5.5 Gallon Tank?

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MasterZ

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Feb 22, 2004
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Cleveland, OH
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Hello everyone, I'm having a little dilemma here. I've been a fan of freshwater aquariums for a long time, but I don't stay in one place for more than 9 months at a time. For this reason, the weight of a 10 gallon tank would be much too hard to move around. I've gone and looked at 5.5 gallon tanks and would like to purchase one, but only if I could properly maintain the health of the fish.

I'm a big fan of Tetras, and that is what I would like to populate the tank with. I especially like neon tetras, Serpae Tetras, and Black Phantom Tetras. I also like Marbled Hatchetfish.

Does anyone have any info for me including these fish or other kinds of tetras? What about types of filtration?

Thank you all for your help!

--Steve
 
I use a whisper filter on mine. But I think only the neons would work out of the fish you mentioned. The other ones are either too active or get too big, in my opinion.

Other fish that would fit would be:
cherry barb
betta
pygmy cories
guppies
african dwarf frogs
glowlight tetras
dwarf honey gourami
badis
shrimp
mystery/apple snails
some of the smaller killifish

Of course, not all of those together;)

I believe one gallon of water weighs approx. 8lbs. Add to that the tank weight, gravel, decorations, etc. When people move tanks, they usually remove the fish and some of the tank water and put them into a 5g bucket or cooler and then move the tank separately.
 
With a small tank I find it best to stick to one fish type and get as many as suitable for the tank. Most of the fish listed above are schooling fish (most) and do best when their numbers are larger. So 4-5 neons is a little high but doable in a 5.5 gallon tank.

With a gourami or betta I would stick to the single fish and maybe add a myster snail or else ghost shrimp for variety. Maybe even 3 khulie loaches or pygmy cories.
 
The bigger the tank the better, and the bigger the surface area of the tank the best. This gives fish more room to swim and more water surface for oxygen transfer.

Tetras and white cloud minnows are generally good in the smaller tanks. Neons, black neons, glo-lite, rummy nose, head and tail light are all good tetras choices. Rasboras are also a great choice or the white clouds I mentioned (though they are cool water fish and liek their tank temp in the low 70's). Or else a group of cherry barbs as they stay on the small side.

In a 10 gallon tank I would go with a school of 5-6 of one of these fish. Then I would add 3 cory catfish or 3 khulie loaches as a bottom feeder. That would give you 2 fish types for variation and interest and a balance of mid level and bottom level.

In a 10 gallon that would be max IMO as any more would start to limit the fishes liveliness. Over crowded tanks tend to get lifeless, as you can see at any fish store where the fish generally just sit there.
 
The only thing I know about the hatchet fish is that they are super jumpers and you can't leave even a tiny space open in the tank top or else you will find them on the floor.
 
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