Is a 5 gallon tank possible?

enichols

New Member
Right now, I have a 5 gallon fluval spec. I had a green spotted puffer (I know, its brackish not saltwater, but close) in it and I'm pretty sure the tank was just to small for him. I'm going to add live sand and live rock and I've found a small protein skimmer that I'm going to put in there. The lighting in it is pretty poor but its right by a window. I also have an RO thingy and a 5 gallon container that I'm going to keep ready-to-go water in. I'm also setting up a quarantine tank.

Is it even possible to keep fish in a five gallon tank? I know people say you can keep gobies in it but I don't really like gobies. I also heard that you could keep a clownfish in a small tank (like 8-10 gallons) but more often than not, people recommend keeping them in a 30 gallon tank.

I'm open to any kind of tank, really, but I would prefer something with a fish. I just want something that will keep for longer than three months. Please feel free to give me any advice/recommendations or tell me that this is not possible; I am open to getting a larger tank.

Thanks in advanced!
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't put a any other kind of saltwater fish in a tank less than 10g besides a neon goby.

A reef tank in a gallon of water is entirely possible, sans fish.
 

RobP

Member
Go with like a 20 gallon tank which are very cheap but you would still be limited on the types an number of fish you could stock the tank with.
 

candaceswf

Administrator
I wouldn't recommend any fish in a 5 gallon, unless it's something extremely small like a neon goby like snakeblitz said.... now corals on the other hand don't need room to swim and be active so they would be perfectly fine in a tank that's only a few gallons. It's more difficult to keep the water chemistry stable with such a small tank, but with the skimmer and RO unit ready you shouldn't have too hard of a time keeping the stability
 

bang guy

Moderator
In addition to only being able to keep a small fish, the fish also must be docile. Neon Goby, Clown Goby, Barnacle Blenny, etc. The type of small fish that is usually perched and not swimming.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Neon gobies need 30g tanks according to my book. A yellow clown goby could go in a 5g.
 
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