Too Many Fish/General Care?

[Xplorer4x4]

I have a 1.5 gallon tank that had 3 Glow Fish and noticed the other day the water getting muggy so I was planning to change the water this weekend. My girlfriend went to feed them later in the day and we found one of the three floating at the top. :( So the next morning I went to feed the remaining two and noticed one was in bad shape, but he looked to be alive still. I grabbed the holding cup we use during tank cleaning and immediately scooped up some water from the tank into the cup putting the remaining two in the cup, but I was to late :( So we were down to one fish. Now I know the tag at walmart said best in schools of 5 or more so we figured we would get a few more to keep the lonely female happy. We planned to get 2-3 more, but the girl at Petsmart said it was going to be to many fish for such a small aquarium and in reality it was only big enough for one fish. So to get to my first question, is 3-5 Glow Fish to many for such a small tank?

Secondly, I am trying to garner advice on how I should clean out the take? Usually I take it to the bathroom and dump all the old water out. Then run it under the tub faucet about 2-3 times until the water is sparkling clean, I then let the clean water and the solution to remove chlorine and such sit for about 2 hours since its such a small tank. Then proceed to hold the cup in the water for a minute and then submerge it letting the old tank water mix with the new as to provide some some bacteria and so forth.

Third if theres room to expand I was thinking of adding maybe adding a bottom feeder or two to help space out tank cleanings as it gets dirty so quickly. Perhaps something else would be better like something that will eat on the algae and such?

Should I consider some live plants as well as we currently have a cave decoration and 2 plastic plants in the aquarium?

Thanks for your time. Hope I didnt ramble to much but just trying to get better educated as to avoid more premature deaths.

[Macawpower58]

I'd say yes a 1.5 gallon tank is way too small for 5 or even 3 fish. That size bowl is only fit for a small goldfish (temporarily) or a betta.

[kaitlin]

it sounds to me the fish were in the little cup much to long.. did you make sure the water was room temperature? do you have a filter? a light? a heater? for glofish heater's aren't necessary, though they do jsut fine with them.. honestly, i'd say 3 glofish are fine in a 1.5 so long as you keep it plenty clean.. my boyfriend keeps 6 in his 5 gallon tank, they've been there for months now, with no problem,try doing partial water changes so the good bacteria produced from a cylced tank isn't drained.. petsmart and maybe even walmart sell mini gravel vacums, they will help clean.. i wouldn't add any bottom feeder to your set up now, maybe a snail if you'd really like. also, we suggest at the store i work at, either groups of 3 or more. especially if they're the only fish in the tank, 3 should be just fine.

[CKelly976]

A buddy of mine breeds fish (and has actually won awards for his breeding and cross breeding) his advice to me was 1 fish per gallon of water, and if its a large fish it needs more water space than that.

I have a ten gallon tank and generally keep one or two very small catfish, and I have two goldfish and one of those little $7 neon pink fish. AND I generally try to keep a snail in there although any of the big ones I've gotten died and the smaller ones turned into 35.

but I would think a 1.5 gallon tank is too small for more than one fish.

[Xplorer4x4]

I'd say yes a 1.5 gallon tank is way too small for 5 or even 3 fish. That size bowl is only fit for a small goldfish (temporarily) or a betta.
Thanks for your feedback.

it sounds to me the fish were in the little cup much to long.. did you make sure the water was room temperature? do you have a filter? a light? a heater? for glofish heater's aren't necessary, though they do jsut fine with them.. honestly, i'd say 3 glofish are fine in a 1.5 so long as you keep it plenty clean.. my boyfriend keeps 6 in his 5 gallon tank, they've been there for months now, with no problem,try doing partial water changes so the good bacteria produced from a cylced tank isn't drained.. petsmart and maybe even walmart sell mini gravel vacums, they will help clean.. i wouldn't add any bottom feeder to your set up now, maybe a snail if you'd really like. also, we suggest at the store i work at, either groups of 3 or more. especially if they're the only fish in the tank, 3 should be just fine.
The fish usually arent in the cup for more then 2 hours.

I dont know that the water was room temp but they didnt die after the transfer to the cup or the tank. They survived one water change fine, and died just prior to the second water change. Water changes were done about every 2 weeks.

The tank is lit up very nicely. It has a built in lamp that hangs over the top with 9 blue LEDs. It does include a Tetra Whisper 1-3 Internal filter. I did not replace it during the initial water change so that would have helped contribute to the environment.

I just dont understand how stores can have 20-30 of them in a 5 gallon tank and they do just fine.

A buddy of mine breeds fish (and has actually won awards for his breeding and cross breeding) his advice to me was 1 fish per gallon of water, and if its a large fish it needs more water space than that.

I have a ten gallon tank and generally keep one or two very small catfish, and I have two goldfish and one of those little $7 neon pink fish. AND I generally try to keep a snail in there although any of the big ones I've gotten died and the smaller ones turned into 35.

but I would think a 1.5 gallon tank is too small for more than one fish.
Well these are pretty small fish. Id say an inch or so.

Thank you all for the feedback. I appreciate it very much.

[kaitlin]

the thing with fish, just being in that cup for two hours, the water temp will vary greatly.. that stress alone could kill them.. and they do fine in fish stores because a, theyre not usually there long and b the dead/sick ones are scooped out asap.

[Hunna]

Glow fish are harder to keep than most fish. You might want to try a "hardier" fish for your tank.

Also, those lil 1.5 gallon tanks are very hard to keep clean. A 10 gallon, tho it sounds harder, is actually easier to upkeep as the filters and such are soo much better. And then you can get a heater, which the glow fishes need.

Oh, and when you to clean out the tank, do you put an air stone in the water cup with the fish?

[CKelly976]

right well so were all the fish in my tank, They still need space at least a gallon, more if they are large fish. I've also had two or three of those little tanks and the only fish that lived was the one that was by itself. also with regular cleaning feeding water checking etc.

and one of my current fish is a glow fish, I've had no problems with him, and his brothers lived for quite a while too, with at least 1 gallon of water per fish, these are what my friend breeds and cross breeds and actually used to make an new breed of fish out of.

they need space.

[catlady2006]

I have one female betta & a golden apple snail(new addition as of yesterday, his name is Sheldon. I have 1.5 gallon tank & don't plan on getting more fish for the tank 'cause there isn't enough room. You want more fish you should invest in a larger tank. As for me Suzie & Sheldon are enough. Considering I'm a single mom on disability,with one daughter, two cats & a spider plant to take care of.

[CKelly976]

lol at the spider plant, I can't keep those plants alive for nothing! I have so many indoor plants I have no room for more, all of them look great, my outdoor flower gardens surprised me with how wonderful they are and some how the darn spider plants always die on me.

African violets too. I wish you luck with your plant!

[catlady2006]

I've had my spider plant for three years now & its doing quite well. At first the cats chewed on it, but I sprayed the plant with bitter apple spray & squirted them with a squirt gun when they got too curious. It only took them a few weeks to learn that it Mommy's plant & to leave it alone. Morris he goes out on a leash & harness almost every nice day we have. We live in northern Michigan & soon it will be too cold & nasty for him to go out. He loves to just sit there & eat the grass.

[D.Oxips]

hah, thats what I want to do sometimes too, getting part time jobs to lecture and instruct employees the proper way to care for fish. But im only 15.ha