How many freshwater fish per gallon of water

You can also probably find some at a very fair price. Avoid the frilly, pretty fish right now. They are for later, when the tank is well-established.

You need a fish that is good to go at this point, and Danios are a perfect choice. Now that you're on your way, start testing the water with an aquarium water-testing kit of some kind. You can find all sorts, but I personally use the testing strips, which seem to do a nice job, and I love the convenience of using them. With an all-in-one test kit, you can monitor the water for these key components:.

Start right away and measure your water for these things weekly and write it down. Then, you can track the progress and decide when it's safe to add a few more fish. Basically, once your chemical levels get under control, you can add more fish, 2—3 at a time, until you think your fish have hit the 1 inch per gallon of water cap—after you have projected their final size, of course. Once you have done the work to cycle the aquarium, tested your water routinely, and have slowly added new fish, make sure you keep the tank running well.

Here are the recurring tasks that should be on your calendar to keep the aquarium in tip-top shape. Hopefully you have learned that, as important as how many fish you should put in your fish tank is, the method with which you add them is even more important.

The 1 inch to 1 gallon rule is an old rule of thumb, but it's not perfect. The best way to measure is to keep testing the water and to add fish slowly. Believe me, when you've hit a limit, your water test will show it quickly, but it's best to avoid that moment. Remember, cycle your tank, add just 2—3 fish to start, and test the water.

Most of all, be patient. You may want a fish tank full of fish, but in the long run, slow and steady will win the race. Make every fish count, because by caring for your water carefully, they should be in your tank for a long time. Good luck! If i were to get 7 white cloud mountain minnows, 6 Cory catfish, 5 Zebra danio, and 4 Neon tetra how big of a tank do you think i would need?

I am one of the new hobbyists and just doing my research. I am very interested and very excited. I have been in a bad car accident and it is the way my doctor wants me to keep my stress down.

I want an aquarium so bad, I love them. I read this article and it was educational and it had some good pictures. Not to mention, it was great advice. Great practical and sensible advice for prospective new fish owners. Great images too Similarly, territorial or aggressive fish like dwarf pufferfish will need to be left out as well. What you want are small, relatively inactive, and definitely non-aggressive fish.

All the species listed below will work in a gallon tank, either alone or as part of a community. They will also adapt to a range of water conditions, and none of these require any specialist care, such as the use of live foods. This should make them viable choices even for relatively inexperienced aquarists. The next question is how many small fish can you add to a gallon tank? Initially, aim for around one small fish per gallon of water, adding them in small groups every couple of weeks.

Once the aquarium is mature and your skills are honed, you should be able to keep two neon-tetra-size fish per gallon. This does rather depend on your fishkeeping skills and the quality of the filter. Look for a filter with a turnover of 40 to 60 gallons per hour, and perform percent water changes every week.

A nitrite test kit is also very useful, especially while your aquarium is being established. Use this to check the water quality at least once a week.

Small fish tend to be sensitive to poor water quality, so if you can, mature the aquarium using a fishless cycling method. Your retailer should have a variety of products that will help you do this.

Alternatively, take some mature filter media from an established filter and put it into the filter of your new aquarium. This will jump-start the biological filtration process, allowing you to add your first batch of fish right away. And so, with the above in mind, here are my picks for 10 livestock choices that can be properly kept happy and healthy in a well-maintained gallon aquarium.

Most small Corydoras species can be wedged into a gallon tank, but a couple of dwarf species really stand out as being ideal choices. They are busy little creatures and are a joy to watch. Like other Corydoras, they are schooling fish, so keep them in a group of six or more. Corydoras hastatus is even smaller, barely an inch long when fully grown, but what really sets it apart from most other corys is that it is a mid-water fish. If kept with larger fish, they tend to stay out of sight, hidden among the plants; but if their tankmates are of similar size, these adorable catfish will flutter all over the tank, often hovering in the current and twitching their fins and whiskers like strange little hummingbirds!

Corydoras pygmaeus is similar to C. Here are three fish guaranteed to catch the eye. Neon tetras Paracheirodon innesi are relatively inactive animals. This makes them a better choice for the small aquarium than similarly sized danios or minnows.

Neons mostly like to hang out under a bushy plant and just wait for some food to come drifting by. Cardinal tetras Paracheirodon axelrodi are similar to neons in shape and color, though a bit larger.

Glowlight tetras Hemigrammus erythrozonus are slightly larger than cardinals. They are basically transparent, but with a lovely copper-colored band running along the midline of the fish from nose to tail. Glowlights really earn their keep in tanks with a dark substrate and lots of plants. Adding a bit of blackwater extract to the water makes them look even better.

