Questions about my 5 gallon tank?

Question

I got a five gallon tank for Christmas, and I filled it with fish yesterday. Unfortunately I trusted the worker at the pet store (something I'll never do again, and shouldn't have done in the first place I later found out). My fish always fight, since two of them are barbs and the pet store worker told me they were all compatible. Also, apparently my tank is slightly overcrowded (6 small fish). The only two fish I want to keep are a Panda catfish and a pink spotted Molly. The rest I'll take back to the store.

My questions: do Mollies live well on their own, or do they need more of their kind? If they do need others, do two mollies do well in a 5 gallon tank with a small catfish? Does it have to be the exact same kind of molly? Or is it reasonable to have one molly and one catfish? Or perhaps a Platy? Thanks for any help!

I want to make it clear that I'm taking 4 of the fish back, leaving me with 2. I know the tank is overcrowded. My question was which is best: two mollies and 1 catfish, 1 molly 1 catfish, 1 molly 1 platty and 1 catfish, or something else?

To those saying that the person who bought me the tank knows nothing about fish, no need to be a jerk! My apartment only allows 5 gallons or less. Yell at them, not my wife. Jeez...

Answer 1

Don't feel bad about trusting the petstore guy... how were you supposed to know he's full of BS? You'd think you could trust the people who sell you the fish :S

Unfortunately, though, NONE of the fish you mentioned will be able to live and thrive in a 5 gallon tank.
Mollies get to be 4 inches long, and they like to be in groups. Even if you go by the grossly misleading inch per gallon rule - once you factor in for gravel and decor, one molly will barely fit in your tank.
As for the panda catfish, they are schoolers, they grow to 2-3 inches... definitely not suitable for anything less than 20 gallons.

Unfortunately a 5 gallon is, bottom line, a very small tank, so your options are limited. My suggestions would be:
1 male betta and one mystery snail OR
1 male betta and one african dwarf frog OR
3 african dwarf frogs OR
3 cherry barbs OR
3 white cloud minnows OR
A colony of cherry shrimp.

Most other fish are just not good choices because they are either too big (mollies, for example), or they are active swimmers (like guppies and tetras) or they are schoolers (like barbs, tetras, danios, corydoras catfish).

Oh, did you cycle your tank? I'm guessing that the petstore clerk probably did not give you proper instructing about cycling your tank. I'd suggest you read up on the Nitrogen Cycle (google it - much has been written on the subject). It's a little late to cycle your tank now that fish are in, but you can lessen the ammonia that accumulates in the tank by doing small daily water changes over the next few weeks.

Answer 2

this is a tough one. barbs are not peaceful but they look good.

you panda cory would prefer the company of ofther corys.

your pink spotted molly has been injected with color that will fade. and he will be white again. most pet stores that sell these are obsessed with profits and don't care much about mixing barbs with mollies. mollies also get fairly big -- 5 gallons isn't much space for them.



in a 5 gallon tank you are somewhat limited. territorial fish do well as they don't swim around much they keep to their territory. in this catagory you could do a tank of 3 female bettas or a couple dwarf gouramis. they would like tall leafy plants that reach the top of the water.

you could do the male betta dwarf frog thing. get the betta a cave and the frog a little coconut hut add a tall plant or two and you are good to go --


you could have 2 or 3 of any of these -- guppies, platys, white clouds, killifish, shimps, snails, dwarf puffers, the list goes on.

i personally like the whole microtank idea. you need to practice your green thumb some and grow some plants -- thats a whole different lecture. you can school some dwarf rasboras and have some killifish or these cute little guys called darios. put in a snail population and a couple dwarf puffers. a couple shrimp with a couple white clouds or a school of small tetras works too.

small tanks require more cleaning -- especially if you overcrowd them -- but you can build in soludtions like lots of plants and/or clean the tank (gravel vacuum, 25% water change) every 5 days instead of once a week.

here is a good site for researching fish and their needs -- it has plants too!

http://www.aquahobby.com/e_gallery.php

Answer 3

There are only two fish for your tank and that is a betta or rosy red, and thats it anything else not going to last in that tank at all thats like putting a kid in a closet for the rest of there life. Mollies are live beares so they dont have eggs they hold there fry in there bellys then after couple weeks bam you have about 3 more fish and they just mulitply and multiply and multiply its good to have them just is a really big tank you will enjoy it more. 1 betta or 1 rosy red or may even a plant or somthing for that tank is all you should get or you can even get 2 bettas with a divider it would work good aswell.

