lilswimmer

I'm thinking about getting some glow fish for my 5 gallon tank. I know I need to get 6. Would that size tank be ok for them? Also, does anyone know of any good articles I can read on them? I didn't find any on this site. Thanks!

sirdarksol

Glo danios are similar to zebra danios. They were originally developed to show pollution in water. The idea was that they would fluoresce when stressed, and very little stresses zebra danios, so only really bad areas of waste would cause them to fluoresce. Because they are really brightly colored, it is unlikely that they would disturb an ecosystem, as they wouldn't last long enough to breed.
Care should be the same as for zebra danios. Unfortunately, a 5g isn't big enough for a school of them. A 10g is the minimum size you'd want, and a 20g would be better.

FL CommunityFans

Glofish is the site detailing the Glofish. ^ of them in a 5gallon wouldn't be ideal, simply because they like to swim around. If it were a long tank, you could get away with it because they aren't worried about depth really, just surface area. Since 6 wouldn't be ideal, I'd recommend against them because, personally, I feel that's the least you can get away with in the tank and have them be happy.

COBettaCouple

I think a 15g tank would be the smallest tank that I'd put glofish in.

lilswimmer

Thanks for the great information! I guess golfish are out. Is my only option for a 5 gallon tank a betta? Do you think a combination of gold and cherry barbs would work?

sirdarksol

Barbs can be aggressive in groups smaller than 6. They aren't always, though. I have had a barb that only had two glassfish to school with, and it did not attack anything.

One oddity that can go in a 5g would be a dwarf puffer. The dwarf puffer (which is the only freshwater puffer that would fit) can live in tiny, tiny tanks, but it absolutely, positively must live alone. If it has tank mates, it will hurt them. It may take weeks or months, but eventually it will feel hungry enough to take a bite of a tank mate, no matter how big the other fish is.

Unfortunately, there are very few small fish that don't school. Schooling is the best way for small fish to survive predation, so it's a pretty common trait.

Barbrella

Although both are very peaceful and even timid (cherry barbs) you can't keep them in a 5 gallon tank. They need room, especially the Gold barbs, which grow considerably larger than cherries.

You could keep a school of Galaxy Rasboras or dwarf rainbows in that tank.

Blub

lilswimmer

Cool. I think I'm going to try the dwarf puffer. That sounds like a fun little fish. Thanks for all your suggestions!

Blub