new 5 gallon hex

[lightning]

my daughter got a marineland 5 gallon hex tank for her birthday, she was rather impatent and wanted fish in there imediatly <and she just turned 16> well i got 20 feeder goldfish for $1.00, that gives her movement and will also cycle the tank, and after the tank is cycled i will take the goldfish out and feed them to the turtles,, not a bad deal.

now im trying to figure out some good comunity fish she can put in there that will have lots of color and movement, will probably stick to tetras, they have allways been easy to keep

 

[Abercrombie6202]

OKay i'd go with this

1. 3 guppies, 1 male 2 female, 2 cories, 1 otoclinus

2. 2 dwarf gourami's, 1 otoclinus, 2 cories

3. 1 male betta, 2 cories, 1 otoclinus

4. 6 small tetras, 1 otoclinus, small amount of food, it would be too much to have bottom feeders in there

5. mollies, platies, etc...

6. bumbleebee gobies

7. any small fish

Just don't overcrowd it

In my 5 gallon marineland hex, same as hers, i have 2 dwarf puffers, 2 dwarf frogs, and 3 ghost shrimp

 

[FroggyFox]

When I was little I had 5 zebra danios...thought they were the coolest little things! I suppose they're not that colorful, but definitely the most active and hardy fish I know of. They're a lot of fun.

I'd get some zebras and maybe some neons?

(btw good plan with the goldfish!)

 

[colesea]

Okay, no offense, but why would you cater to the whims of a 16 yr old? Dumping 20 feeder goldfish into the tank that can't support them just so they "die and cycle the tank" isn't doing very much to teach her responsible pet ownership. Those goldfish are going to ruin the water for any other fish by introducing disease and parasites. Second, when you do a water change after the last of the goldfish have died, you will be, in effect, restarting the whole cycle over again because you will have removed the water in which the bacteria was living. Third, the death of 20 goldfish will have the ammonia level spiked so high that a proper cycle would probably take a touch longer than normal because there is too much ammonia to cope with. If you put fish directly into the goldfish contaminated water, the ammonia left behind will be toxic to the new fish.

One of the first things I would do is before you get any other fish is ask yourself this:

Who's tank is it, yours or hers?

If she is going to be the primary caretaker of this tank, then you ought to get her a few aquarium keeping books before she can even comptemplate fish. Make purchasing the fish =her= responsiblity with her own money, that way she will apprieate their lives a little more when $40 of fish go belly up because she didn't care for them properly. Guide her choices, but don't make them for her, and insist that she can tell you at least three facts about the fish she's picked, and question whether or not she feels the habitat and the fish are matched properly.

If you are going to be the primary caretaker, read a few good aquarium books and pick fish from there that you've concluded with your best knowledgable judgment would be appropriate for a five gallon tank.

Fish deserve the same care and respect you'd give a puppy. And just like you wouldn't give your daughter the gift of a puppy out of the blue, please don't make this tank another sad story of neglect because you don't want to take care of it, and she doesn't have the time or interest in doing so because of other, more teenage, interests.

 

[lightning]

i guess in my opinion the feeder fish didnt matter, cause live or die they are turtle food anyway, i buy them just for that purpose, and so far not 1 fish has died and this is the 4th day they have been in there, this isnt a permanet home for these goldfish, they are food.. period.. and 20 dime size <including tail> goldfish in a 5 gallon tank is not overcrouded, but like i said, live or die, they get eatten regardless

 

[FroggyFox]

thats what I was thinkin you meant. not fancy goldfish...just those little feeders.