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I have a 5 gallon hex tank with a bio-wheel filter built into the cover. What can I put in a 5 gallon tank? I know 5 gallons is sketchy because a small amount of water is hard to keep stable, but I've got the tank and would love to use it....

Bettas? 1 male betta would be good, what about 2-3 females (instead of the male)?

Tetras? How much space would I need for little black tetras? Could I put enough in that they would feel like they were in a group or would they really need more swimming space?

Barbs? I LOVE green tiger barbs, but I figure I could only put in 2-3 and I worry they would be miserable.

Could I add 1 male Betta and a few black tetras?

Thanks for any advice!

Melissa

Personally I say no to the tetras, and no to the barbs.
Tetras need larger schools and that just wont fit in a 5
Barbs need much more swimming space as well as a school and that also wont' fit.

Bettas will work, a few females if you don't want the male. Watch that they aren't nippy towards each other. If you want to go with bettas, how about a few plants as well . There are a few other options for that small of a tank.

^_^[hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

Thank you (and my future fish thank you) - I will stay away from tetras and barbs until I am able to get a larger tank.

Besides 1 male Betta or a few females (watch for nipping) - What other options are there? Guppies? Mollys? Is there anything else I don't know about?

I can grow plants in a 5 gallon? I will look into that - Live plants are so beautiful but I've always had goldfish (who, I hear, will eat my plants) so I've never tried them.

Happy to be getting advice BEFORE I make some poor fish miserable....

Melissa

No Tiger Barbs in a 5 gallon They are cute and tiny at first, I know, but they grow up to be semi aggressive and fin nippers. Like most barbs they're very active and should have lots of swimming space. Tiger barbs should be in a group of about 8 to avoid aggression, and for that you should prolly have a 20Long or so.

Tetras being schooling fish need at least 5 buddies, which puts them out of the question really. It's not the right tank for them, they should have at least a ten gallon IMO.

A single male betta would do great in there! You could give him some ghost shrimp as friends, or maybe even an ADF or two! They're adorable, and *usually* make great tankmates for a betta. Just watch out with the shrimp, sometimes they will end up as a snack...but they aren't very expensive, so I say it's worth it. You could put a small apple snail in there with a betta if you really wanted to.

Other choices for a five gallon would be arguably a pair of cherry barbs, a trio of guppies, or a trio of female bettas. Just know that most female bettas only get along if they're from the same batch, meaning they're sisters and were introduced at the same time.

You could do dwarf puffers if you wanted. Or some people may argue shellies, but IMO they usually do best in a ten.

There's lots of options even for a little tank.

You can plant it if you want, just make sure there's enough lighting on it. How many wpg do you have?

Best of luck.

-Ferret

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Whoops -

I just found 2 other threads with this same 5 gallon question! Thanks for answering and i apologize for not reading deeper before posting the question.....

I will probably go with 1 male Betta and plants, but I'll check into cherry barbs and guppies.

What is wpg? Wattage per gallon? The tank has one of those short florescents that screw in like a light bulb. The bulb in there is 10w but it says I can use up to 15w (assuming they make 15w - I know I've seen other 10w) in the hood.

This is kind of a plant question, but is 10-15w in a 5 gallon at all realistic for some plant life? (assuming they make the right kind of full-spectrum bulb in this size)

You may be able to find a 15watt bulb but it may not fit the fixture. Unlike screw in incandescent bulbs flourescent bulbs are one size per fixutre. With 2 watts per gallon you should be fine with most low to moderate light plants.

Just a heads up, bettas are great...but they're also addictive .

^_^ [hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

I like bettas too, but they do just as good in a 1 - 2 gallon bowl. If you have a 5 gallon tank, you might want something different. Frogs are nice, but they are not very active. You could keep a betta/frog setup, but you have to make sure the betta is not that aggressive. I wouldn't put in shrimp or a snail with the betta, because there is a good chance they will be eaten. Maybe you could get away with smaller tetras. Just be sure to clean often.

If you want to go with something a bit more ... unique, I'd go with the dwarf puffers. They're tiny, simply adorable, and fun, too! I love walking past their tank in the LFS, 'cause they all come to the glass and just STARE at me. The first time that happened, I was looking all around me, because I could just FEEL them watching me.

Besides, then you wouldn't have to worry about snails, except for actually WANTING them to reproduce so you can feed them to your puffers.

I can't wait until I move out of the 'rents house, because I just don't have another tank for them (or the room for them!) at the moment.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

What are these dwarf puffers that I keep hearing about? Are they freshwater, or brackish. I saw small puffers the the LFS, in a brackish water tank and the guy said I can't put them in anything under a 20 gallon. They weren't green puffers, though, a different kind.

[link=http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/dwarfpuffer.xml]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/dwarfpuffer.xml" style="COLOR: #C0C0FF[/link]

Freshwater fish. They're adorable, only get to be about an inch long. They eat snails. But they pretty much have to be in a species tank, or they have the habit of nipping other fish's fins off! Eep! Adorable suckers, though.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

They look nice, too bad they don't sell them in my area. Darn, they don't sell anything in my area...

I think the only place I've seen them is Petsmart. Might have seen them in my fav LFS, but usually I see other puffers there. *shrugs*

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

A 5gal. tank is only good for a lovely Betta.



http://www.deathbydyeing.org/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

What about a pair of killifishes?? There are several varieties that would be at home in a five gallon. You could check some of them out at:

http://www.aka.org

If not available locally you can sometimes get the eggs shipped to you and hatch them yourself if interested. They are some of the most colorful freshwater fish available.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain