what's a cool animal to put in a little 5 gallon aquarium? fish or something else?

Answer 1

Here are some ideas:

Pictus gecko

Sand gecko

Tarantula (smaller variety)

Red claw crab (brackfish)

A male betta and an african dwarf frog

Two female bettas

Three white cloud minnows

Three cherry barbs

Three andler's livebearers

Three african dwarf frogs

A colony of cherry shrimp or ghost shrimp

Smaller killifish

Answer 2

Shrimp are fun. Ghost shrimp and a few snails would be interesting. (Mystery or apple snails, nothing else, as other types will breed like crazy)
http://www.fishforever.co.uk/ghostshrimp.html
Ghost shrimp can be found at almost any store, and they're usually under 50 cents each.

African dwarf frogs I think are cute, but I've never kept them.
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html

You could get a few white cloud minnows if you want fish, but a 5 gallon is really tiny, and I honestly wouldn't recommend fish... maybe a single betta and an apple or mystery snail...

If you put 5-6 fish in a 5 gallon tank not only will you be constantly cleaning it, but your fish will be stressed, crowded, and prone to illness and ammonia poisoning. Be sure to read about any fish you get. Most fish will NOT be happy in a 5 gallon. They really need more room to swim around than a 5 gallon can provide. The least killifish may work, but you have to find them. The "article" doens't mention that. Unless you want to orde fish online, most of the fish mentioned below are not availalbe in live fish store.

Options:

Guppies (3-4 males)
+1-2 ghost shrimp

OR

Least Killifish (if you can find them)
OR

Dwarf frogs (3)
OR

Ghost shrimp (5-6) +a mystery or apple snail
OR

Betta (1 male or 1 female)
+ 1-2 ghost shrimp or 1-2 african dwarf frogs
OR

White cloud minnows (4-5)
+ Ghost shrimp (1-2)
OR

any type of corydoras catfish (cory catfish) (3-4)
+ 1 male or female betta


Keep in mind: cories like to be in groups of at least 3 of the same type. White clouds like to be in groups of at least 5. Cories are mostly bottom dwellers, but will swim around a lot. Therefore, mixing them with ghost shrimp would probably be overcowding. A betta will stay mostly at the top, which is why they are a good match. All the fish I mentioned are easy to find in most fish stores.

Finally, when you add these fish, add 1-2 per week. You need to allow your tank time to build up healthy bacteria. Read about the Nitrogen cycle, and how to clean your tnak. You should NEVEr take the entire thing down or clean the gravel except with a gravel vac. Do weekly or biweekly 25% water changes.

Answer 3

5 gallons is too small for most animals like hermit crabs, which need more room than people think.

I honestly would suggest 1 male betta. each has his own personality, so they're interesting and pretty. you can even make them jump out of the water for food or eat out of your hand. they are available in many colors and fin variations so it's almost like a custom made fish, lol. put a few silk plants in the tank, a small power filter, if a whisper brand filter get onehttp://www.hbhnet.com/PetCare/Caring-For-Frogs.pdf for tanks of 1-3 gallons, this won't create too much of a current in a 5gallon tank. you'll also need a 25watt heater and a thermometer. keep the temp at about 78°F-80°F. you could also add an african dwarf frog or a mystery snail.

while that is I would get, here are a few other options:
filder crab: http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10fidderlercrab.htm
a few african dwarf frogs: http://www.hbhnet.com/PetCare/Caring-For-Frogs.pdf

I'll add to the list if I think of any, but a 5 gallon is pretty small.

Answer 4

if you want the most awesome little tank and you can find them go with a dario -- they are 1" territorial terrors. because they are only 1" they don't do much dammage. just give them a sake cup or something for a home and they will guard it with their life. you can put in a school of really tiny fish like dwarf rasbora with them even.

get a LOT of plants -- big leaved silks are good -- i mean so the plants take up the whole thing. get a lot of the baby snails from the petshop and a couple dwarf puffers. the puffers are massively entertaining and will scope out leaf bottoms for snails morning noon and night.

a pair of dwarf gourami, a small group of sparkling gourami (they make noises with their pectoral fins), 3 or 4 female bettas,

in the other category, frogs, snails, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, anoles, geckos, i know i am leaving someone out --

Answer 5

You could have a nice little brackish tank with either a fiddler crab or a red claw crab. Make sure they have air access though. You could do a freshwater with shrimp or frogs. Or you could order a pair of dwarf crayfish, I've been wanting some of those for a while. I know a good place to order them from online, email me for a link.(I don't want my post to get deleted for spam) You could make it a snail only tank with 3-4 mystery snails. Or you could even do a nano marine tank, with a small fish like a goby or something.

Answer 6

How about a mix of fish and an African Dwarf frog? I have a 5 gallon aquarium with one African Dwarf frog (he's an aquatic frog), 2 guppies, 1 corydora (bottomfeeder), and 1 snail. It's quite a fun tank to have! And everyone gets along great.

Here's more info on each of these:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Dwarf_African_Frog
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Guppies
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Corydoras_schwartzi
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Golden_apple_snail

Or you could get a few African Dwarf frogs and do no fish. Or just a couple fish and no frog.

You could even do some ghost shrimp! http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Ghost_shrimp

Or one betta: http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Betta (These are very pretty, fun fish. Mine lived over 4 years. You could also add a snail with the betta.)

Anyhow, those are just a few possibilities. Good luck!

Answer 7

I'd get something colorful. Don't get a ropefish. My ropefish killed the littler fish. I had little frogs in there but couldn't see them. Snails made a mess. Algae eaters will clean the inside of glass. I have a pirahna in the smaller tank by itself. It can go forever without feeding it. It will eat 2 dozen feeder fish in no time. That thing is old as heck and still kicking. They put dye in fish to give them color.

Answer 8

How about a Tarantula? There's like 800 varieties to choose from, and many species can work in a 5 gallon.

http://www.wikihow.com/Pick-a-Pet-Tarantula

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/tarantulas/a/tarantulasaspet.htm

Answer 9

make a terrarium and put some frogs in there.
or get aquatic frogs.
they are actually pretty easy to take care of.

Answer 10

Try a couple of poison dart frogs. They are pretty cool.