5 Gallon Tank Misinformation Printed Right On Aquarium Package

[taramare]

I needed to share this. I purchased a 5 gallon aquarium kit for my African dwarf frogs while I get their 10 gallon to cycle (again).
This photo is the side of the box, for the most part I am referring to the stocking guidelines. I am flabbergasted. How can they do this!?

 

[Fanatic]

Unfortunately, that's just a typical thing seen these days, as most pet stores and chain stores do not know how to properly set up a tank or care for the fish.

 

[Fisker]

The (sad) answer is pretty simple - if they were honest, they wouldn't make as much money.

If you start to throw a ton of accurate information onto the box of these small, cheap aquariums about what you can keep in it and the equipment you actually need, people won't want to buy them. Most people don't want just a betta or just a few community fish in their 10 gallon - they want the full community, plus some. Convincing these people to buy larger tanks for all their fish might help, but that's not an easy thing either, as space and money are both at a premium in many households. This is a huge oversimplification of what goes on, but the answer ends up always coming back to money.

That said, I've seen a lot of local stores actually do a good job of managing a business and giving good care to their fish. Care pamphlets, educating employees, not selling fish to people who obviously can't/won't take care of them, and trying to get people into things the right way. So I guess it's laziness on a lot of the large companies' part.

 

[Dch48]

Actually if you follow what they're saying to the letter, it's not bad. They are saying for the coldwater fish to not exceed 5 inches of TOTAL body length. That could work with very small specimens of the fish they are showing. The problem is that they won't stay small for very long.

For the tropicals, I would agree that 5 of the smaller types would work. Certainly not the Mollies, Plecos or sharks. Neons or other small tetras and rasboras could be fine.

I am not one who goes with all the "schooling" stuff. For example, I have seen a single Cory do very well for extended periods of time on more than one occasion. The same is true of Black Tetras, Cardinals, Zebra Danios, and many others.

They're just showing pictures of some unsuitable fish.The rest of the info about setup is not bad at all.

 

[Jellibeen]

I really wish beginner starter kits came
with good info on the nitrogen cycle and. a testing kit!