5 gallon tank stocking options

When stocking your five-gallon aquarium, be sure to avoid the offenders on this list!

10 Best Fish for a 5 Gallon Tank (Stocking Guide + Pictures) - Build Your Aquarium

There are a few fun fish and invertebrates that will do wonderfully in a tank of this size. However, just remember that you must cycle your tank! When going for dwarf crayfish, be sure to choose one of the smaller species such as Cambarellus diminutus and not the larger CPO Mexican dwarf crayfish. Many of these species can be combined as their bioload is relatively small. It depends on the individual fish whether they have a taste for these inverts or not.

Although your options when it comes to fish are limited, five-gallon aquariums are perfect as planted tanks. The species on the list of nano aquarium plants might prove helpful here! Setting up and maintaining a lovely green aquascape is not as difficult as many aquarists think and nothing will make your stock happier than a natural environment with plenty of hiding places. A well-maintained planted tank will really brighten up any room and bring a tiny piece of nature into your home.

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Even in such a limited amount of water, you can truly set up your own little ecosystem. The best way to stock nano tanks is still subject of a heated debate on many aquarium forums and websites. If you still have questions about stocking your five gallon aquarium or if you want to share your own experiences, be sure to leave a comment below. Happy fishkeeping!

Best Fish For A 5 Gallon Tank Stocking Ideas And Combinations You Can Use

I want to get a 5 gallon tank and stock with shrimp. Also, how many total shrimp should I have in the tank, and is there an ideal amount of each? I also wonder if you know of a good source of information regarding plant planning for the setup I am describing. Hi Mat! You can mix the ghost shrimp with both cherry and crystal shrimp, however, they have a tendency to eat offspring of other species. I would recommend picking one or the other and doing a species-only tank.

Remember that species of the same genus can interbreed, so avoid mixing similar shrimp! As for how many you can have in a 5 gallon tank, you can have a decent amount of any of them. Because of their high price, hobbyists usually buy shrimp and let them breed on their own.

5 Gallon Aquatop Aquarium Aquascape - Fun Stocking Ideas for a 5 Gallon Tank!

Can I put some nerite snails in a five gallon tan. Also what else would you recommend make tank is more tall then wide btw. Hi Philana! For a 5 gallon, I would get maybe nerite snails at the most. You want there to be enough natural algae for each one to have. The best stocking would probably be one betta fish with one nerite snail; being a tall tank, make sure that your betta is able to swim to the surface of the water without getting tired.

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The other option would be to make this tank a shrimp-dedicated setup. There are several types of shrimp, like Amano and cherry, that can completely bring an aquarium to life! You can also add live plants and watch the shrimp graze on algae. I was wondering in a 5 gallon tank instead of just having only one fish like a betta is there anyway I could have more than one fish in a tank and what fish would that be if possible? Hi Johnie! It will mostly be shrimp.

But, I would like to add either a dwarf crayfish, micro or pom pom crabs, and or nerite snails. Is there a combination where I can add two or more with the shrimp?


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I plan on having plenty of plants and hiding areas. I think the key to these tanks is simplicity but with diversity. I personally have not had good experience with crayfish, so I am a little biased and tend to favor shrimp-only planted nanos. A lot of people like to keep cherry shrimp with pom pom crabs, though there is always the chance that your crab could go for one of the shrimp. For a 5 gallon tank, I would go for maybe 2 crabs and maybe shrimp. Honestly, snails will probably come in on any plants you buy anyway, so I think that space would be more interesting with crabs and shrimp instead.

I hope this helped! Happy crab-keeping! Could someone clear this up? Sorry that is a little confusing! If you have questions about a specific species, I can help even more. I have a five-gallon tank that I am wanting to use for betta. I have read else wear that you can have snails and betta together, and the snails help with bio cycling.

Would this work? In a five gallon you could consider a nerite snail or an assassin snail, since their bioload is not so big. Hi- I have a 5 gallon marineland tank. I currently have an Amano shrimp and an olive horned Nerite snail in there. I have 2 Marimo balls and 3 other plants in the tank. Can you recommend some fish that would be good in this particular set up. I love the nano fish and have thought about a betta- but I would like some other ideas. I want something active and colorful. Thanks in advance. What I would do personally is actually some Cambarellus diminutus, texanus or one of the other mini species.

They are actually more fun than a fish would be in many cases with their silly antics. Additionally, aside from the species on this list there are no fish that can be kept in a tank this size in my opinion. Hello Mari. Thank you for this very insightful article. I currently have a 5 gallon with a RCS, nerite snail and ramshorn snail, but am planning to add least killifish and some Thai micro crab. How much of these animals on the list can I ideally stock while keeping all of the animals healthy and thriving? I wanted to ideally add more RCS as well and possibly the dwarf crayfish. Thank you again!

I think with your current plan you might be overstocking the tank a little. I would skip the fish here and stock it with RCS, the crabs and the snails. Hi again! If my nerite snail moves out could that possibly give more room for the micros along with the RCS? Plants help but you still really have to watch your stocking plan since things can go south so quickly in small set-ups. Snails especially produce quite a bit of waste.

Happened to me after I removed plants. Also just one last favor that i need, i was wondering if you could maybe do a caresheet for the killifish and also what is in your opinion the best tank to get. Thank you!!! They like having some swimming room. Also, if I get 2 to 3 killifish how many shrimp or cray fish can I put in as well. What other kinds of shrimp can I put in that are ok but attractive.

10 Best Fish for a 5 Gallon Tank (Stocking Guide + Pictures)

Thank you. Not really.

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You do water changes based on your water values. Have you gotten a liquid aquarium test kit yet? If they get above ish, do a water change and see how the nitrates respond. Try to keep them at 10 or under. Does that make sense? Seems like you are definitely on a roll with the aquariums.


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If you want more info about plants I definitely have plenty — this article is strictly about fish hence the lack of plant info. The list of nano plants might come in handy for you. I don't really know much about them though since I have never actually had a Mystery Snail before. I have been considering ADF , but I used to have them in a community tank when I was in high school and they weren't my favorite additions to the tank. I've been leaning more towards shrimp though, probably wild type neocaridina divaldi since they're pretty neat looking, and I think it would be interesting to try and colonize them into producing mutations like cherry reds.

Haven't decided yet I considered rolling with the snails, but this is my desk tank, so I don't want these bladder snails that snuck in. I've been pruning each one I find and don't plan on giving up without a fight. I will admit, I like snails, but I don't want a snail only tank Do people keep snail only tanks?