Fish for 5 gallon hex

ajehly

AC Members
Feb 20, 2006
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I have a 5 gallon Hex in my office that only has one Gold Mystery Snail in it right now. It is currently not heated because it was only housing White Clouds and the snail, but I am perfectly willing to add a heater if I need to.

It is not planted -- artificial plants only with a gravel substrate.

I would like to put a single fish in the tank, and I know a Betta would be the most likely option, but I was wondering about other possibilities.

Would a Paradise fish be appropriate?

What about a gourami of some kind?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Andrea
 
Yeah, you can't fit a lot in a 5 gal.... no gouramis, no paradise fish ... how about killifish? Small and quite pretty.
 
I have the following in mine: 1 male dwarf gourami, 1 ADF, 1 pigmy cory cat, and 2 ghost shrimp.

Set up is the same, except I have live plants.

The gourami is more fun to watch than a beta...because he takes floating plant branches that I cut off for him and makes bubble nests. He lets it fall apart every night...then re-builds it all day while I work. He also swims up and down looking at me until I wave my hand....then he'll stop and go back to work. I KNOW that sounds NUTS......but he really does. I hope my boss never sees our little game.
 
Except that cories are a schooling fish and don't do well solo. He may seem fine but if you ever see cories in a tank in a large group you will see a major difference.

A betta would of course be best. A paradise fish could work. IMO though gouramis are much faster swimmers and seem to cover a lot more ground than bettas, so a larger tank is always better. Also your tank is a hex, so taller than a regular 5 gallon. A fish that takes advantage of the height of the tank would be best, and a betta certainly fits the bill.

A heater will be needed though.
 
Something really amazing you could do is get 2 dwarf pufferfish. They are quite incredible. Good Luck.
 
that is garbage.

3 goldfish in a 5 gallon? i dont think so.

even 8 neons is to much.

a single dwarf gourami with a couple of shrimp and a snail would be good. a honey gourami would be a better choice though because they stay an inch smaller than dwarf gouramis.

a good old betta is a great choice too.
 
goldfish - no, they get too big, 25g minimum
tetras - maybe. only small breeds. keep your eye on the water quality.
neons - neons are tetras.
 

there is little, if any at all, good information on that page. most of what i read briefly was erroneous. examples:

2-4 'small' fantail goldfish in a 5 gallon tank? definitely NOT.

Stress Zyme "biological starter"? doesn't work.

Aquariumn salt recommendation? NOT.
 
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