Best 5 Gallon Fish Tank In 2022: [Perfect Startup Kits For Beginners?]

Every fish enthusiast has to start from something right? If you’re willing to start a new life being an aquatic life enthusiast, then you should start having a fish tank right away. Some might suggest you have a big fish tank to enjoy aquatic life to the fullest.

But what I will suggest is that you should start with a small fish tank. It should be a 5 gallon tank. Let’s find the best 5 gallon fish tank for you.

Looking for an aquarium might seem an easy job. But what we don’t do is that judge every penny before spending it. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of money.

Nowadays, even an aquarium can have a lot of different things to offer. So, before buying one 5 gallon fish tank, try to know about everything it has to offer.

But now, who has time? Who has the time enough to take themselves to an aquarium shop and buy one? Let’s make your work easy. Let’s find out which 5 gallon aquarium kit is best for you.

Which 5 Gallon Fish Tank Is Best For You?

You will peace in nothing else like watching your fishes swimming across your aquarium. So, it’s very important to buy the perfect tank available in the market.

To be honest, the internet is right now the most viable place to find a solution to anything. If you wish to buy a good aquarium, you should read the characteristics beforehand.

To make your work easy, I have listed 7 best 5 gallon fish tanks for you to buy. You can buy any of these listed ones and be completely satisfied. That’s the cause of writing such an elaborate review.

At the very end of this article, you will be able to identify which 5 gallon fish tank is best for you and I will also provide a verdict of which aquarium is the best among these 7 listed ones –

How To Choose A 5 Gallon Aquarium?

First of all, you have o be sure that the aquarium you’re buying, stays intact for a long time. Because no one wants to spend several times in a short period. Fish tanks are mainly built with two types of particle. Acrylic and glass are them.

Glass made fish tanks are heavier than usual. Acrylic is actually a glass by product but cheaper in price. It’s absolutely shocking that acrylic made fish tanks cost more than the glass tanks. But the glass made fish tanks are quite durable.

Acrylic costs more because it looks better and has better finishing. But the look factor is barely noticeable one’s you put the fishes in. So it’s your personal choice whether to go with acrylic or glass.

Acrylic tanks usually leak due to the poor build quality. Also, they are not at all scratch resistant. On the other hand, glass made fish tanks almost never leak and have a scratch-resistant exterior. So, there are quite many reasons why you should go for a glass tank rather than the acrylic one.

Due to the newer generation aquarium manufacturers, most of the fish tanks come with a temperature controlling system. Why temperature control is important? Usually, in the nature fishes live in a sun-exposed environment.

And also, pond and natural fish homes have such opportunities that fishes can go as deep as necessary because every layer of a pond has different sets of temperatures during the daylight.

So, a temperature control system is necessary to provide your fishes the optimal temperature they used to live in. Otherwise, the fishes may die. So, having a temperature control system is very important. It should include at least thermometer, thermostat and heater.

Ponds usually have a naturally balanced system where bacteria live there and consume by-products created from the waste of the fishes and other living creatures. Fishes thus don’t get harmed from the harmful things that live in the water. But in an aquarium, there is no bacteria, nor any natural process.

Some fish tanks nowadays come with a filtration system that helps the fishes to survive as they used to survive in a natural aquarium. So, having a filter system is very important for fishes to survive. Filtration helps the fishes to be healthy.

One last thing is the LED lights. Fish tanks now come with different types of lighting systems. These lighting systems make the fish tanks more displayable and pleasurable. You can buy an aquarium durable enough and set all the necessary things. If you can buy an aquarium that has all the necessary accessories, why would you buy everything separately, right?

Now, start looking for the specs given above, you’ll be able to decide which aquarium is the best one for you.

Top 7 Best 5 Gallon Fish Tanks Reviews

1. Marineland Portrait Glass LED Aquarium Kit

The idea before was that glass made aquariums looked prehistoric and Acrylic fish tanks give you the modern vibe. But making this idea lost its base is the Marineland Portrait Glass LED aquarium kit. This one currently is the most stylish and updated 5 gallon aquarium kit applicable for all sorts of aquatic life lovers.

It has a curved glass design. The best part about this aquarium is that it has a very easy maintenance process and every type of fish liver loves to have it. The filtration and lighting system completely gives you the idea of an advanced aquatic lover whereas you have just bought your new fish tanks.

It has the complex look that makes it completely look advance than its maintenance process. As we can say, you can pretend to be long term fish enthusiast without even breaking a sweat.

