# Fish Choices - Which to Go With?



## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

After going to all the places locally that have freshwater fish, here are the only ones I like the looks of and are available. They will be going in a 5 gallon tank. 

Harlequin Rasboras
Bleeding Heart Tetras
Neon Tetras
Tiger Barbs
Julii Cory Cats
Glo Light Tetras
Dwarf Gourami
Ghost Shrimp
African Dwarf Frogs
Cherry Barbs
Male Guppies (forgot about this one)

If at all possible, I would like to get fish to swim around the aquarium and something to hang around the bottom.

In your opinion, what fish should I go with and how many of each should I get?

Thanks for all your help and patience over the past several weeks...it is GREATLY appreciate!!!

TripleB67


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> in a 5 gallon tank


 This is pretty limiting. I would just do rasboras (6) and shrimp (12))


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

If it was me I like having more fish to look at, neon tetras are awesome schooling fish. It's fun to watch them group together and swim in a pack. 
You can have like 20 in a 5g tank because they are so small.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I don't believe you can have 20 neon tetras in a 5g. That's way over stocked. Maybe you can have 4 neon tetras. The dwarf gourami needs at least a 10g tank.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Neon tetras do better in groups of 5 or more. I guess 20 would be a little much but personally i would put 10 neon tetras in there. They are tiny and are not going to outgrow that tank and would be just fine.


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## IAoddball (Jun 19, 2012)

The tiger barbs need to be in a school of 4 or more (imo). The neon tetras would be nice, as would the ghost shrimp to help keep it clean. Maybe 2-3 cory's max if you want to go that route instead of the shrimp. But in the long run, 5g is pretty limiting to what you can have. I would get some guppies, a few plants, and a few shrimp and call it good.


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

*Thanks for all the input.

It seems as though I'll either be going with the Neon Tetras or the Male Guppies.

I have several questions:

1) How many could I comfortably put of each (neon tetras or male guppies) in a 5 gallon aquarium?
2) My wife wanted to know if you could have both the male guppies and the neon tetras both in the 5 gallon tank? I told her the tank was probably too small for that but I thought I would ask.
3) Is there any way a couple of the Julii Cory Cats could work with either the Neon Tetras or the Guppies in my 5 gallon tank?
4) Would Cherry Shrimp work with either the Neon Tetras or the Male Guppies?
5) I would have to order the cherry shrimp online. Is 6-10 a good number of cherry shrimp to have in a 5 gallon tank?

Thanks for all your help!!!

TripleB67*


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Cory1990 said:


> Neon tetras do better in groups of 5 or more. I guess 20 would be a little much but personally i would put 10 neon tetras in there. They are tiny and are not going to outgrow that tank and would be just fine.


Maybe you could do 6 neon tetras and that's pushing it.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

TripleB67 said:


> *Thanks for all the input.
> 
> It seems as though I'll either be going with the Neon Tetras or the Male Guppies.
> 
> ...



Have you already cycled your tank?


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

Coolfish said:


> Have you already cycled your tank?


In the process right now.

TripleB67


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

What filter you have?


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

Coolfish said:


> What filter you have?


I'm not home right now, but it's the one that came with the MarineLand Eclipse 5 gallon Corner Tank.

TripleB67


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

TripleB67 said:


> *Thanks for all the input.
> 
> It seems as though I'll either be going with the Neon Tetras or the Male Guppies.
> 
> ...



I would do 5 neon Tetras, 2 male guppies. With them fish you don't NEED to cycle your tank. The tank will cycle with the fish in it. Then I would leave it at that until the tank is well established. 
Have you gave some thought to getting a 10g tank? You could fit so much more in there.


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

Cory1990 said:


> I would do 5 neon Tetras, 2 male guppies. With them fish you don't NEED to cycle your tank. The tank will cycle with the fish in it. Then I would leave it at that until the tank is well established.
> Have you gave some thought to getting a 10g tank? You could fit so much more in there.


*Thanks for the advice.

Would any cherry shrimp be able to survive with the neons and/or guppies?

TripleB67*


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

*I unfortunately must not have cycled the tank properly before adding the fish this morning. I added 6 Neon Tetras about 9 hours ago...only 1 remains. I'm going to have my water tested by a 'pro' tomorrow.

If it's not my water, is a betta or guppies a more hardy fish than the Neon Tetras?

Thanks again for all your help!!!

TripleB67*


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I don't think a snail would really do much for the tank if that's what your saying. As for the Cory cats you could put one or 2 with the guppie and neon tetras they will help clean the bottom of the tank, and they are vary active fish and are fun to watch.

Bettas can be mean but some people have good luck putting a betta with othe fish in a much larger aquarium though. I would skip the betta and do the guppies and tetras with 2 of the Cory cats. That way they could all eat the same food. Betta food is pretty hard for other fish and Cory cats may not get left overs because the betta food floats.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

The betta would most likely eat the cherry shrimps when he gets a chance.


