I need help with choosing my fish

[AndyFish]

So, I have a 5 gallon tank and i don't know what kind of fish to put in the tank. I was looking for cool fish but don't really know what fish would be good in this tank, i currently have to small goldfish to test the aquarium before i get other fish can people please help me.

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to the AC.

A 5G tank is small, so your options are limited as far as fish stocking goes, but there are ones that will work....unfortunately, gold fish aren't one of them, their bioload is very large and the get much too big for a tank this size.

We need to know what your water parameters are, ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, and ph...gh and kh would be good to know as well...you need a good liquid test kit, get one of these: https://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?id=580

Also, read as much info as you can in the Beginner section of this forum...pay CLOSE attention to the "stickies" on CYCLING your tank...until your tank is cycled, you won't have much luck keeping fish alive.

Good luck, fishkeeping is great fun, but you need to know the basics to be successful.

[Rocksor]

once cycled, only a single betta or shrimp would work in a 5g

[Slaphppy7]

I think with adequate filtration, a small group of nano fish would be fine, as well...I've done it before

It's just a bit more difficult to keep water params stable in such a small tank, but it's doable

That being said, for a beginner, a betta or shrimp may be the best way to go

[AndyFish]

The ones i bought at the pet store were small and were only 14c my bad that i wasn't specific enough sry

[Slaphppy7]

Probably feeder fish...but they still aren't appropriate for that size tank, sorry to say.

[Taurus]

You need to google fresh water nano fish for a bit of research after cycling your tank and testing your water parameters.

[SueD]

If you remove the goldfish, a couple of suggestions for that tank might be:

rosy tetras - 8-10 OR
endler guppies - males only - 10-12 OR
regular fancy guppies - males only - 3-4 OR
chili rasboras - 8-10 OR
boraras urophthalmoides - 8-10

You could also then add some red cherry shrimp, which would breed, or 2 amano shrimp which would not bred.

There are other nano shrimp as someone mentioned that you could research.

[mermaidwannabe]

Would White Cloud Minnows work, if there aren't too many of them and they're the only fish in there, along with, perhaps, some Red Cherry Shrimp? Is your tank heated? If so, you have more options. Do research it -- you may have more choices than you think.

Ditch the goldies -- rehome them or sell them to an LFS.

[OnTheFly]

The betta or nano fish is very sound advice. I'll go against the grain here a bit and tell you you can have a couple small non-schooling fish not normally considered nano when adults. You can keep a couple fancy guppies if you are willing to do the work. That means you change out a gallon of water most every day. It takes one minute if you have a gallon jug sitting out and coming up to room temp for the next change. Guppies are a good fish to learn fish keeping. They definitely belong in a larger tank, but I've keep a few in 5Gs many times with constant maintenance.

The gang is not nixing your goldfish idea just to be difficult. It might work for a few weeks but they are going to foul the water fast. Not to mention even small feeders will physically outgrow the tank in a month or two.