Making the best of a 5 gallon tank

[Mazain]

Yeah, after reading people's responses and doing some more research, I agree that a 5-gallon could be cruel for honey gourami. Do you think 5 is too small for scarlet badis? My main concern with them is that they're predators, and I'd really like to have shrimp/crabs.

I don't have the hardness for my college yet, unfortunately. I know that water around the school is pretty hard, but the water department says that they somehow soften water in the community I'll be living in on their website. I do have the ability to test water hardness, so am planning to just prepare for boiling water during changes or adding crushed coral depending on what tests say I need.

I got a school of 6 pencilfish they would fit in a 5 gallon tank. They got lateral lines on their bodies which draws your attention at any level when they school. Whitecloud mountain minnows would also be a good choice as they keep your tank free of algae. Your 5 gallon is definitely gona grow to a much larger tank once your done with college so happy fish keeping.

 

[Essjay]

Personally I wouldn't keep pencilfish or white clouds in a 5 gallon. They need a longer tank than a standard 5 gallon.

 

[Beastije]

I have time to chime in, after reading the whole thread. 5 gallon tanks are the most alluring and yet the most annoying, because the offer so little.
No to whiteclouds, pencilfish, gouramis ( be it sparkling or honey), and no to almost anything, sadly. Scarlet badis are not recommended for beginners because they need live food and they make such a mess when eating, like pea puffers, they almost always result in overfeeding, algae, issues with the tank
If you were to go the road of any shoalers, it would have to be the smallest of rasboras like the least one, and even so, group of 8 max and shrimp and keep rigorous water changing schedule, which would be harder to maintain.

As for Hara jerdoni, people here keep a trio in a 5 gallon, have it breeding, no problem, but you wont see the fish. This would result in the tank looking empty and you wanting to add something else to them. I would advise against it. Believe me, I know, I have a 5 gallon with bottom dwelling invisible fish and I have to bite my hand all the time to not add fish in.

While I have my clown killifish in a slightly larger tank, based on their interaction I would not see a problem keeping a trio of them in a five gallon, one male, two females. They are hardy, active, near the top so always visible, colorful and can handle the move ( i got mine shipped via post, they are hardy). Paired with a nice snail they could be a good tank choice for a five gallon

Regarding the thai microcrabs, you would have better luck with shrimp, every keeper reports they never see their crabs once added to a tank to their liking.

Have fun setting up, you have time to pick up the fish. Ofcourse betta is the obvious choice, given they live only one to three years, depending on their genetic setup and your feeding, and would solve the question of what to do with the fish once you finish school. There are some stunning koi ones avalable now and some of the fish have puppy like personalities. Some are assholes though ...

 

[Mazain]

Personally I wouldn't keep pencilfish or white clouds in a 5 gallon. They need a longer tank than a standard 5 gallon.

My pencil fish and whiteclouds are in a 100 gallon but they hardly school. Most of the time the pencilfish shoal near a log or a plant and whiteclouds shoal at the top middle of the tank close to the surface. These fish does fine with disolve oxygen circulation in a tank.

 

[Essjay]

These fish don't school unless they are stressed - for example if there's a large fish in the same tank big enough to eat them. But like all fish, they need to be able to swim and a standard 5 gallon tank just isn't long enough for them to be able to swim properly.

Very few fresh water fish school though many marine fish do. Once fresh water fish settle in a tank and are 'happy' they all go their own ways.

 

[Mazain]

These fish don't school unless they are stressed - for example if there's a large fish in the same tank big enough to eat them. But like all fish, they need to be able to swim and a standard 5 gallon tank just isn't long enough for them to be able to swim properly.

Very few fresh water fish school though many marine fish do. Once fresh water fish settle in a tank and are 'happy' they all go their own ways.

100% agreed. I was ref: about 2 fish in a 5 gallon, definitely not more than 2 as per the recommended rule for thumb.

 

[Essjay]

However, these fish are shoaling fish so they need a group. Recent research has shown that that shoaling fish do best in groups of at least 10. There's no way 10 pencilfish or 10 white clouds should be kept in 5 gallons.

This is the difficulty with 5 gallon tanks. Any fish kept in a tank must be suitable for the tank dimensions and shoaling fish should be kept in sufficient numbers. There are few fish which meet those requirements for 5 gallons.