I'm looking for suggestions other than betta fish, shrimp and snails as i am not really interested in them.

Then, unfortunately, you'll want to start a larger tank. Really. 5.5 gallons/21 liters, depending upon dimensions, limits what you can keep. It's inhumane to keep most species in such a small volume of water.

If you plant well, you could potentially house a single Pea Puffer. But you will need to maintain cultures of live food for them and be prepared to take terrific care of your tank. Could also consider a small number of Heterandria formosa.

Some may recommend Dario dario but they really do best in a larger volume of water. Same goes for Endlers and Guppies.

If you put in some effort by going through the Tank Journals section here and using the search function, you'll be able to find a ton of journals of people with similarly-sized tanks. That could help you come up with livestock and plant ideas. Seeing actual photos is also nice.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply, i appreciate it!

 

If you provide dimensions for your tank (Length x Width x Height), that will help a lot.

And if you have photos of your setup, that will also help others come up with recommendations and tips. There are some small bottom dwellers that could work well, depending upon dimensions.

 

Sure!
Dimensions are 36x22x26 cm (14.17x8.6x10.2 inches)
And here is a picture

Main reason i asked here is because there are very popular youtube channels that mention you can keep small fish like endlers, boraras, tetras in a tank like this but online i see a lot of opinions like yours above mentioning that the volume is too small to keep a school of them. Also a popular online bio load calculator doesn't really recommend most fish for my setup.
As a potential newbie fishkeeper i find all these conflicting opinions somewhat confusing which is why i posted here really.

 

I like small tank, with lot plants.
If you have open tank you can try grow emersed plant.

 

Thank you!
Yes, even though it has a glass lid the plan is to grow the ludwigia out of the tank from the lid's openings to get that nice red color

 

The question of what you can keep in that size tank is one of personal comfort. Guppies or endlers or microrasbora probably won’t die just from being in that size tank. So can you technically keep them? Sure.

Will they show undue aggression towards each other because of stress? Succumb to illness more easily? Exhibit less natural behavior because they have no room to stake out territories? Have shorter lifespans? Maybe. Probably. Who knows.

Are people gonna show you pics of their setups where they insist the fish are doing amazingly and spawning and everything? Absolutely. Some people manage to make these things work. And some just pretend to, for this is The Internet.

Which brings us to YouTube channels. Keep in mind the great majority of them care far more about the cool visuals than about the quality of life of their fish. Also, most of them keep tearing up and setting up new tanks over and over because new content is their bread and butter. So they’re not interested in setup longevity etc. just gotta look good for the camera.

So yeah. What can you keep in the 5g? Anything that physically fits. How long will it thrive in there? That’s the real question. We tell you what can live there definitely and comfortably. For anything else... it’s down to your own sense of gambling luck I guess.

 

Thank you for the detailed post!

So yeah. What can you keep in the 5g? Anything that physically fits. How long will it thrive in there? That’s the real question. We tell you what can live there definitely and comfortably. For anything else... it’s down to your own sense of gambling luck I guess.

I wouldn't want something in there just surviving, i'd want it to have a better life than me honestly 😅. So i take it your suggestions are the usual betta/shrimp/snails?

Which brings us to YouTube channels. Keep in mind the great majority of them care far more about the cool visuals than about the quality of life of their fish. Also, most of them keep tearing up and setting up new tanks over and over because new content is their bread and butter. So they’re not interested in setup longevity etc. just gotta look good for the camera.

We are probably taking about different channels. Don't know if this goes against the rules but i wasn't referring to a channel like MD or other aquascapers but channels like Aquarium Co-op or Prime Time Aquatics which seem to be well accepted by the community and do not really post stuff for the camera. Why would they suggest such fish for small tanks? So that you go buy their fish? Their tanks ? Their tiny hob filters? Why would the same guy tell you that there are similar products to his and you should buy whichever one you want. Why wouldn't they tell you fish wouldn't live their happiest lives in there because it's too small a place? Just to make another video for the algorithm?Like you i am also raising questions because in the end who really knows.

Anyway it seems that most people on forums agree that you should only put a Betta fish there and some people on YouTube suggest other fish. I think this thread is really valuable to new fishkeepers because all these conflicting views only lead to confusion.Someone posts a video of a betta in a 2.5 gallon and everyone roasts them in the comments saying the space is too small and the fish is miserable. Someone posts a video of 6 ember tetras i a 5 gallon and nobody complains.

 

I think that some aquascaper understand nothing of biology.
Aquarium with fish and plants required a balance. If you want to be free to restrictions make a chose.
Betta required close tank with float plants.
Small snails or some shrimp limit.
I had a 3 gallon tank fo some year, isn't easy to handle, 26 gallon more to easy.
You have a nice tank, plantacquarium is the right direction.

 

I got a tank of a similar size a few days ago. Initially, I thought I would have some fish in it. The more I read the more I realised it was going to be a bad idea for me to do that, and not suited to my skills and interests. There's going to be a range of complexities that I want to realise and overcome. I don't want to put the animals at risk, I want to create and maintain a safe and stable environment. The animals should be able to thrive and go through their life cycles. Potentially breed and perpetuate. As a beginner, I need to play it safe. This size of tank is like what I imagined I might have received as a birthday present as a kid. Instead of a kid's tank, I'm thinking of what I can create that develops my skills from complete beginner to first tank owner.

 

if i want a 5 gal. or 10 gal. how many fish in theses tanks as far as white cloud minnows, guppies male and female,halin ras. , neon tet. and 1 nerite snail. they say at least 6 of each of these fish i really like guppies. can you give me stocking ideas

 

What I have successfully done in my planted 5.5 gallon is:
2 male endlers
3 male shrimp