My little brothers five gallon tank

[megastri]

My little brother won two goldfish from the carnival and it sparked his interest to get tropical fish. His goldfish didn't last very long so those are not included into the tank

Our LFS told him that he could have

(2) swordtails male and female
Kuhli loaches
(3-4) shrimp.

In my opinion that wouldn't work at all but of course he doesn't listen to my advice and would like to hear it from someone else

also anyone who has any advice about what would be appropriate for his 5 gallon would be greatly appreciated.

[aquandrew]

a betta is pretty much it ghost shrimp too but platies and kuhli loaches need at least 10 gallons

[aquandrew]

i mean swordtails not platies and 10 g would still be on the small side for those fish. he could do a betta and shrimp but sometimes the betta will eat them

[megastri]

Would it be okay for him to keep them for now until we can get an upgrade for him. The swordtails are considerably small for now and he never sees his kuhli loaches.
Would a few guppies be okay for the tank?

[QueenKiara]

The only thing on that list that would work is the shrimp. Swordtails require at the very least a 20 gallon tank, as they are very active. Also, with one male and one female, the male would harass the female to death.
Khuli loaches require at least a 30 gallon tank, and are extremely social, requiring at least 6 in a group of them, but the more the better.
Options for his tank would be:
Option one: One Betta, with 5 shrimp if the betta doesn't kill them.
Option two: One Honey Gourami with 5 shrimp.
Option three: One Sparkling Gourami with 5 shrimp.
The most appropriate of these would be the Betta, but the others would work as well. Do not listen to most store employees, as they are trying to sell you fish, and don't know what they're talking about.
Also, is his tank properly cycled?

[aquandrew]

some people put two guppies into a 5 gallon but i personally wouldnt. my 5.5s have bettas and the new one will have a pea puffer. they probably will live but you should upgrade asap. get a 20 long from petco before their sale ends and youll be able to keep all of these fish together happily in a community. and kuhli loaches do best in groups of 5 of more and will come out more.

[QueenKiara]

I wouldn't put guppies in a 5G either. They're schooling fish and need bigger groups than would fit in a 5.

[megastri]

His tank was cycled. We did the "dirty bomb" method. Where we squeezed a dirty filter and let it cycle through this tank. Also his tank is not planted but there are a vairity of fake plants in there as he did not want to take care of the plants.

He said at first when he put them in there they kept separate and now it looks like the male is "guarding" the female.

From everything else I have read that's not "cute" behavior.

I told him to keep an eye on them.

[QueenKiara]

If you get a bigger tank, get more female swordtails, or take the swordtails back. That male will stress her out until she dies.

[Scottyhorse]

Originally Posted by Shiverrz

I wouldn't put guppies in a 5G either. They're schooling fish and need bigger groups than would fit in a 5.

They aren't schooling fish. They ARE social fish, so a couple male guppies with nothing else would fit in the tank.

[megastri]

Originally Posted by Shiverrz

I wouldn't put guppies in a 5G either. They're schooling fish and need bigger groups than would fit in a 5.

Thank you very much. Your advice has been very helpful. I thought it was a bad idea. But I definitely don't know everything. I seemed to be a very trustworthy store since my mom and her partner have been getting fish from there for years and know the owner very well.

However the owner of the store did not tell him that it was okay for him to have those fish. he said a few guppies would be fine or a beta. I asked one of this employees in his absence and this employee said that his tank set up should be fine. And to do water changes once a month.

[QueenKiara]

Originally Posted by Scottyhorse

They aren't schooling fish. They ARE social fish, so a couple male guppies with nothing else would fit in the tank.

My guppies are always following each other around, so I just assumed. Thank you for the clarification, though. It would fit, but I don't think I would do it.

[megastri]

Originally Posted by Scottyhorse

They aren't schooling fish. They ARE social fish, so a couple male guppies with nothing else would fit in the tank.

I thought they were pretty social fish myself.

The owner of the store said he could have two or three guppies in there

But I didn't know if having so many males would cause aggression.

[megastri]

Could he have a couple nano fish. They have plenty of those at the store. They stay very very tiny their whole life. Maybe a school of those?

[QueenKiara]

Originally Posted by megastri

Thank you very much. Your advice has been very helpful. I thought it was a bad idea. But I definitely don't know everything. I seemed to be a very trustworthy store since my mom and her partner have been getting fish from there for years and know the owner very well.

However the owner of the store did not tell him that it was okay for him to have those fish. he said a few guppies would be fine or a beta. I asked one of this employees in his absence and this employee said that his tank set up should be fine. And to do water changes once a month.

Of course, I'm happy to help. (:
He should definitely be doing water changes weekly, if not bi-weekly with that bio-load. At least 50% a week, or 30% twice a week would be much better.

[Scottyhorse]

Originally Posted by megastri

Could he have a couple nano fish. They have plenty of those at the store. They stay very very tiny their whole life. Maybe a school of those?

Depends on the nano fish you are talking about...

[QueenKiara]

Most male guppies get along fine, as long as there are no females. If you have females, it should have 1:2 M:F ratio, or even more females, and you'll have plenty of babies.
It depends on the fish, some small fish need bigger tanks because of their swimming habits. Some fish are a lot more active and need more swimming room. But it could work. You should probably stick to 3-4 of them though.

[megastri]

Originally Posted by Scottyhorse

Depends on the nano fish you are talking about...

Well do you have any recommendations for nano fish?

[Scottyhorse]

Chili Rasboras are fairly common and pretty.

Betta's are always awesome.

A sparkling gourami, but feeding can be a bit tricky.

A few male endlers are nice, too.

Shrimp are fun and easy.

[Platiesareawesome]

Originally Posted by megastri

Well do you have any recommendations for nano fish?

Celestial pearl danios and ember tetras.