New five gallon tank needs fish?

Question

I just bought my daughter a five gallon tank and we are going to get her fish. How long should we wait before getting the new fish, what fish would be good and how many should we get. I am new at keeping fish so any information is appreciated.

Answer 1

Don't get goldfish, unless you don't care how long you have them. Goldfish put out a great amount of waste and you'll need a good filtration system to take care of that. Guppies are okay, and they'll have live babies. She can watch them being born and grow. Mollies and Swordfish are live bearers as well, but Mollies need hard water. Danios are easy to keep and they are inexpensive. They have Zebra and Leopard Danios in short and long fin. Tiger barbs are easy, but slightly aggressive, so don't put anything with long flowing fins in with them, they'll nip at their fins. Neon tetras are pretty schooling fish that make good beginner fish. Bettas are easy too and can be kept in a community tank, but only one male per tank. Add all the females you want. Red tailed sharks are easy to keep but become bullies as they get older. They might terrorize some of your more peaceful fish to death. Gouramis are really pretty and easy to keep and they are peaceful. I like the Honey and/or Dwarf gouramis. Kissing and Lace gouramis are pretty but not quite as easy to keep.
Do you have any filtration in there?
Keep the water circulating for a couple of days before you add fish and only add a few fish at a time. Circulating the water will take care of the chlorine in the water. Too much chlorine can burn the fishes gills. Also add a water treatment to the tank when you add fresh water to "age" the water and protect the fishes slime coat. You might want to add a Chinese algae eater after a couple of months or so. They'll keep your tank free of green algae. Don't add one right away though, because you won't have any algae yet.
Anyhow, ask at the pet store and most of all enjoy. Don't worry about it too much. The more you relax the better your fish will do.
Just don't overfeed them. It will make your tank water go bad in a hurry and your fish will get sick and die.
A 5gal tank cannot support very many fish. Rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. The bigger the tank the easier it will be to keep stabil. So, get your feet wet with this little one and think about upgrading to at least a 20 sometime down the road.
It's a rewarding hobby. I have a 55gal tank right now and my oldest two fish are Clown loaches who are 10 yrs old.
Good luck.

Answer 2

Best Fish For 5 Gallon Tank

Answer 3

Five Gallon Fish Tank

Answer 4

Goldfish are horrible beginner fish. They may be cheap to replace but if you don't know what you are doing you will kill them easily. They are also really high maintenance because of the amount of waste/ammonia they produce. They also need at least ten gallons per goldie and are coldwater fish. In a five gallon aquarium the light on top will act as a heater. It will create a tropical environment which will make coldwater fish more susceptible to disease.

Try community tropical. Kids like movement- they will find a Betta boring.

Guppies, mollies, platys- all the live bearers need salt in their water. Without it they are much more likely to get sick. A smaller tank is much more difficult to keep stable. These two things are a bad combination- I would stay away from the live bearers.

The general rule for community tropical fish is 1" of fish per gallon. You must take into account the fishes adult size. A nice option would be a school of small fish. They will move around a lot and are very pretty in groups.

You could do 3 or 4 barbs. These get to be a little larger than danios so 3 or 4 would max out your tank. (if you put more fish into the tank then your small ecosystem can handle then nature will do her job and keep things in balance. She will kill some of your fish.)

Another nice set up would 3 zebra danios and 2 cory cats. There are all sorts of danios- I think the zebras are the most attractive. Cory cats are cute little cat fish that stay small.

How long should you wait? Did you add starter bacteria to the tank? The fish will need bacteria in the water to destroy the ammonia they produce. If you add fish to a sterile environment then they may die. You can always get one fish to cycle the tank. Then get the rest later. If you add a whole buch of fish at once then there will not be enough bacteria to keep up. Your fish are very likely to die. Do a search on cycling n aquarium, nitrogen cycle.

Along the same lines- water changes. When you do a water change on an aquarium you must be conservative. The fish need those bacteria if you cahnge all the water or "clean" the gravel then you are removing the bacteria. Only change 25% of the water at a time and vacuum the gravel. NEVER remove more- even if it is really dirty. Wait a few days and then do another small water change.

DON'T overstock your tank and you'll be just fine. Have fun and Good Luck!!!

Oh- don't get an algae eater your tank is WAY too small. If anything get a small snail (you need to feed snails too- they like romaine lettuce)

Answer 5

NO NO NO, do not get goldfish. They are a great begginer fish? Let's see, they get to over 2 feet, are incredibly messy even when small, need huge amounts of oxygen, and need aquariums around 500 gallons. Great huh?

Don't get angles either, they are aggresive should they pair up and grow to 6 inches

A five gallon is very limited in choices. At best maybe 3 or 4 fish. The "rule" is 1 inch per gallon. However, this applies to a filtered aquarium and fish under 4 inches.

Before you even think of getting fish you need a few things, first of all get a test kit, the aquarium pharm master works great. Hopefully you also have a heater and filter. If not you need them.

Next you should fishless cycle. This is a stress free way of preparing hte tank for fish waste. Look at this thread http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861&hl=Basically you need some ammonia, and you get your tank level to 4 ppm. The cycle grows beneficial bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite the basis of fish waste.

After you're levels are 0, use test kit, do a water change to deal with nitrAte. Then look into fish. A 5 gal is limited and I wouldn't reccommend a community. So, a betta would be perfect. Try it out with a few shrimps, or pygmy cories. Just get a high quality food, and do a 25% water change with fresh dechlorinated water weekly, along with regulat testing (ammonia a Nitrite must be 0 and nitrate should be within 50. pH does not matter as long as it is stable.

Finally get only 1 betta, as two will fight. They are also known as siamese fighting fish.

Good Luck!

Answer 6

Once filled, let the water heat, aireate and the filter run for a full 24 hours before introducing new fish. For the first occupancy, I'd suggest 1 small catfish to help keep the tank clean and to test the set up. They are sort of fragile, so if that lives past the first 24 hours you 'll know that the tank will support other fish. You can get a few guppies, and some Neons, and whatever else catches your eye at the fish store. Ask the worker there which are compatable with each other. When you get then home, place the plastic bags that they come in, fish and all, into the fish tank for an hour to let them adapt to the water temperature before releasing the fish. In a 5 gallon tank, you can keep up to 10 - 15 fish, if you get the right ones.

Answer 7

Wait at least 24 hours. Make sure you added the water conditioner to take out any chlorine (I recommend Stress Coat).

General rule is every inch of tropical fish needs 1 gallon of water.

Every inch of goldfish needs 2 gallons of water.

I don't reccommend Goldfish at all for a tank that small.

Your best bet for a 5 gallon is either:

1) One Betta

or

2) 3 Guppies (all males) Don't get females because they have babies so often. Plus the males are very very pretty.

Answer 8

Any kind of fish small/medium and that get along with each other. When ou go to the pet store there are little signs by the tank, some are more aggressive than others. Don't get aggressive fish, someone at the store will help you find what fish fo with what. I would say about five or less. They put them in bags and when you get home set the bag in the filled tank. This way they'll get used to the water.

Answer 9

one inch of fish per gallon of water. (ADULT SIZE)...set up the tank, and let it cycle for 24 hours,,then bring a water sample to the fish store where you plan to buy your fish. If they say its good...then ask them how to introduce them to the tank., good luck


oh yea..and does it have a heater??? If not it will limit your choice down a lot. Gold fish are dirty.,.so i wouldn't get them

Answer 10

How many gallons is your tank?