Answer 4

Barbs are aggresive fish that with nip at other fish will longer fins, the catfish is a bottom feeder. The molly is a community fish which requires different living conditions that the catfish. Your best bet would be to keep the barbs and the catfish since they are both freshwater fish.

Answer 5

first of all.
your tank is too small. whoever bought it doesn't know any thing about fish.
it is capable of sustaining only about 5" of fish total length.
they could have probably bought a 10 gal. cheaper. READ SOME BOOKS ON THE HOBBY.... then get a couple of fish.
barbs are not a good choice for a community tank. learn something--- and try again.
i owned a pet store and NEVER did that to anyone. go to 2-3 stores and compare the answers. try not to buy from chain stores (walmart- kmart) or anything but a store for pets. they don't know anything about them either, except to overfeed them.
see what a pet store has in one tank together, go with that.--keep all fish nearly the same family grouping & size.
i had 12 tanks in my store with fish in each for people to check out for fish that could live together.
good luck-- read on the hobby-- LEARN then try again. YOU'LL love the enjoyment...

Answer 6

danios and neon tetras choose atleast 20 gallons as they're small yet they prefer to swim and sprint round. also they're education fish that like to be 6+ of there own variety. The fish rule isn't actual and also you may want to not in any respect pay interest to it. study the fish you wanta purchase and its criteria. As for what you may want to pick, you'll desire a heater and filter out (the tank is to small for coldwater fish) and it varies from save to save yet a lot less then 50 money. 3-4 fish are to a lot for that tank. in uncomplicated words element which will survive fortunately in that tank is a betta with perchance one or 2 ghost shrimp. be particular to cycle the tank previously including fish too.

Answer 7

I would keep the 2 mollies. I would also file a complaint with the store manager. Their employees should know how many fish you can have in what sized tank.

Answer 8

Zoe above me has pretty much nailed it.

One thing that concerns me is that you said your molly is pink spotted, that sounds a bit like a dyed fish to me?

check the link below about the dyed fish campaign and see if it applies?

Answer 9

The general rule is one inch of fish per gallon of water so it sounds like your tank is overcrowded!

Answer 10

I'll be the odd man out at disagree withthe above posts. I have kept many, many successful small tanks of 5 gallons and less and through my experience can tell you there are many more things you can do with them than most people realize. Following is an article I wrote on the subject.

You have seen them, you know you have. The kits available at department stores, chain pet stores and even you local mom and pop pet shore that consists of a very small aquarium well under 10 gallons and many under 5 gallons. They come with a few cheap plastic plants an air pump and a cheap in the tank filter box with filter fiber and charcoal. They often toss in a nearly microscopic net, a bottle of declorinator and a small booklet that will tell you “everything you need to know about your new tank”. Right, sure. So what are these little set-ups good for other than a paper weight?

Most aquarium keepers will try to tell you they are good for nothing or at best good for a single betta. These people couldn’t be more wrong. They are not usually good for a betta, but they are good for a surprisingly large variety of fish once properly handled. A wise man once said “Great things come in small packages” and that is what we are going to explore in this article. The great things that can come of one of these micro tanks.

One of the best ways you get one of these hidden gems is at a yard sale or flea market. Usually they can be had for just a very few dollars and might be missing some of the parts you don’t care about in the first place. Once you have your little tank, clean it up and make sure it doesn’t leak. Then sit back, look at it and imagine it is a real honest to goodness aquarium in the conventional sense. What would you need? Heater, filter, lighting come to mind first, so let’s explore those.

