5 Gallon Fish Tank - Is It Too Small?

Even though you can get a 5 gallon fish tank from from most pet stores, you have to ask yourself is it the best thing for you to do.

The advantage of a 5 gallon fish tank is that it's small - so you'll have no trouble finding a place for it in your apartment, it's inexpensive, and requires little maintenance.

Many believe that a 5 gallon fish tank is makes good starter tank for a beginner just getting into the hobby but others feel that this size tank is too small for anything useful.

The disadvantages of a 5 gallon fish tank are quite a few. The small size of the tank limits how many fish you can have. It also limits the size of the fish that you can have (in fact some experts recommend a limit of 1 fish per 5 gallons of water). It's much harder to keep clean than a larger sized tank and it has to be cleaned more often - for the health of the fish. This small of a tank is definitely too small for any type of saltwater fish, so you're limited in stocking it with fresh water species. You have practically no room for scenery, rocks, driftwood, etc.

In addition to the above problems, a 5 gallon fish tank is so small that if you put any decent sized fish in there at all, you will likely have water pollution problems primarily due to waste from the fish. Their waste will produce so much ammonia that you'll be constantly having to test water quality and change water. Believe me, it will get tiresome very quickly. But if you don't constantly monitor the water, the water will become polluted and the fish will die. Although you can get filters for a 5 gallon tank, remember that it's taking up more room in the tank giving the fist even less room to roam around.

And finally, small tanks like the 5 gallon fish tank are especially susceptible to temperature fluctuations which can bring great discomfort to the inhabitants of the tank when the temperature gets out of their comfort range. And sure, you can buy a heater, but again, since small tanks are susceptible to temp changes, now you face the prospect of overheating the tank.

Many people don't realize just how tiny this size of tank is. But, if you are determined to get a 5 gallon fish tank, you'll have to do some research to figure out which species of fish it might be suitable for. Promising choices are mollys, tetras, guppies, and some bettas. If uncertain, ask your fish store proprietor and he can usually point you n the right direction. Also, snails are a great addition to a 5 gallon fish tank as they will eat much of the algae thus keeping it under control and and help to keep the water purified.

Even though a five gallon fish tank is not especially recommended for any fish, this size tank can, however, make an excellent quarantine tank in which you can put your new fish while waiting to see if they are sick or not.

Setting Up Salt Water Tanks
Salt water tanks are interesting mainly for the large variety of fish that are available to stock them with. And this is what draws many people to marine or salt water fish, even though they are harder to care for than freshwater species.

Deciding On Your Fish Tank Decor
One of the most fun parts of setting up an aquarium is determining the fish tank decor that will be used to house the fish.