Bought my Dad a 5g tank

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mystic1

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Mar 31, 2007
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I bought my dad a 5g desk top tank and am currently cycling it at my home because he does not know he's getting it. Once cycled I plan to drain the water into a couple of bottles then add it back when I get to his house (only 20 minutes away).He lives alone and has not had fish before but I am there visiting him at least twice a week if not more and will be doing the maintence, I myself have a 52g and a 40g. I was thinking he would enjoy mollies and or fancy guppies. I am wondering if I could put in both and if so how many of each. Would 2 mollies and maybe 4 guppies be too many? I have never dealt with a tank this small before. I want him to be able to watch something other than TV all day. I personally love betta's but my sister thinks he would be happier if there was more than 1 fish and I tend to agree. I am open for suggestions.
 

legendaryfrog

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Nov 25, 2006
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sorry to tell you, but that tank is unsuitable for mollies or guppies. Mollise grow to 4" and guppies are around 2" and move A LOT.
 

Star_Rider

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Dec 21, 2005
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put a betta in it..what guy doesn't like a fish named 'siamese fighting fish:grinyes:
 

hitman12131976

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Apr 30, 2007
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Mollies average about 2.5 inches in length as adults and Guppies can be about 2 inches. If you follow the "rule" for fish in a tank

{{1 gallon of water for every 1 inch of fish}}

Than you should either have 1 Molly and 1 Guppy, 2 Mollies, or 2 Guppies. Now, if you put some air stones in there to increase aeration, then maybe you can get away with more fish.
 

Weezer

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Mar 2, 2007
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Just about every fish is atleast 2", some tetras are 1-1.5"s, Most people use a 5 gallon for bettas... :)
 

sirasoni

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May 18, 2004
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Mollies average about 2.5 inches in length as adults and Guppies can be about 2 inches. If you follow the "rule" for fish in a tank

{{1 gallon of water for every 1 inch of fish}}

Than you should either have 1 Molly and 1 Guppy, 2 Mollies, or 2 Guppies. Now, if you put some air stones in there to increase aeration, then maybe you can get away with more fish.
still don't know where it came from but that rule isn't too useful
 

Nolapete

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May 29, 2007
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It's actually very useful. You have to consider the adult size of the fish when using it though. It's not 1 gallon for every 1 inch fish. It's 1 gallon per inch of fish.

It's not a hard and fast rule though. For example, you're not going to put a 5" cichlid in a 5 gallon tank and expect it to survive very long. It does work for stocking purposes in example cardinal tetras are about an inch or so give or take as adults so I could put 5 in 5 gallons. With proper maintenance and filtration, they'd most likely flourish.
 

hitman12131976

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Apr 30, 2007
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Yeah, that rule isn't in effect in my tank. But it depends on how much aeration you have and how clean you keep the tank. If you keep the tank clean and give good O2, then you can have plenty of fish in any tank.
 

Nolapete

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May 29, 2007
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I'd put a pair of fancy guppies in it and a little algae eater. My coworker had a rasbora in a 1 gallon desktop tank and it thrived for a long time and only died because they power went out for hurricane Katrina. It had a tiny UGF in it and a light. It was pretty cool.
 

hitman12131976

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Apr 30, 2007
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It's actually very useful. You have to consider the adult size of the fish when using it though. It's not 1 gallon for every 1 inch fish. It's 1 gallon per inch of fish.
That's is what I said, I didn't say per inch fish.
 
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