What kind of fish can I put in a 5 gallon tank? 10 gallon?

Buy the biggest tank tank you can afford / have room for / are allowed.

Reason is that a bigger tank is easier to maintain, and gives you much more options as to what fish you can keep.

A 5 gal is great for a betta, and you can probably keep a dwarf frog, a snail or some shrimp in there too. But thats about it really.

10 gal is better with various small community fish. Guppies, dwarf cory cats, kuhli loaches, small tetras and rasboras, dwarf gourami etc.

Personally I would suggest 15 to 30 gal as a good beginner size tank. Easier to care for and more options for fish. You can always keep small fish in a big tank, and have lots of them if you want. But you cant have large fish in a small tank. Understocking a tank is no problem, overstocking risks your fish dieing.

This site is quite good for trying out different tank sizes and combinations of fish.

http://www.aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php

Don't rely on any 1" rule to stock the tank. Things are a little more complicated. You cant keep a 5" fish in a 5gal tank, but you can keep 15 x 1" neons in a 10gal

Good luck, and good on you for doing some research first, before you buy your tank and fish.

Ian

Alright, for the 5 gallon, i would recommend a male betta. Petco actually has alot of different varieties of them, and i've personally found an interest in the KING betta, but that is because it is so big. If you find the right color and decorate the tank nicely, you could have an amazing setup!

Ahh the 10 gallon. These are always fun to stock. I will tell you my setup that seemed to work pretty well. I put 5 dwarf loaches in. That might seem like a lot, but it kind of has a reverse effect. They have little barbels that will go throught the gravel and pick out lost food, so in a way, they do more good for your tank than bad. Too add to this, you could add a male betta. They are generally not to mean to the little loaches, so aggression wouldn't be a problem. And he would probably swim from side to side in your tank, happily patroling it. But that is just my opinion.

But please, no goldfish. I guess you could try one of those little "feeder fish" you see, and try to keep it alive. Chances are it will die very soon. But if it does survive, it will probably get BIG, so i wouldn't recomend it. But if you are ready to get a bigger tank IN CASE, then go for it :)

Definitely NO goldfish, the tank is tiny. Goldfish need 20 gallons for one! Only thing I'd recommend for a 5 gallon tank is snails as it's a bit small for even a Betta. 10 gallon you could have a Betta and 5 Neons, but no more.

Some ideas for a 10 gallon. Each line is a different option.

1 betta, 4 mystery snails

1 betta, 5-10 ghost shrimp

1 betta, 2-3 african dwarf frogs

4-6 male guppies

4-6 male endlers livebearers

3-5 platies

4-6 dwarf rasbora

6 emerald dwarf rasbora

4-6 pygmy corys as bottom dwellers

3 dwarf oto cats

6 pygmy hatchetfish

1 butterfly fish

1 male and 2 female DWARF puffers

6-8 white cloud mountain minnows (these are coldwater)

1 male and 2 female pygmy gouramis

1 male and 2 female sparkling gouramis

1 male and 1 female honey gouramis

Male and Female blue killifish

Male and female pygmy killifish

1 Male Kenyi cichlid

Male and female tanganyikan shell-dwelling chiclids

15-30 cherry shrimp

15-35 ghost shrimp

15-30 crystal red shrimp

3 fiddler crabs (brackish water, half land half water setup with sand substrate)

No barbs, no danios, no neon tetras (or any kind of tetras), no blue/gold/opaline gouramis, no goldfish, no parrot fish, no oscars, no angelfish, no plecos.

My daughter had a 5 gallon had block some Black Molly's too. But only a few fish!

I am sending you a website that may helpful when getting your tanks ready.

The next link is awesome and shows what fish are ideal.

10 Gallon

Freshwater fish live in an environment of green leafy plants. The water makeup is more like that of a stream or brook. Sending a link.

Tetras, guppies, and mollies are all small schooling fish that can live peacefully in the same tank. They eat the same types of food and are live bearers. They need plenty of room to swim so beware of crowding. Tetras need to be purchased in groups of six or more. Mollies and guppies should be purchased in trios, one male for every two females.

I know a pet store has more information than any of us have. I hope my info helped but a pet store my give you better advice and her the care of your tank.

Add a hater and a filter to the 5 gallon and you can get a betta but that is really all it is good for. http://www.5plusgallon.co.nr/ The 10 gallon on the other hand has a few more options such as smaller tetras and guppies.

well goldfish you need a 20 gallon tank and for any other goldfish you want to add thats an extra 10 gallons each! i suggest maybe getting some guppys or neon tetras or any other small fish

get tropical fish, buy neaon tetras the are great and beauitiful and are really cheap get about 12 to start off and have a filter not so strong so the fish dont get caught up the filter. and get and air pump neaon tetras love air bubbles so get neaon tetras, air pump and tank and light and food and filter.

5 gal

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Stocking_a_5_Gallon...

10 gal

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Stocking_a_10_Gallo...

NO GOLDFISH, Goldfish get huge, a fancy goldie needs a 20 gal tank to itself (and 10 gal for each extra goldie), while a common/comet/feeder/shibukin needs 55 gals each.

The typical rule is that you need one gallon of water per one inch of fish (and remember that you aren't filling the tank all the way - so you may only have 8 1/2 gallons of actual water in your 10 gallon tank). Gold fish are NOT a good choice. They get very large and need A LOT of space to roam in order to live long and happy (trust me, gold fish will die in a small tank). I'd suggest getting smaller tropical fish. You should be able to fit 4-6 tropical fish in a 10 gallon tank.

And remember to add your fish in small doses - if you add 6 fish at one time, the pH of your water will change and may kill the fish. Add 2-3 fish at a time max. And I recommend going to Petsmart or some place that has a guaruntee in case your fish die right away.

Good luck!