Any fish experts?

Question

My boyfriend and I recently bought a 5 gallon hexagon tank with a filter along with 6 fresh water tropical fish. If someone could answer these questions in number order to make it simple for us to read, that would be appreciated!

1.) Is a 5 gallon tank big enough for 6 fish? They're not going to get really big and they seem to have plenty of room.

2.) How often should we clean the tank even though it has a filter?

3.) How often should we feed them? Right now we're feeding twice a day, usually 12 or more hours apart.

4.) Lastly, is the water supposed to be a little cloudy?

Thank you! = )

They're just basic tropical fish such as a dalmatian molly, sunburst wag, swordtail, tetra, etc.

They're all friendly fish so they won't attack each other!

Answer 1

1) it might be big enough right now but if they all grow you might want to get a 10 gallon tank you dont mention what kind they are i assume that they are like neon size? well what ever when they fully mature you might need to find a bigger tank

2) i gravel vaccume when ever the gravel looks bad. and i change the water about every coupple months but i have a 55 so it's harder to do a throul (spelling... idk ) cleaning it is harder. but i'd change the water in a 5g about 1 every 2 weeks or so

3) really you should feed them 3 times a day as much as they can eat in 1-3 minnuts yours are probably small enough for about 1 minnut.

4) new tanks will be cloudt becuase the air in the tank looks that way if not it's the water your fillinf the tank with OR you didnt wash the gravel off good enough

your welcome good luck

Answer 2

absolutly too small.

If you dont know what the fish species are, they could be anything. Maybe something that can grow huge.

you really need to upgrade and check which species you have.

2) even if the tank has a filter, a weekly water change is a must. The filter will not keep the tank clean.

3) fishes only should eat once a day, and even more so in yourtank as many fish in a small aquarium

4) the water is cloudy asyou hav many fish and not alot of room. Over feeding will also cloud your water up. Also did you cycle the tank?

Answer 3

1.) no
The dalmatian molly gets like up to 2.5 inch as well as your sword tail, your platy would be fine in there as well as your neon tetra, but you need at least 6 neon tetras because they are schooling fish, ideally you would get a 10 gallon tank for them

2.) You're suppose to do a partial water change of 25% a week with a gravel siphon

3.) once or twice a day is fine, but only what they will eat in a period of 3-5 minutes at each feeding

4.) yes, your water will be cloudy for a while, because your tank is cycling, here is some info on it
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cloudywater.php

Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 4

1) It depends on the species and filtration. Since you say you have a filter, it should be okay for small fish like guppies or neon tetras, nothing larger. The shape of the tank doesn't allow much water surface for oxygen and carbon dioxide to be exchanged, so this is even more limiting than the overall size.

2)Any tank chould have 25% of the water changes weekly, including a vacuuming of the gravel.

3) You're on a good schedule already. Only give them what they can eat in 2-3 minutes, twice a day, and remove any food they don't eat in that amount of time.

4) Normal in a new tank. Your tank is cycling, meaning it's developing a bacterial population to break down your fishs' wastes from a toxic product and convert it into something that can tolerate for a longer time. See these links for more info: http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

While the tank is cycling, you may want to change the frequency of the water changes to twice a week and remove 15-20% at a time to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/nitritepoison.htm

Answer 5

I'll cut right to the chase.

1) Yes, but to make them a bit more comfortable, you might want to look for a ten gallon. But if you feel they're O.K, then a five gallon tank seems fine.

2) Clean the tank about once a week, get a scrubber to clean any grime off the walls and scoop out any poop daily.

3) If your feeding your fish twice a day 12+ intervals, your not feeding your fish twice a day. Youre feeding them once a day. (12 hours plus 12 hours = 24 hours = 1 day.) But feeding them once a day is fine, as long as each fish gets a good helping.

4) If the water is a little cloudy, its normal. But if it gets to cloudly, consider a bigger tank because dirt might be building up.


5) Good luck to you and your new aquarium. ^_^

Answer 6

1. No the smallest a tropical fish grows up to 1.5 to 2 inches the tank can provide room for 3 or 4 max.

2. Once a week including cleaning the filtration system.

3. Thats good timing just put a dime size amount and your good to go on the feeding.

4. In the beginning yes its absolutly normal for the water to be cloudy.

Have fun
WT

Answer 7

1. no. you can have a maximum of 1 fish/gallon IF they're very small.

2. every few days do a partial water change. Clean the glass when it starts to grow stuff. clean other things as you please.

3. sounds good. Just dont give them too much food.

4. NO. that is likely bactreia growing (is there a cabbagie smell?). Do a partial water change every day untill it clears up.

What other people have said about tanks often being cloudy at first is true, but it is still something you should be concerned about. It's most likely cloudy because everything in the tank isnt in balance yet, not because of unsettled dust or something along those lines. along with changing part of the water everyday, you should also add a few drops of "cycle" which adds good bacteria to the tank, which break down amonia. (I'm sure there are many brands of helpfull bacteria, but cycle is the only name I can recall.)

Answer 8

the rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon. but thats because the cramped space might stress the fish. if your fish are ok in close quarters with out being to jumpy they should be ok. Try to clean it once every 3 weeks to a month. Once or twice a day with as much food as they can consume in a few minutes. Be careful not to over feed! New tanks are always clousy in the beginning. It wont stay like that for more than a week tops, but it was better to wait until the cloudiness dissapated to buy fish. Your tank really needed a week to cycle before you bought fish. good luck

Answer 9

My old oddball tank blanketed 3 forms of eel, a black ghost knife, a dragonfish (they don't look to be aggressive, even with their looks), an african butterfly, some hatchets and x-ray cats, (real) upside-down catfish, couple of pink crabs. additionally had an 18 inch pleco in that tank. All are extremely hardy, too. be conscious that the knife would pass after different fish with electric powered-emitting organs, such using fact the elephantnose.

Answer 10

1) That is pushing it. Ideally, you want one inch of fish per one gallon water.
2) I would clean the tank every week, esp. if you have 6 fish in there.
3) Twice a day is fine
4) The water is somewhat cloudy in the beginning, then it should be crystal clear.