# How Many fish in a 5gal?



## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

How Many fish in a 5gal?


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## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

a betta, thats about all!
maybe a betta and a couple of corys?
or a betta and a few dwarf livebearers?
or just dwarf livebearers or even a few killifish, im not too sure, im new at this too, but i have a 5.5 gal and those are what people told me i could have.
i have it splited with two bettas and a snail... but mine is a half gallon bigger than yours


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

I personally wouldnt put cories in a 5 gallon, but I do agree with the betta. Maybe a few ghost shrimp?


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## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

they say one inch per gal, so how about some platies?


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

How long has your 10 gal been up? Have your gourami and beta gotten along well? If so, you are lucky, they usually don't do so good together as they are both labyrinth fish. Your 10 gal is overstocked. I would move the beta and the snail out of there and put them in the 5 gal. Your 29 gal is also a risky business, 3 blue gouramis are asking for trouble and anything that says shark belongs in a larger tank as they are active swimmers. I would not put a shark in anything less then 55 gal. I hope for you that those set ups work out.


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## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

nope, urs is the smae size as mine, mine is alos a 5.5


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## qwik92rs (Feb 4, 2006)

You could do 2 dwarf puffer fish. I think they only get an inch.


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## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

if i could find puffers around here


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## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

seriously? 2 dwarf puffers for a 5.5?
good idea in the future for me!


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2006)

2 dwarf puffers could work. the rule for them is 2-3 gallons each.


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

YOu could easily have a betta and a couple of black kuhlis. Kuhlis are easy on the bioload.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

Off the top of my head here are a few options IMO...(each enter is a new option, these aren't to all be kept together, lol)

2 DPs
maybe 3-4 ADFs
2 snails(mystery golfball size)
1 snail(apple/cana softball sized)
1-2 fire belly newt(s)
some small killies(i don't know about species, TOS does)
4 guppies
5 endlers(tricky to find real pure blood endlers)
4 zebra danios/lepord danios
6 white clouds
Dwarf Gourami
1 male betta
divided 2 male bettas
2 female bettas
3-4 platies
6 neons
6+ ember tetras(hard to find, tiny)
A colony of the dwarf livebearer/least killifish(semi-rare)
maybe 2-3 Scarlet Badis in well planted tank(pretty but hard to find, Sue had some i believe...)
3 rose red minnows(CHEAP, purchased at bait shops for pennies)
a few male gambusia Affins, females are nasty(sometimes can be found free in local water ways, located world wide. Are also sometimes provided free by local governments for mosquito control)

Cherry shrimp or ghost shrimp can be added to almost any of these ideas, but not DPs!

I'll get back to you when I think up more ideas, I'm tired so this is all i could think of, the choices are ENDLESS! :-D


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## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

thanx for your help, u got alot of ideas, i like the 2 female bettas idea, since i like bettas so much. yea, if u got more, lemme know


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## meyerhaus (Feb 27, 2006)

Matt: may I suggest buying from a Betta breeder instead of a pet store. You can get some VERY colorful females from a good breeder.


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## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

no local breeders here, i wish there was, i had the same idea


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## aquarium geek12 (Mar 13, 2006)

The live bearing fish is a good idea but if they breed and the fry survive your tank might get over crowded.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

I keep 8 cichlids in my 5g 

ok ok so their new born geez, u got me


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

Please don't do the female bettas. I kept two in a 10 gallon tank, they were spawn sisters. It was not pretty! 

Female bettas should always be kept in odd numbers. Two together and one becomes the dominant and the other.....gets beat up, sometimes fatally! The females have every bit as much 'tude as the males.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

someone wanna explain "spawn sisters" to me? cuz it sounds hot but am guessing it's a bad thing? lol


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## Matt201985 (Dec 27, 2005)

MalawianPro said:


> someone wanna explain "spawn sisters" to me? cuz it sounds hot but am guessing it's a bad thing? lol



haha, good one man


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## Ayres (Mar 27, 2006)

are dwarf puffers available in the hampshire (portsmouth) or west london area?

have never seen them around but they sound really interesting


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

they should be. Sall your LFS and see if they get some in


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

if you cant find them at a lfs, there are plenty of websites you can order fish from, and get them the next day. check the online stores thread in the general section.


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## ultasol (Mar 12, 2006)

Hold on. I think I just peed my pants. Holy moly, unexpected flying comments batman!



Mala said:


> someone wanna explain "spawn sisters" to me? cuz it sounds hot but am guessing it's a bad thing? lol


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

I know what you guys are going to say..."this lady is nuts!!" but that's OK, I've been called worse  
I have 6 - 3 gal square tanks. That are not only fully planted but have lots of fishies, and are what I 
call little micro climates. I firmly believe that adding live plants increases the capabilities of bio load, not 
to mention the happiness of the fish.
Most of you will say that they are way over stocked. But I have enough bio in each to handle the load.
I do weekly 50% water changes. And haven't lost a fish yet.
here's a couple examples........ (btw click pics to enlarge)

3 gal with 3 Choprea Danio, 6 Scarlet Badis and a trio breeding Spixi snails........



3 gal with 9 - 3/4 to 1 inch Kribansis, 1 betta, and 2 Otocinclis............



I also have a 10 gal on my kitchen counter that most people would scream about, it has 
6 rosey tetras, 12 royal White clouds, 2 albino bristle nose, 4 small Siamensis and 4 Otocincis. 
And except for old age, no deaths. Of course the Siamensis will have to move when the get a little 
bigger. But for now they are controlling hair algea.........




The point I am trying to make is that the standard of "over stocking" is only limited 
by the keepers ability to maintain the balance.


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## ultasol (Mar 12, 2006)

I agree, to a point. For the novice, understocking intially is the way to go. You can push the stocking limits a bit with well planted tanks, but ideally you should dose some other ferts (omitting the N) to make up for that deficiency.
I do have a well planted ten with a few to many fish (5 sparkling gouramis, itty bitty fish, and about 6 subadult guppy females I have seperated to keep them 'pure', plus two ottos). This overstocking has resulted in some issues. If I don't keep the fert balance exactly so, I get algae blooms- and not the easy to take care of greenwater or glass kind.... fullblown hair and BG algae. So I do have to test on this tank, which I don't on any others... but this is a high light Co2 injected tank.
For a newbie, if you are learning, understocking is the way to go. It's better to start simple and make your initial experiences as pleasant as possible. Plus, in an understocked situation I think most fish are more likely to breed. I had moved some of the sparklings (I have eight) to another tank, less fish. They keep trying to spawn under the plant leaves.


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## Ramis (Apr 10, 2006)

Mala said:


> someone wanna explain "spawn sisters" to me? cuz it sounds hot but am guessing it's a bad thing? lol



I'm sorry Mala, but can I put that in my sig, thats great?


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