My daughter wants some fish, so my daughter is going to get some fish. Got a small tank laying around in the closet, it must be about a five gallon, I'd love to use that rather than going out an buying another tank if I can help it. What freshwater fish or animal can I get that will stay small enough to enjoy that? I'd like it to be something that can be housed with a few of eachother. I suppose if I had to bump up to a ten gallon I could compromise. We had gold fish at one point that used to let her pet them, but they were soley bought as food for my gator so she misses fish now. ideas?
fish for kids?
- Thread starter jyabs7
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In a 5 gallon the water parameters are too unstable to maintain except for those that truly know what they’re doing. I’m assuming you’ll be doing the water changes but a 10 gallon will offer more stability so it won’t ruin everything if a water change gets delayed.
If you absolutely have to go with a 5 gallon then I’d get a betta or have a colony of cherry shrimp. Both are good choices.
In a 10 gallon you have a few more options such as schooling fish that aren’t so tiny that she’ll lose interest in them. Ember tetras aren’t bad. Pygmy cories could inhabit the bottom. Perhaps clown killifish? Hmm... it’s rather hard finding fish for a tank this small but I’ll get back to you once I find more.
Is there anyway you could bump it up to a 20 high or a 29?
If you absolutely have to go with a 5 gallon then I’d get a betta or have a colony of cherry shrimp. Both are good choices.
In a 10 gallon you have a few more options such as schooling fish that aren’t so tiny that she’ll lose interest in them. Ember tetras aren’t bad. Pygmy cories could inhabit the bottom. Perhaps clown killifish? Hmm... it’s rather hard finding fish for a tank this small but I’ll get back to you once I find more.
Is there anyway you could bump it up to a 20 high or a 29?
The sky is the limit? Why not get a 55 or a 75? Great size and she can really learn a lot about fishkeeping and even maintaining them herself.
A good part about larger tanks is that you can get bigger fish that tend to cost lest to fill more space than smaller fish. A 180 filled with nano fish will cost a lost more to stock than a 180 with bigger fish.
Anyway what is the biggest tank you are willing to get? I can give stocking options for any size but the bigger is the better.
A good part about larger tanks is that you can get bigger fish that tend to cost lest to fill more space than smaller fish. A 180 filled with nano fish will cost a lost more to stock than a 180 with bigger fish.
Anyway what is the biggest tank you are willing to get? I can give stocking options for any size but the bigger is the better.
Thats really not that true. You could just use a gallon jug for your weekly water changes. I find smaller tanks to be a lot easier than larger ones.
Youu could keep a betta, cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, kuhli loaches, and a mystery snail all together or you could keep one pea puffer by itself. You could also keep fish like dwarf gouramis, white cloud minnows, celestial pearl danios, neon tetras and almost any schooling fish from petco or petsmart that stays under about 2 inches or larger, slower fish that dont get much bigger than 3 inches.
The total length of all of the fish full grown should not exceed about 12 combined inches. If you put an airstone in you could push that to 18 combined inches. The more fish you put in the more often you will need to do water changes. Live plants will help to alleviate problems with the water chemistry.
The parameters are more likely to get thrown out of whack if something goes wrong in a small tank rather than a large tank. This can not be argued.
If he misses a water change on a 5 gallon it can throw everything out of balance. If he misses a water change on a 55 it won’t throw everything out of balance typically.
I’m going to have to disagree on the kuhli loaches and the dwarf gourami.
I had kuhli loaches in my 29 which is 30 inches long and they were far too active for it, they really deserve a 4 foot tank. As for the dwarf gourami they should be in a 10 gallon for the smallest.
There really are no schooling fish for a 5 gallon unless you go into the micro fish, not nano but micro fish. You won’t find micro fish in a chain pet store. Aquaticarts.com sells microfish and nano fish, they deal with small fish in general.
Inches are not a good way to go about stocking a tank.
I do have to agree with you that live plants will benefit the tank though.
If he misses a water change on a 5 gallon it can throw everything out of balance. If he misses a water change on a 55 it won’t throw everything out of balance typically.
I’m going to have to disagree on the kuhli loaches and the dwarf gourami.
I had kuhli loaches in my 29 which is 30 inches long and they were far too active for it, they really deserve a 4 foot tank. As for the dwarf gourami they should be in a 10 gallon for the smallest.
There really are no schooling fish for a 5 gallon unless you go into the micro fish, not nano but micro fish. You won’t find micro fish in a chain pet store. Aquaticarts.com sells microfish and nano fish, they deal with small fish in general.
Inches are not a good way to go about stocking a tank.
I do have to agree with you that live plants will benefit the tank though.
I had a longer response typed out, but it seems as if a flame war about nano tanks is about to start. Honestly if you run a good nano canister filter or one of the designer tanks with a large built in sump it is easy to keep parameters stable. It is also super easy to maintain.
Around here at least designer nano tanks have taken off and it is easy to find nano fish, every color of shrimp imaginable, and african dwarf frogs.
Around here at least designer nano tanks have taken off and it is easy to find nano fish, every color of shrimp imaginable, and african dwarf frogs.
Haha, a flame war wasn’t going to break out between us. I simply disagreed with his ideas and said so respectfully. Feel free to post your original comment if you wish.