Features:

• Lighting System: The lighting system is actually two steps. It has a white and blue light. The white LED light gives a shimmering vibe to water. Usually, aquarium water doesn’t move but the white light will make it seem like the water is moving. The blue light is all about giving it a moonlit night vibe. So, both the lights do their part of the job, making your fish tank and yourself look good.
• Filtration System: The filter system is also great. It works from the back panel. It’s hidden behind the back panel. So, you don’t require any separate filtration kit like other fish tanks. It works in three stage process. It uses a Rite-Z cartridge and Bio-Foam to partake a 3 step advance level filtration and make the water pure in all mechanical, biological and chemical aspects.
• Design: Unlike usual, it has a curved glass design with a compact body structure. Making it look absolutely state of the art was the objective take by Marineland and they nailed it. They made the absolutely brilliant looking aquarium. It applied for both a modern home and office. It’s made with glass, giving it better durability and less scratching on the surface of the body. Thus it looks new for a long time.
• Usability: Due to the advance look and the advanced system, it might seem quite hard to handle for the new aquarium owners. But to be honest it has one of the easiest maintenance processes of all. Once you buy it, you will understand why it’s easy.

2. Fluval Spec Aquarium Kit

Ask for a durable one, you will get suggested the Fluval Spec V aquarium kit. Why? Because it literally has the best build quality. FLuval Spec has an aluminum frame and it is glass made. The frame keeps the glass build steady. The foundation of a fish tank can never be nearly as strong as this one. Due to the aluminum frame, it might be a little heavier and heavy price. But it’s totally worth it because Fluval is one of the biggest aquatic brands

Features:

• Built Quality: Hand down, you can’t find another aquarium with similar build quality unless you’re buying the same one. Fluval Spec aquarium kit has absolutely the best build among all other 5 gallon tank If you wish to make it a one-time investment for a long time and keep using this aquarium in probable future, then this is the best buy for you.
• Filtration System: The filtration system is almost similar to the previous Marineland Portrait Glass LED one. Only the best part is that it comes with a filter media from Fluval. And Fluval literally makes the best filtration kits for any aquarium. The foam block captures the little dirty particles. The activated carbon removes harmful chemical toxins, odors, impurities, and discolorations. The BioMax ceramic to maintain the best biological filtration.
• Lighting System: Fluval Spec has an overhead LED lighting system with 37 powerful LED lights. Gives the best color vibe as possible to the 5 gallon fish tank. Nowadays, looking good can be the best feature of an aquarium, and this one looks absolutely stunning.
• Plant Growth: Some people are actually underwater plant enthusiast rather than keeping fishes. The lighting system and the filtration are not only best for the fishes but also are best for growing aquatic plants. So, in this 5 gallon fish tank, you can keep your fishes, snails, and shrimps and also grow aquatic plants.

3. Marina LED Aquarium Kit

For starters, the best-suggested aquarium is Marina LED Aquarium Kit. Some people don’t know that just having a fish tank and fishes is not enough. You need a lot of different accessories to make sure your fishes are okay. This is suggested for new aquarium owners because it has all the necessary materials to raise fishes.

So, if you’re a new fish lover, you should definitely get this one. Because the Marina LED Aquarium Kit is actually very helpful to have all the necessary accessories to raise a fish at once.

Features:

• Filtration System: The quiet and powerful hand on the back filtration system is actually the most attractive option in this kit. It filters very efficiently and it does biological filtration and removes nitrogenous toxins in the water and provides your fishes a clean and healthy habitat.
• Design: The design is very well and glass-made. The glass is scratch resistant and it is quite durable. The canopy has small holes for you to feed the fishes. There are places for you to fix the filter and temperature control device which you have to buy separately.
• LED Lighting: You can grow plants alongside fishes in this fish tank. LED lighting is only good for plants with low lights. But it is actually a great accessory. The lighting gives your aquarium a gloomy but classy look.
• Water Conditioner With most aquarium kits, you have to buy several things known as the accessories. But this kit comes with all the necessary accessories. One of them is the water conditioner. It conditions the water and makes it suitable for both aquatic plants and fishes.

4. Penn Plax Curved Corner Glass Aquarium Kit

Penn Plax didn’t quite go into the looks but still, it’s considered one of the best 5 gallon aquarium kit. It’s made with one curved glass with no frames at all. It’s a frameless all glass fish tank also with glass base and canopy. It is very basic looking.

Usually like other fish tanks, you can never find the best feature with bare eyes. You have to understand the features by seeing the use of it. It has an internal filtration system. The filtration system keeps the water clean and healthy.

Features:

• Build Design: The design might not look astounding but it quite is. It is actually one of the most eye soothing designs. You will not find another aquarium that has an edgeless glass design without a frame. The without frame may be of an issue to people because they might think it’s not that durable. It’s made this way because the glass is very thick and it can hold itself without a frame. So, it is actually very durable.
• Filtration System: The tank has an internal filtration system with an adjustable flow rate. The cascade filter contains a black sponge that lets bacteria grow on it and kill the harmful debris.
• Lighting System: The tank has an over the top clip-on LED lighting system. It has a protective plastic top that keeps the light safe from the steam of the tank water.
• Usability: The usability and maintenance of the fish tank have made it one of the most famous one. It is actually very easy going for maintenance. You can easily keep the tank clean and also the filtration system is easy to clean once in a while.