Some of these little tanks come with an undergravel filter that can be a very good solution to filtering. Commercial power filters are available for very small tanks and would make a great choice. They come in both internal and external configurations and can do a wonderful job of filtering you micro tank. Larger power filters are no good as they would turn such a small tank into a whirlpool. The same is true for a canister filter. Of course, if you are handy with bending and forming plastic you can make a very small power filter for the tank, but that’s another article.

Small power filters can pose the problem of a strong directed output that causes strong currents in such a small tank. This can be managed by attaching a piece of tubing to the output with holes drilled along the length to break up the flow or by directing the out put of the power filter down through an undergravel plate. The second option adds the gravel as a bio filter helping the tank and helps prevent the build up of waste in the gravel.

Let’s assume you have an under gravel filter and very small air pump. Then your good to go. If not, what do you have? Most likely a small box filter that sits inside the already too small tank, right? Not a good option so let’s tank about replacements. An undergravel filter plate is very easy to make and can be run from the same air pump used to power that box filter or you can replace the box with a commercial or homemade sponge filter. The main point here is you need a very small filter with a quite low flow rate that will support the bio load of the few fishes you place in your tank.

I have seen these little tanks outfitted with power filters custom made for them, reverse flow undergravel plates and a whole host of other options created by the owner so don’t be afraid to go out on a limb and take matters into your own hands when it comes to a filter. As it’s commonly included or easy to make if not included let’s assume you have undergravel filters for your tank. Undergravel filters have their limitations, but provide excellent bio filtration and reasonable mechanical filtration, but of course no chemical filtration.

Lighting is usually very limited due to the short size of the hoods that come with these tanks. Again, you can modify the hood. Most can be made to hold a very small florescent light which is a nice step up from the night light many of these come equipped with for illumination. Grab a measuring tape and get a small florescent light from the hardware store or department store that will fit the space and go to town with the hot glue gun. Any decent “crafter” can put this together in no time.

Heating is the easiest answer as you can buy commercial heaters as small as 4 watts through a wide variety of outlets.

So now you have your little tank already to set up, you have your equipment, decided on your gravel color and accessories (very few I hope) and need to figure out where to put it. Here’s another great benefit of your new tank, it can fit almost anywhere! The only thing to really avoid is a draft or direct sunlight, just like this tanks big brothers. These little guys are perfect for a book case, the corner of a desk, just about anywhere you want a little color and activity. So the next big question, what in the world can you keep in about 2.5 gallons?

Again go back to your 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) 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. Now for maintenance issues.

With quality lighting, a reasonable variety of plants are candidates for a mirco tank. Jave Moss, Jave Fern, Bladderwort, crystalwort all come to mind. Several of the bunch plants available at pet stores could be included as well if you are ready to do lots of pruning. There are also several varieties of small anubias sp. And even some micro swords available to spruce up your tank.

Maintaining a micro tank is not really any different than a full sized tank. Just remember the rule bigger is easier. This means the larger the tank the easier it is to maintain all other things being equal. Yes, it will require lots of frequent water changes, but those you can do with nothing larger than a clean gallon milk jug. Other than being very careful with your water changes anything else you would do for your fish in a big tank you do in a small tank. A micro tank is more work than a larger tank, per gallon at least. So is it worth it? That’s up to you. It can often be the only way to bring your happy to work with you and for some people is the only reasonable way to keep a tank in a small apartment or flat.

This article is not intended to answer all the questions of keeping a very small aquarium. It’s only meant to give you a few ideas and to start you thinking. There are options the work very well for the smallest of tanks and they can be a real joy as well as a real challenge to even an experienced hobbyist. A small tank doesn’t mean a bad tank, just small. I hope this inspires you to look into the small side of aquarium keeping.