In fact, neons and cardinals also look their best in dark tanks that mimic the blackwater streams of their natural habitats. The sparkling gourami Trichopsis pumila is a jewel that lives up to its name, with brilliant blue spangles on a pinkish-brown body. They can be quite shy, but if kept in a peaceful tank away from nippy or aggressive fish, they will become much more outgoing. When kept in groups they are surprisingly noisy as well, making croaking and purring sounds that are presumably used as threats or to attract mates.

Definitely something to listen for! Alternatives to sparkling gouramis include honey gouramis Trichogaster chuna and female Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens. Dwarf gouramis Colisa lalia are best avoided, though.

The males tend to be rather aggressive, and in recent years, farmed fish have been plagued with a viral infection that causes lethargy, body sores, and eventually death. A number of different species of Pangio are sold as kuhli loaches, though the most commonly seen is probably Pangio kuhlii, a worm-like fish that is 3 to 4 inches long, with a pinkish-orange body ringed with thick chocolate-brown bands.

Their natural habitat is the leaf litter at the bottom of streams, where their coloring helps them to hide from predators. Again, this is not something we recommend, however, it is possible. Keeping fish in a one-gallon tank may seem easier to manage than with larger tanks, simply because of the size. Although it does have its perks, it might actually prove to be even more difficult.

Many beginners usually prefer to start small, to not go beyond their initial capabilities. And sometimes this proves to be a big mistake as beginners are not equipped with the skills needed to maintain fish in such a small environment.

The most important thing to note when keeping a small tank is to always be one step ahead. What this means is to always be prepared for something to go south, and quickly. It is also very important to choose livestock that is hardy enough and can withstand a certain amount of parameter fluctuations. Guppies are one species of fish that you can keep in a small tank. Guppies are a good choice because they are a small species that have proven over time that they can survive tough conditions.

While this does not necessarily mean we intend to torture the guppies, having them live in a small tank can be rather stressful. But you should note that you will not be able to house more than a pair of guppies in a 1-gallon tank.

The more guppies you house in a 1-gallon tank, the more likely the tank will crash and your guppies with it. Keeping a small tank clean will require more effort than with a larger tank — as it gets contaminated with waste matter very quickly. It is therefore highly recommended to have a water filter. Bettas are one of the hardiest species of fishes around. Fit for both beginners and experts, Betts generally require little care. It is entirely possible to keep a Betta in a 1-gallon aquarium.

In fact, quite a number of hobbyists who own multiple Bettas choose to keep them in a smaller aquarium because they do very well in smaller spaces, let us explain why. Bettas belong to a group of fish that possess a very special breathing apparatus called the labyrinth organ. This special organ enables them to take in oxygen from the surface above. They evolved to have such organs because of the environment in which they originate from, where most of the waters are usually stagnant and have a low oxygen content.

That said, however, they still require a certain level of care and should never be allowed to live in squalid conditions even though they might survive. Bettas however are extremely territorial fishes and should never be housed together. They are called that for good reason because males will fight to the death if put in close proximity of another male. They are also very disease resistant and can survive a wide range of water parameters, but that docent means you should neglect your maintenance schedule.

With proper care, the Betta is a wonderful fish to keep with a load of personality to boot. Neon Tetras are a small species of fish that originate from South America. Amongst all the fishes we talk about today, they will be one of the toughest to maintain in a 1-gallon tank.

The reason for the Neon Tetra in this list is mainly due to their size. Growing to a maximum of about 1 inch, they are a tiny fish that do not require much maintenance.

Well yes, they are tough to maintain because of their sensitivity to parameter fluctuations. However, if you have a robust filtration system and ensure a consistent maintenance schedule, they will do fine! Neon Tetras do not require any special care and should be housed in groups of 3 or more, due to their nature as schooling fish.

If you do intend to keep Neon Tetras in a small 1-gallon tank, make sure that you have no less than 3 fishes in the tank. A close relative of the guppy, the Endlers Live Bearer is slightly smaller in size and has almost the exact requirements as a guppy. They are a group of small fish that are not only hardy but beautiful as well. Growing to a maximum of 1.

This species however is slightly more aggressive than guppies and males tend to nip at other males. Females tend to grow slightly larger and can be kept together with males in the same tank. We recommend keeping a maximum of 3 of these fishes in a small 1-gallon tank to prevent overcrowding.