Which fish should I get for my 5 gallon

[Dwayne Brown]

@Beardedbillygoat1975 Do you have any experience breeding sparkling gouramis? It was something that I thought would be interesting to try but I cant really find any solid info on how to do it. Also where could I find ricefish eggs, that seems like it would be really fun but I don't know were to get any. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I got them to build a bubble nest but they were in a community setup. There’s a very meditative YouTube channel call Foo The Flowerhorn who had several videos on his sparkling gourami setup. 

Aquabid is where you can get Medaka eggs. Look for them in the kili egg section.

[Drew Schmidt]

If i had a 5 gallon I would try to get 4 Nothobranchius Killifish 1 male and 3 females. The males look awesome but you have to breed them to keep them going long term as they are annual Killifish. But they can be hard to source as well. 

[Dwayne Brown]

@Beardedbillygoat1975Have you had any good experience with ebay for fish eggs?

[Dwayne Brown]

On 7/10/2021 at 8:18 PM, Drew Schmidt said:

If i had a 5 gallon I would try to get 4 Nothobranchius Killifish 1 male and 3 females. The males look awesome but you have to breed them to keep them going long term as they are annual Killifish. But they can be hard to source as well. 

I saw some eggs for those killis for sale on ebay. have you ever purchased killi eggs from ebay or any other platform.

[Drew Schmidt]

On 7/10/2021 at 9:21 PM, Dwayne Brown said:

I saw some eggs for those killis for sale on ebay. have you ever purchased killi eggs from ebay or any other platform.

I had bought some eggs a few weeks ago from my local club auction. I didn't get any fish out of it. I don't know if i had done something wrong with the peat or if there was just no eggs in the peat. I haven't tried eBay yet.

[Aquatic Journal]

Looks like some of these have already been mentioned but I'll give you my take.

1. Any killifish pair. Gardneri killifish are a great starter and beautiful!

2. Any of the rasboras. I love the emerald green rasboras but any of the small ones will do!

3. Cherry shrimp. Or any neocaradina. You could even pair them with a small fish.

4. Celestrial Pearl danios. Small danio with great patterns.

5. Endlers. If you want to breed fish. Endlers are the easiest for this.

Honorable mention. I think you would enjoy the pea puffers or the ricefish as well! 

[Dwayne Brown]

Thanks @Aquatic Journal, I was considering the killifish but when I have looked none of my LFS have any. I have actually bred some endlers livebearers and given most away. Part of the reason why I want the ricefish is I want to try breeding some egg laying fish. And I read ricefish are some of the easiest and that they wont eat there young.  Have you had any experience with breeding Killifish? also about how many should if I was considering them should I get for a 5 gallon? 

 

Thanks

[anewbie]

On 7/10/2021 at 7:06 PM, Dwayne Brown said:

@anewbieI was also considering one of the smaller tetras or rasboras for my 5 gallon. and was actually going to add the chilli rasbora to the poll but I read that there diets are super specialized. 

Just make sure you get one of the less active ones. I'm not familiar with chili rasbora behavior (i have galaxy and kubotai); the galaxy don't swim an enormous amount but the kubotai would require a larger tank as they are very very active (even though they are the smaller of the two). The ember are not very active - and tend to just sit around looking pretty. About the most activity i can get out of them is when i put food in and they rush to the other side of the tank to eat 😉

 

[Dwayne Brown]

@anewbie Weird question but what do you feed your galaxy rasboras? Just wanted to know in case I decided to get some.

[anewbie]

On 7/11/2021 at 1:37 PM, Dwayne Brown said:

@anewbie Weird question but what do you feed your galaxy rasboras? Just wanted to know in case I decided to get some.

Just tetra flakes - they aren't picky eaters. I actually mix a couple of different brands of flakes into a small container (tetra, spirulina and omega-one). I've lost a few the past year - not sure when probably when i first go them - but over the past 12 months i've not lost any of the kubotai. I suspect when i first go the galaxy the kribs ate a few - the tank is hard to see if the fish makes a decision to hide in the back so it is hard to keep count of folks who don't come up front to eat - i swore i lost one of my rosy fin but it was just hidden - here is a picture of the tank - see if you can find the lemon bn cave:

 

[Dwayne Brown]

@anewbieBeautiful tank, by the way what's the reddish plant in the far right corner.

[anewbie]

On 7/12/2021 at 9:50 AM, Dwayne Brown said:

@anewbieBeautiful tank, by the way what's the reddish plant in the far right corner.

Rotala 'Vietnam H'Ra'. I find it needs strong light and co2 to turn bright red - here is some floating near the top:

[Perry]

If it were me I'd do something little so I could have a good number. I've got some chili rasboras in a 10g and they seem to have plenty of room. They are quite mellow and spend most of their time just 'chillin'; I bet you could keep 10-12 comfortably in a 5g. In terms of feeding I haven't found that they need anything particularly special ... it just needs to be small. I use the co-op fry food and finely crushed flake as well as frozen baby brine and frozen cyclops. If you wanted to try some shrimp you'd have plenty of room for some of those as well. My chilis don't eat anything off the ground so if they miss it on the way down it's nice to have some shrimp or snails down there to clean it up. Enjoy whatever you choose!

[Ragnarok12]

I always disagree with people who say a five gallon is too small to keep a lot of fish. All of those fish could comfortably work in a five gallon. Sure, I would love a 5 bedroom house on 6 acres of land, but I can also live happily in a studio apartment in the right conditions.

I would 100% go for micro rasboras. I have 7 kubotai in my planted Spec V right now with shrimp and a crayfish, and everyone is thriving. I would actually go up to 9 or 10 kubotai if I could find a few more. 10-12 chili rasboras would be absolutely perfect in a five gallon aquarium. I feed my kubotai crushed up Extreme krill flakes and the Coop fry food and they couldn't be happier. Here is a picture of my tank for reference

 

[Dwayne Brown]

@Ragnarok1200 I agree with you on the premise that a 5 gallon to small. In my opinion it comes down to the sociability, size, and active behavior of fish as well as your water changes. I was going to ask, your profile picture is a killifish. Have you had any good experiences with them? After the suggestion of some of the forum members I think I might try to buy some live orange australe or gardeneri killifish or buy the eggs of some annual ones. 

[Ragnarok12]

No experience yet, but I put up a picture of what as my profile pic so that I remind myself of how much I want to try them out! It a goal fish that I want to try to breed but I don't have the setup for it yet. One of these days I'll get around to it.

[Chloe and Speckles]

If you're not planning on interacting with your fish, I'd definitely recommend against a betta. I was very surprised when it was evident that the betta I got wanted attention from me just like a dog or a cat would. He swims up to the glass when I'm there all the time, and most of the time it's not feeding time. He follows my finger, and is really curious and looks at different objects I show him. He'll swim through my fingers and gently peck at them if I put my hand in the tank. Nowhere I researched seemed to tell people just how interactive bettas are, at least for mine I feel like he's more of a pet than what you would typically think of a fish as. I only know about bettas, I don't know about any other species of fish, but if you're setting up your aquarium and don't plan on making an effort to interact or play with your fish, I highly recommend not getting a betta.