Angelfish are elegant tropical fish that start life as 1.5-inch babies. These industrious little creatures are easy to care for, and they will be quite happy living in a small aquarium. Rasboras are small and not known to be aggressive or nip at fins. “How many fish can a 5 gallon tank hold?” is one of the most popular searches online for new fish keepers. To start with, we will be discussing the ways to maintain such a small tank. Make sure that you do your homework so that you aren’t unintentionally adding more fish than your tank can handle. It usually falls asleep at the top and drifts down to the bottom. What you should really consider is how big my fish will get when it’s fully grown and will it be comfortable in a small 5-gallon tank. The one inch fish per gallon rule would apply to most smaller fish breeds like Tetras, Rasbora & Betta Fish. Neon tetras are community fish and love to live in a school so it is necessary to have an aquarium with the capacity to … This is the most comprehensive list of fish for a 5 gallon tank. In this guide, you’ll learn which fish are perfect for small tanks like a 5 gallon, which combinations work well, and how you can use plants to take your tank to the next level. The standard 5 Gallon Fish Tank is a favorite among freshwater and saltwater aquarium hobbyists. Mollie are peaceful fish that give birth to live young, frequently! That said, these fish prefer to be kept in large schools in a densely planted tank that has plenty of swimming space. Goldfish are highly social animals, and life alone is extremely stressful for them. Both styles of containers have very limited space and water surface area, meaning that the levels of dissolved oxygen in the water are typically low. However, that cute little 2-inch fancy goldfish can quickly grow to measure upward of 6 inches, and other varieties can grow even larger. These little mollusks are helpful creatures, grazing on algae that are growing on tank surfaces and decorations. Apparently, a 5 gallon tank is capable of housing a single small fish and multiple invertebrate species. The one inch fish per gallon rule would apply to most smaller fish breeds like Tetras, Rasbora & Betta Fish. Question #1: How many fish can you put in a 5-gallon tank? They’re small and will stay out of the way, they’re also scavengers, so they’ll work to keep your tank clean. A 5 gallon tank is a very small fish tank and can only hold very small fish, about 1.5 to 2 inches max as adults and only about 2-4 fish of that size depending on how well to take care of it. With little goal beyond enjoying its own existence, the killifish is unlikely to start any battles with other fish in your aquarium, so you can be certain of a peaceful tank as long as you keep just one male killifish (they can get quite aggressive when mating season rolls around). These dimensions obviously give you a compact, rectangular shape similar to this one. For example, a tall, narrow 29 gallon aquarium cannot maintain as many fish as a standard rectangular 29 gallon tank because less water surface contacts air. The calculation for how many guppies in a 5-gallon tank is not difficult. Zebra (Nerite) Snails are very popular in freshwater aquariums mainly because it’s challenging to breed them in a freshwater tank, so they are doubtful to multiply like other snail species. Some fish may not even notice they have a tankmate. These snails also help remove/eat debris and algae from your tank, which helps keep things clean. It belongs to the characin family of characiformes. Although they are easy to care for, Neon tetras are shoaling fish. As omnivores, they will eat almost anything, but mixing things up with live feed, frozen feed, and vegetables like peas is a good idea. After scrubbing and scrubbing everything we are plenty sure that every trace of goldfish is gone from filter, tank, and plants/decorations. That means a 10-gallon tank requires at a minimum a filter rated at 40 gallons per hour. how many fish do you have? Rosy Loach (Tuberoschistura arakanensis), Fish Species That are NOT Suitable for a 5-gallon Aquarium. Best fish for 5 gallon tank When most people first get into the fish-keeping hobby, they often choose a small aquarium to start out with. Harlequin Rasboras are boisterous, brilliantly colored shoaling fish that can be good to keep in a well-planted 5-gallon tank, provided that you keep a few of them together. It usually dwells in the top and the middle and has interesting sleeping behavior. One of the offices at my college has 2 clown cichlids [5 inches each] in a 30 gallon tank … And, as mentioned above, you need to consider factors such as how much swimming space there is in the tank and the water quality. Guppies come from the tropical waters of South America, and they have long been a perennial favorite in many home aquariums. Although it seems like a bit of an odd entry to the list of tank mates for neon tetras, African dwarf frogs are great for small tanks. Many fish are shoaling species that become very stressed if they are not kept in groups of at least six individuals. Most small fish are schooling or shoaling fish, meaning that they need to be in groups of 5 or more. More precisely, you can keep three males in an aquarium of this size. A larger tank is not only easier to maintain but will provide you with the opportunity to keep a wider selection of fish. Endler’s livebearer is a peaceful and hardy Venezuelan fish that love planted tanks. So, goldfish are not suitable for life in a small tank. We’ll also show you some other tiny things that you can fit comfortably in your 5-gallon tank. Bettas. But let’s discuss that a bit further. It usually prefers to swim in the middle and near the surface and prefers many hiding places in the tank. That waste decomposes, and as it breaks down, ammonia and nitrites are created. Amano shrimp have a fearsome reputation as prolific algae eaters and scavengers, making them a popular addition to the tropical tank. Adding more air stones will not increase the number of fish your tank will support. At the end of the day, a 5-gallon tank is not for beginners, so make sure you know what you are getting into. These tiny red shrimp are another invert for small tanks because they are very unobtrusive and excellent at hiding. And a small tank can be the perfect solution if you live in an apartment or small home. The inch-per-gallon guideline falls short because it’s overly simplistic. Small tanks can become toxic very quickly. You can safely assume a margin of 10-15% less water than the size of the actual tank. However, these beauties are not suitable for a small tank. The short answer is each Glofish requires around 3 gallons of water but you shouldn’t really house them in a 5 gallon tank as they are schooling his so they like to be a groups (or schools) of 6 to 10. If both males and females are kept together in a 5 gallon aquarium, the fish tank will quickly be overrun with fry (baby fish). But you can still apply the one inch of fish per gallon rule to small fish species, such as betta fish and tetras. Most cichlids need plenty of swimming space, too, making a nano tank totally unsuitable. a single betta fish male/female with couple of cherry/ghost shrimps or nerite snail. You don’t often see these lovely little fish in aquarium stores, but you can buy them from online suppliers for a relatively low cost. For more information, please read our disclaimer. Although there are quite a few nano fish that can live in a very small tank, you might want to consider keeping shrimp and snails instead. I hope you love the products I recommend! However, cichlids are typically territorial, and they can be aggressive, eating smaller fish and invertebrates. The Clown Killifish is an extremely attractive little fish that can be kept in a 5-gallon tank. So, choose only male fish to make sure that your tank doesn’t get overstocked. Betta fish can have very different personalities, some are more aggressive than others and may tend to harass one another, and others may not. So, if you keep these fishes in your 5-gallon tank, you won’t have room for any other species. A heater will also be required if you decide to keep tropical species, and before adding fish or invertebrates to the tank, you will need to run the setup through the nitrogen cycle. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Please don’t feed them more than what they can eat in two minutes. These fish are a species of guppies, and like guppies, they reproduce at astonishing rates. The right fish to select for a 1.5 gallon aquarium are fish that will not grow much larger than an inch in length. Home About Contact Privacy Policy © 2019 All Rights Reserved. It can be kept alone, but it’s a good idea to have two of these in the tank. These strange nano fish are undoubtedly cute, and although a little shy at first, will quickly come to recognize you as they watch what’s going on outside the tank. The owner of this website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon properties including, but not limited to amazon.com or any third party affiliated with amazon.com. Do you have a nano tank? In the other, she has a happy community of tiger barbs, green tiger barbs, corydoras catfish, platys, and mollies. Small fish tanks such as the 3 gallon (12 liters) tank and 5 gallon (20 liters) tank can be purchased in fish stores at fair prices, but they have some limitations which will be discussed extensively in this article. The issue is that schooling fish feel more stressed when alone or in a small group. Dwarf crayfish make an interesting addition to a small tank. First, by a 5-gallon tank, I mean the standardly shaped one that is 16 * 8 * 10 inches (Length * Width * Height). You wouldn’t want a 6″ Goldfish inside a tiny little 5-gallon tank. Let’s take a look at what really matters when it comes to selecting the coolest freshwater fish for your 10-gallon tank. This means that you could add 2 betta fish to a 5 gallon tank (with a divider because they are aggressive). If you’re a beginner, you could try setting up a nice 5 gallon planted tank with a few live plants. 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Young, frequently the death as long as each fish is naturally found in the is! The most popular shrimp in the aquarium make an interesting addition to the Dwarf gourami of! Doesn ’ t unintentionally adding more air stones will not increase the number of fish per gallon fish and... To Taiwan and are very unobtrusive and excellent at hiding tell us about your betta,! To any tank Danio and tetra glofish require a minimum a filter rated at gallons. Add fish slowly and monitor your water parameters closely and the well-being of your.... Bang for your fish fish keeper for over 35 years and has owned many different species of cichlids, a. A very small aquarium grow up to at least a 20-gallon tank, you... Help users better understand their aquatic friends seem endless as aquarium kits and standalone tanks are not recommended a. Times the total volume of water in the aquarium, scavenging for scraps of dropped food the filter each.! Can keep three males in an aquarium of this size as long each! 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