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

Obviously my tank wasn't cycled correctly...bought 6 neon tetras...10 hours later four have perished. Going to take my water and have it checked by a pro tomorrow.

TripleB67


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

What happen was you put all the fish in at the same time and most likely had an ammonia spike. You should of put only 3 first and than waited a week and put 3 more. This is a small tank and I'm sure that's what happen or you got a bad school.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

With a fish in cycle you could use tetra safe start. I would get a small bottle of that and put it in your tank before you lose more fish. Best thing to do right now is a water change asap at least 50%.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Alright that's normal for all of them to die so quick don't feel bad it's a mistake we all make at some point in time. Here is what you need to do with a fresh set up tank that's not cycled.

Step by step this works for me.

1. Add water
2. Add your choice of dechlorinator 
3. Vary importend fish. 
4. Get a few hardy fish I personally use minnows to cycle a tank
They are cheap and can be fun to watch also or flush them. You can get them for like .10 each
5. Wait about a week then add your fish of choice and there on out you should be fine and will be able to add whatever you want to the tank with no problems. 


Also I don't want to read threw all the comments right now but do you have a heater? Also if you do or don't what temp is the tank at? If you don't have a temp sticker thing on your tank you should invest in one. Your tropical fish could die without a heater.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I don't add any cycle chemicals. Truth is the more you add the more problems your tank is going to add. I recomend a great declorinator is called "micro-lift, super dechlorinator + water conditioner" 










Now it costs about 10$ a bottle but if you read the bottom it treats 2000 gallons of water. I've had it for 6 months and have 2 55g tanks 4 10g tanks and a new addition 35g bow front and I have barley put a dent in that bottle. Plus this is all you really need for setting up/water changes and that's really one of the only things you need for fresh water and and and and and it can be used for salt water. You should pay attention to how much it treats also. I've seen bottles the same size that can only treat up to 50 gallons.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I use prime for my water.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Cool fish, why did you say he needs a 50% water change? I'd just throw a few hardy fish in there and call it a day.

Also are you using prime for declorinator? Or is prime something to do a fish less cycle?


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## TripleB67 (Jun 23, 2012)

*Thanks for all the help. I'll try to answer all the questions.

I used API Stress Coat+ (it also removes chemicals) to condition the water.

The one Neon Tetra that was alive yesterday is still swimming strong.

I do have a heater that is supposed to keep the temperature between 78 and 82...it's currently at 79 degrees.

I think I used Danios to cycle my tank several years ago. I know they are cheap and readily available. If I can't find minnows, would a few (how many?) of those work to cycle the tank correctly?

Do I leave them in the tank for a week, pull them out, and then add my fish? OR Do I leave them in the tank a week, pull them out, then wait a week before adding the fish of my choice?

Again, I appreciate all the help.

TripleB67*


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Cory1990 said:


> Cool fish, why did you say he needs a 50% water change? I'd just throw a few hardy fish in there and call it a day.
> 
> Also are you using prime for declorinator? Or is prime something to do a fish less cycle?


I use that for water changes. What I did use was tetra safe start for a fish in cycle. For a fish less cycle use pure ammonia. I said do a water change because I'm sure the ammonia level was off the wall with all the fish in at the same time.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Fishy Cycling

This method is probably what many fall into from all the myths that run rampant out there. It is also the method that can cause severe stress or death to the fish. There are some simple techniques that make this type of cycle go easier, but take some pre-planning on your part.

The basics of this method are to set up your tank, fill, treat with a water conditioner, add some hardy fish that can handle stressful conditions, test/monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels, and do water changes as necessary.

When your cycle is established, you have a bacteria load that can handle the fish that are in there presently. More fish can be added in small numbers over a period of time, allowing for a mini-cycle to grow the bacteria levels to the new bio-load. You need to pay constant attention to your tank, testing daily, doing water changes when required, not when you can get around to it. Do not assume that you can add more fish just because reading are undetectable or low. Give the environment time to respond.

You will be captive to testing at least twice daily, doing water changes whenever ammonia or nitrites hit .25 ppm. Do not be surprised that even with a cautious approach, you lose some fish.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

The cycle isn't complete until your nitrites are gone and your nitrates are a bit higher. Then you can do a water change and add one fish at a time.
Nitrites and ammonia test 0 on established aquariums.
Basically the cycle works like this:
The first type of bacteria turns ammonia into nitrite. When this colony is established your ammonia will rapidly drop and your nitrites will rise.
The second type of bacteria turns those nitrites into less toxic nitrates. Nitrites will drop and nitrates will rise. Once your nitrites are no longer present but nitrates are you do a water change. Now your tank is cycled.

Nitrates are always present in most freshwater aquariums. They are dangerous is large quantities but usually harmless. Plants can do a good job of lowering nitrates, and water changes are also necessary so they don't reach above about .40 ppm.

Over course this is overly simplified, but it should be fairly easy to understand.

You only want to add one fish at a time because if you add several at once ammonia will rise faster than the bacterial colony can grow, which can cause a mini-cycle.


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