Fish People--5 Gallon Tank?

Any ideas of what to put in a 5 gallon fish tank?

A betta and/or a couple of tetras? There's some really cool tetras out there. Believe it or not, bettas can be in a community tank. Just don't put anything "flowing" in with them like fancly guppies, Angel fish, etc.

I would do (and have done) the wee shell-dwelling cichlids. They are completely adorable and such easy keepers.

I loved having my bettas in a 5 gallon. (Well, one per tank, anyway.) They're the best fish.

In my ten gallon, I had a betta and two African Dwarf Frogs. I think the general rule of thumb is one ADF per 1.5 gallons, so one or two plus a betta may live happily in a 5 gallon (so long as the betta doesn't try to eat said frogs!).

Or a betta and ghost shrimp (or the like).

I'm also really fond of fancy guppies.

you could do one betta, and three dwarf cory catfish, and a couple ghost shrimp or 4-5 cherry shrimp.

I have a five gallon fresh water planted tank. Currently, I have four shrimp, three nesbora snails, two celestial pearl danios and a scarlet badis. I did have a pygmy gourami, but he was bullying the scarlet badis so he went back to the store. Also just got a rainbow goby, haven't seen him since the day I put him in the tank.

I have a betta and a cory cat in a 7.5 with some plants, it's very peaceful, you are pretty limited for options in that small of a tank though.

We had a dwarf freshwater puffer fish in a 5 gallon, with 1 bristlenose pleco (they stay smaller than other plecos).

I've also had a beta in a 5, or 1 goldfish - but they will need more space as they grow as goldfish can reach up to 8 inches in length.

Could also do some tetra's..

The basic rule is 1 inch of fish per 1US Gallon. But you want them to have room too, so if you did 3 tetras you'd have 2 gallons "extra" for them to hum-dee-dum in. Or a beta, and you'd have 3 gallons "extra".


Currently, I have a 55G tank with 2 black moors, 1 lion head, 1 calico, 1 comet (my son won it) 1 female beta, 2 frogs, and 3 bristlenose plecos (2 female, 1 male - my previous pair bred and I had like 100+ to sell, the 1 female is Mom, other is daughter and male is son - they're being moved to a 30 once I get that tank going). We're also getting a celestial for the kids for Christmas.
And once everyone grows a bit, we'll have to get a bigger tank - haha!

Bristlenose still get to be a decent size, certainly too large for a 5g.

If you filter and plant the tank, you can overstock a bit. A betta and a small school of something would be fine (4-5 pygmy cories, for example).

SHELL DWELLERS THEY ARE ADORABLE



ahem.

A well bred standard bristle nose pleco will max out at 5 inches, which is exactly enough space in a 5G - so yes, they'll need to upgrade eventually, but 5 inches is much smaller than other pleco's which can reach up to 32 inches.

I've never been a fan of the 1" = 1 gallon rule, myself. 1" of gourami is a lot more substantial than 1" of bloodfin tetra, for example.


Fortunately, shellies are tiny and clean and adorable.

Not big enough for a goldfish. You would ideally have a pair of them as a minimum for social reasons and no way is that big enough for even 1 goldfish. I used to help moderate a goldfish rescue web site and I have kept them myself for YEARS. PS - They get HUGE! :yikes:
-Mark.

Likewise. Yes, shelliessss.

I still feel a 5 is too small for an adult bristlenose. If you want algae control, check out otos.