quite large--thousands of gallons. Because of the "rice paddy" myth, they are one of the most abused fish on the market today. In reality, a male betta should be housed in no less than 5 gallons of water, with a heater. They do quite well in larger aquariums.

Answer 7

A good rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon of water but there are exceptions to this rule. The guideline of an inch of fish per gallon of water is based on a standard rectangular aquarium of normal height. If you have an unusually-shaped fish tank, such as a hexagonal, or extra high aquarium, try keeping one inch of fish for every 12 square inches (length times width) of aquarium surface area. Remember to allow for growth.

Answer 8

Guppies would be good but I wouldn't go beyond 5 fish in a 5 gallon tank. Otherwise you will be cleaning too often.

Answer 9

Guppies are great. They are small enough for 5 in the tank. Platies, swordtails, female bettas, cherry barbs, rosy reds, tetras, or rasboras are also some suggestions. I would only do 3-5 in such a small tank though. Do you have a good filter? Without a filter no fish will survive long.

Answer 10

Without any equipment (filter, heater, aerator, etc) I'd only go with goldfish. I'd say 3 should suffice since goldfish tend to GROW quickly and also tend to be quite messy.

Do not get a betta fish (male or female) for the aquarium. Bettas are fish that live on the rice paddies in some Asian countries. They are also know as "Siamese Fighting Fish", although it is only the males that fight and it is almost always just with other males bettas. Putting a betta in more than a cup full of water is not a good idea. They thrive in small, confined living areas (which is why they're often seen in pet stores in literally a cup of water). On the rice paddies, they'd be surrounded by plant-life in a few inches of water. THAT is how they thrive, not in spacious aquariums.



PS - yes, rice paddies do have thousands of gallons of water, however that water is spread out over many acres of land, leaving only a few inches of water in HEIGHT. You can fill a swimming pool with 3-4 inches of water and the betta would do fine, but any more depth is way too much for a betta. I've known this for years, and spoken with the foremost aquatics experts in the nation about it (you make a lot of great connections when you are in the pet business as a wholesaler AND distributor) and they are in agreement about less is more for bettas. They thrive in shallow water, and since they are territorial fish, tend to not require a whole lot of room horizontally either. The cups they come in at most pet stores are, by no means, adequate. But I would not recommend keeping them in a full aquarium.

Answer 11

Get a mental image of a normal sized community tank and now think smaller. Even smaller. As small as you can get. Now you have it, the same kind of fish in the same ratios but the smallest varieties out there. Dwarf cory catfish, Sparkling gouramis, most any of the smaller killifish, small tetras, Least killiefish ( which is actually a livebearer), most apistogrammas all make good bets for a micro community tank. Toss out any “rules” you know about inches per gallon and just keep the tank to about 5-6 fish. Another choice for tank inhabitants is to go for a species tank. A single pair of a small fish can not only live but thrive and breed in your new micro tank. Killifish, sparkling gouramis and Least Killifish come to mind first, but there are obviously many more choices.

Answer 12

You could get 3-4 goldfish. They are a great.

Guppies are good too but 'holy cow' they have babies everytime you turn around..

You will end up with a LOT more fish than you need in a 5 gal tak if your not careful.

I would also suggest going to the library and getting some books on starting an aquarium...

goodluck.

Answer 13

go fishing for some fish. keep a largemouth or 3-4 crappies; this will make his innterest grow in attending outdoor activities like fishing.

Answer 14

Tiny fish and not too many.

Answer 15

you could probably comfortably fit a pair of guppies in there...but 5-7 fish, will not really fit into a tank so small.

Answer 16

Mollies, they stay VERY small. I personally love the Balloon Mollies...



Ps. I wouldn't put more than 2 fish in a 5 Gal. Also put in a Tiger Snail, they're pretty awesome, cool looking and clean some algae.



Happy Birthday to your brother too ;)

Answer 17

You could get him a beta. You can't put other fish with a beta though.

Answer 18

gold fish are probably your best bet for a young child. those fish will amaze you. my friends daughter is 5 and she has ripped one of her gold fishes tail off and it it still alive, and she pulled the back fin of her other one and it's still alive. i use to have two affrican water frogs in a tank with gold fish and a pleco and they all got along fine until the male frog drownded and starved my female frog. he would not stop mating with her!! he was so big and she was so tiny from hauling his big butt all over the tank.

Answer 19

guppies are good if he doesnt like gold fish. try guppies or platties.

Answer 20

get some zebra dainos and the frog. zebra dainos are kinda hard to kill and they are verry active.

Answer 21

A barracuda

Answer 22

Goldfish are the best because they require the least maintenence. You can get feeder goldfish super cheap.

Answer 23

throw some salmon filets in there.