what is the best kind of fish to get from petsmart?

Question

i got this 5.5 gallon tank and i am not sure what kind of fish i want or how many ithe tank is turquoise and is a little over 9 inches and is a little over 10 inches wide what kind of fish would you suggest i want a good amount of fish and i also want them to all get along what would you suggest??

and also BEAUTFIL fish i don't want big i want small im certainly not getting any bettas or goldfish email me new things

oh yea i also forgot to mention i do have a heater , filter,gravel ,will be getting decoration soon

Answer 1

NO CICHLIDS!! i dont know what in the world renee was thinking when she told you that you can get 2-3 cichlids. this is HIGHLY untrue and dangerous. 1 cichlid ALONE needs at least a 10 gallon tank SHORT TERM (unless its a dwarf cichlid) so please disregard what renee said she obviously has no idea what shes talking about and should not be answering questions in this department.

what u CAN do is a school(4-5)of neon or other tetra.(but dont mix, stick to 1 species it will benefit the fish and you as you will see all your fish swimming in a group which is both beautiful and interesting) and 1-2 otto catfish to do the cleaning. i think that will be your optimal 5.5 gallon setup.

just make sure you have proper lighting, filtration, substrate(some sort of gravel. white gravel is recommended as it will bring out the color of your fish.)and decor.(fake small plants or a rock cave or two.) and do a 20% watr change every 3 weeks.

good luck! but most of all ENJOY!!!

Answer 2

Heather....

I'm glad to read you aren't interested in keeping goldfish because that 5.5 gallon tank is much too small for even a single fancy goldfish. With such a small tank, your choices are limited. You could keep 3-4 coldwater white cloud minnows (no heater required). To keep anything other than white clouds in a 5.5 gallon tank, you'll need to buy a heater. You can choose from small tropical fish that will not exceed 1.5 - 2 inches in length at adult size.

Stay away from schooling fish such as neons because you don't have enough room in that tank for 6+ fish required for a school. You could keep 2 pea puffers (dwarf puffers), OR an African Dwarf Frog, OR 3 MALE guppies. That's about it. (There are some gorgeous Male Betta Splendens and a single one would be perfect for your tank, but you're not interested in these apparently)

You need to keep in mind that a 5.5 gallon tank will only contain 4 - 5 gallons of water because of displacement created by gravel, decorations and other items in your tank.

Edit: Glad to hear you have a heater. You're 5.5 gallon tank is too small for schooling fish... they'd be swimming into the tank sides, and you need 6 or more which is a bit much for your tank. Go with 3 or 4 male guppies, a male betta and 3 cories or 3 female bettas. You don't have room for much else.

Answer 3

5.5 gallon tank is very small and if it is a tall tank instead of a long tank, it will hold even less than you think.

I usually recommend that beginners start out with at the very least a 10 gallon tank (20 gallon would be better).

below is a formula I have used for putting fish into my tanks. Except when they decide to breed on me, I've never had problems with overcrowding or the difficulites that arise from overcrowding.

This formula calculates the surface area of your tank. You can have 1" of fish for every 12" of surface area.

here's where your math skills come in:
multiply the width of the tank by the length then divide by 12

example: the width of the tank is 10 inches and the length of the tank is 36 inches. 10 x 36=360; 360/12=30 inches of fish.

You need to know how big your fish are going to get so you have to use their average maximum adult size as being part of that 30 inches.

also, look for fish that live at different levels. Some fish live mostly at the bottom of the tank, some in the middle and some at the top. This will also help to make it appear as if your tank is full.


another method is the 1 gallon=1 inch rule. You are allowed 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon of water. This formula is easier to calculate, but it doesn't take into consideration an odd shaped tank the way the other formula does, also this method will have you keep fewer fish in the tank.

Since you have a small tank, if you use the 1 inch per 1 gallon rule, you would only be able to keep 1 or 2 fish. I would recommend that you use the surface area formula.

As to what type of fish. neons are small and you would be able to have a small school depending on your surface area of the 5.5gallon tank. (5 neons if you use the 1" per 1 gallon method; possibly more depending on your surface area)

Good Luck and have fun!

feel free to email me if you need this explained better or help figuring your fish capacity.

here are some neons:
http://www.picobay.com/fishcam/jfc_the_neons.jpg

neon care info:
http://www.aquariumhobbyist.com/articles/NeonTetras.html

Answer 4

Petsmart has: Mollies (variety) Guppies (variety) Platies (variety) Silver Dollar Fish Gold Fish (variety) Tetra (variety) Barbs Small Sharks Pelco's and many other starter fish to choose from. The first three fish are live bearers and have plenty of babies every 30 days.

Answer 5

that is very small.
the only thing that would be really happy in there is a beta.
betas prefer heat but can live without if it isn't in a drafty area.
if you wanted multiple fish you could try two or three tiny ones.
if the tanks has no heat try white cloud minnows.
if the tank does have heat a male guppy or two would be fine.

fish to avoid? goldfish. they have very high space requirements, and none of them stay small.
also, avoid neon tetras, they nice, small fish but they are unhappy in groups smaller than six.
and stay far, far away from plecos. common plecos get 24 inches long. if you want an algae eater try a snail or shrimp.
i don't know why anyone even mentioned cichlids, they need very large tanks.

and remember, do lost of water changes! water changes are essential to a tank that small. you should do at least 50% weekly. (never 100% or you'll remove your good bacteria and your ammonia will spike).

if you are new to aquariums you should do some reading before you buy any fish. this is a fantastic book:
http://www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm
it's available at PetSmart.

Answer 6

Don't buy any fish from petsmart if you want quality fish that live a normal lifespan. Find a smaller shop that deals with locally bred fish.

A tank that size severely limits the sort of fish you can keep. A trio of platys, which look similar to goldfish would work, without the size & mess of goldfish, which have no business being in a tank that small. Those & a small group of pygmy corys would fill that tank.

Answer 7

Guppies if you don't have a heater and if you do Neon tetra would be good. You can make schools of about 5 or 6.

Answer 8

5.5 gallons isn't really big enough for more than 2 maybe 3 fish. Do you have a heater? If not, goldfish would do well, because they are cold water fish. There are lots of different types of goldfish you can get. They would do alot better if you had a filter because they can be dirty. Ryukins are pretty goldfish, and they have those at Petsmart. Buy small ones, not the large ones.

Answer 9

Just get a halfmoon Betta

Answer 10

guppies are small good looking and work well with neon tetras and other tiny fish, heater... paramount and fish are hardy and easy to keep.