5. GloFish 5 Gallon Crescent Aquarium Kit

Not all acrylic fish tanks are bad. Some of the Acrylic-made fish tanks are good. Among them, the GloFish Crescent aquarium kit is one to mark.

Designed especially for GloFishes, if you’re planning on having GloFishes at home or at your office this is the best tank to have. The lighting makes the fluorescent of the fishes, absolutely mystical.

Features:

• Filtration System: Whisper(R) internal filtration and medium Whisper® Bio-Bag® cartridge is not that efficient in case of the filters nowadays. But for certain fishes, it does the job. This tank has been specified for some specific types of fishes so the filtration is actually enough.
• Types of Fishes to Keep: These fishes basically are chosen by absolutely everyone, so why not this tank? The fishes those are best fit for this tank Zebra fish, Tetra, Tiger Barb. These fishes are available in different colors like red, orange, green, pink, blue, purple, etc.
• LED lighting: LED lighting is the best in class. The lighting is meant to be the most attractive feature of this fish tank. That’s why the Blue LED light is very dedicated.

6. Hagen Fluval Chi Aquarium Kit

It is actually a very unique looking fish tank. It has a lid that contains the LED lights. The lid makes the fish tank look different than others. The model name given by Fluval is Chi. Chi inspires a happy and healthy life. It helps to stimulate the essence of life. Upholds the idea of giving pleasure.

The design is inspired by the idea of chi the fish tank contains everything except the water temperature controlling device. Let’s read full features.

Features: 

• Build Quality: The build quality is actually good. It does not have a frame but the glasses are stuck to each other with very strong water-resistant glue. It is holding the whole thing. According to several reviews, people have been using this for a long time and still, it’s good as new. They said it depends on how frequently you are cleaning the tank.
• Water Purifier: The kit contains a filtration system or should I say water purifier. It can be called a water purifier because it actually keeps the water inside the tank sparkling clear and clean for the fishes.
• Lighting System: There are 17 LED lights and one of them stays up permanently giving the fish tank a very bright look even in the darkest of rooms.

7. Aqueon LED MiniBow Aquarium Starter Kits

The most unique feature that you may not find in most other fish tanks is that you can keep several types of fishes in this one fish tank. There’s a divider for several fishes to put at one place. You can keep even different types of aquatic animals in one fish tank.

This tank has a very unique design too. Unlike most, it’s not square or rectangular in shape. It has curvy edges that make it look more than just a fish tank. It has the traditional Aqueon filtration device installed and proper LED lighting.

Features:

• Energy Efficient Lighting: Almost every fish tank has a lighting system included. They are not quite efficient on the basis of energy. But these LED light on this fish tank does the job of bright lighting and saves a lot of money.
• Filtration System: It has the Aqueon QuietFlow filtration system which works with Aqueon small filter cartridges. They require change once in a while but work pretty well.
• Design and Build Quality: The design and the build quality are top of the line. It’s made with curved thick glass and the base of the tank is elevated. It has a compact size you can keep it pretty much everywhere.

How To Setup a 5 Gallon Fish Tank

Let’s watch a video to demonstrate how you can set up your 5 gallon aquarium. Just for inspiration, no hard rules here!

What Can You Keep in A 5 Gallon Aquarium

Though your options are not limitless due to the size constrains, they are not much limited either. Probably the most common and easy to maintain species would be a betta fish for your 5 gallon fish tank. A single male betta fish would be very much happy to have the whole betta tank for itself and flourish. You can put some tank mates for the betta fish as well, like snails, amano shrimp or a few fast moving neon tetras. Just don’t put more than one betta fish or both the male and female betta fish in the same tank and you are good to go.

Another excellent option would be keeping only shrimps. Start with a small colony of 5-10 cherry shrimp and in no time you will see hundred of them! Shrimps are always active and visually pleasing. Don’t put betta fish with shrimps either for obvious reasons!

Final Thoughts

These are the Best 5 gallon fish tanks available in today’s market. It’s time for the verdict. If you have noticed the same things as me, you will surely know which one is the best one on the list.

As 5 gallon tank is usually bought by new aquatic lovers, I have to determine which is usable by both veterans and new aquarium buyers. So I have to select one fish tank that is advanced but usability is the easiest. Keeping every bit of feature in mind, the best one in this list is the best seller Marineland Portrait Glass LED Aquarium Kit.

It’s actually the best one, you can compare the features on every fish tank and determine which one is the best one for you. You’ll surely see that Marineland has the best one to offer. So, don’t be late to buy the best 5 gallon fish tank for you today.