fish for 5 gallon

Question
Hey Chris,  I'm putting a five gallon tank in my daughter's room.  It has a heater, filter, and light.  Looking to purchase freshwater fish (tropical?) ...prefer attractive and low maintenance.  Thought about a beta, but maybe a pair or two different species would be more fun.  Suggestions?  Obviously, I want to be careful about sufficient O2.  tks, shayne  

Answer
Hi Shayne;

You will want to start very slow and only add one or two small fish to get the tank through the break in period. Some hardy fish for a tank that size are platies, danios, cory cats, zebra danios, white clouds. They are all schooling fish and like to be in threes or more of their own kind.

You will need to know about the process called "New Tank Syndrome" too. Here is a link to my own article about it as well as others for you to take a peek at and help you with your new tank;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/fishcalc.htm

http://www.firsttankguide.net/capacity.php

http://aquariumhobbyist.com/articles/NewAquarium.html

http://www.bestfish.com/overfeed.html

http://www.firsttankguide.net/waterchange.php

If you decide to get a betta, keep in mind that the pretty ones with long fins are males and can sometimes be aggressive to small fish. You will not want to add a female betta to the tank. They can't live together all the time. Once they spawn he will try to kill her and all the others. Yikes!

Have fun and I hope all goes well...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins