Shopping for the best small fish tank for your finned friends may sound like an easy enough task, but believe it or not, even investing in the most petite pad requires a little bit of background knowledge to make sure you're choosing one that will suit both your home and your fish. The good news is, we have everything you need to know right here to help you select the best fish tank for your water-based buddies.
One of the first things you'll want to consider is whether you plan on having a small or a large fish family. If you're confident that you only want somewhere in the vicinity of one to five fish, then a small fish tank is all you'll need to comfortably house your little school of fish. But, if you already have a feeling that you're going to want to add more finned friends to the party at some stage, we recommend you go straight for one of the best tropical fish tanks as these offer the space you'll need when you choose to expand.
If you decide a small fish tank is for you, it's worth bearing in mind that even a few fish still require plenty of room to swim about in - the last thing you want is anything too cramped as this will cause both their physical and mental health to suffer. For one or two fish, a three to five gallon tank is likely going to work well, but once you get past that number, you'll want to look at investing in an 8 to 10 gallon tank to make sure that each fish has enough space.
And it's not just the fish that need to fit in there either! You'll want to factor in enough room to add in a few of the best fish tank accessories. While we often think of toys and accessories as something we'd buy for dogs and cats, mental and physical stimulation and enrichment is equally important for our water-based buddies when it comes to keeping them happy and healthy.
Finally, while a small fish tank is clearly compact, don't let the petite size fool you into thinking you'll have less work on your hands than if you had a larger tank. It will still need the water changed regularly, the filter checked frequently, and a good clean every two to three weeks to ensure your fishy friends thrive.
To help you find the right homely habitat for your little ones, we've rounded up a selection of the best small fish tanks, with a variety of sizes to suit every budget. Let's take a look...
PetsRadar's pick of the best small fish tanks
Why you can trust PetsRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Sleek and elegant, MarineLand’s upright tank looks great wherever you put it. Five gallons isn’t a lot of water, but it’s enough for a thriving community of colorful fish as long as you stay on top of filtration and maintenance.
MarineLand’s tank contains a three-stage filter that uses replaceable activated carbon cartridges – you’ll go through one every month or so – and also comes with a Tetra submersible heater that’s pre-set to a suitable temperature.
The pack of three artificial plants that comes in the kit is enough to be starting off with, but you may find you want more to provide a complete-looking display. The back of the tank is black, so a wall of greenery that will push fish forward where you can see them best will look good. Thanks to the height of the tank, it’s possible to use taller aquarium plants, which can look especially attractive.
The tank sits on a sturdy plastic base, held in place by its own weight, and the front and sides are made from one piece of seamless glass. Lighting comes from blue and white LEDs, giving a natural shimmering look to the water as it circulates as well as a moonlit appearance if switched on at night.
One reason we like this tank so much is the ease with which the equipment can be accessed – a glass canopy slides toward the rear of the aquarium, opening it up for both feeding and maintenance. The only downside to this is that the filter compartment takes away 2” from an already small tank, and if you're using live plants then debris from these can collect around the filter, becoming hard to remove.
With its curved front and bright LED lights, Tetra’s Crescent will stand out wherever you place it. Moulded from one piece of acrylic, with a separate lid and base, the curving front enhances the visibility of your fish.
Inside, you get the popular Tetra Whisper power filter, but no heater is included. This is fine if you’re only going to keep room-temperature fish, but anyone who dreams of bright, tropical specimens will need to add a heater to bring the temperature up to around 77F.
The slim black cover contains the LED lights that are bright enough to encourage live plants to grow, but plastic plants will be equally at home. Their intensity sets off the colors of fish nicely too. There’s also an uncovered oval in the cover for feeding – cautious owners might want to cover this with a mesh panel to avoid jumping fish accidentally using it as an exit.
Filtration media comes in the form of disposable Bio-bags, which can be switched out easily enough from the black, cylindrical filter. They have a dual-sided mesh to catch floating debris, a layer of carbon to remove odors and discoloration, and incorporate Tetra’s Water Clarifier to prevent the buildup of particles in the water and on the glass. The Whisper filter is a popular choice, and if properly maintained will do its job with the minimum of noise.
This certainly isn't the cheapest small fish tank on the market, but it's definitely one of the best! If you're a fan of smart gadgets, investing in this habitat for your finned friends is well worth considering.
The color of the LED lights is fully adjustable via the app, so you can seamlessly change the scheme from red to yellow to green to purple at the push of a button. You'll find a mix of cool and warm colors, but no matter which one you choose, the light remains soft to prevent your fish from feeling any discomfort.
The aquarium filter works by using a combination of physical and biological filtration which improves the effect. The cotton filters do a great job of removing impurities and fish manure, improving the water quality and ensuring the fish tank remains a clean and healthy environment. It also generates abundant bubbles and water flow to provide sufficient oxygen for the fish.
We love that this fish tank comes with a dinosaur fossil and aquatic plants, so you have everything you need to get started. With a five gallon capacity, you'll find this tank ideal for betta fish, angelfish, and goldfish.
Betta fish are a popular choice for emergent fishkeepers, and due to their ability to breathe from the surface using an organ known as the labyrinth. The best-known of the genus is the beautiful Siamese fighting fish – only to be kept on its own or with carefully chosen tank mates – but there are many other bettas that don’t display the same level of ferocity.
The popular perception of bettas is that, because of their breathing habits, they can be kept in a small enclosure, but they thrive in five-gallon tanks such as this one. It’s worth noting that Bettas, as with many fish, require a water temperature of 76-81F, so if your room is cooler, look into a tank with a heater, or add one to this kit.
The tank itself is acrylic, but in contrast to the scratch-resistant materials available elsewhere this one is easily scratched. This isn’t an issue once the tank is set up, but can be during delivery. The tank ships in its own container for protection against scratches, but accidents happen. The curved front looks great once it is filled and lit, and the Aqueon power filter provided takes up little space.
Looking incredible on a shelf or desk, this Koller tank offers seven different colors of LED light and four transitions to show off your fish and really attract attention.
The design of this tank is so simple as to be an immediate winner – a simple rounded rectangle of acrylic, with no seams or sharp corners whatsoever. You can see the fish from any angle, as the power filter only takes up a small amount of space at the top of the tank’s rear.
This filter takes simple dual-sided cartridges that wrap activated carbon in a poly-fiber floss that strains out floating particles while the carbon takes care of water discoloration and odors. It’s worth noting that the filter is quite powerful, so anyone intending to keep long-fined or weak-swimming species might like to place a piece of mesh over the inlet to prevent fish being sucked inside.
That single-piece construction means the tank is more-or-less leakproof, and with the bright LEDs shining down makes the tank perfect for places where it might get a little knock now and then. As with all tanks, it’s not going to put up with repeated pummelling, but anyone considering a tank for a child’s room would do well to add this one to their list.
The lights can be changed to seven colors: amber, aqua, blue, green, purple, red, and white. They can be locked to a single shade, or set to cycle.
GloFish products may not be to everyone’s taste, designed as they are to display the almost garish colors of the company’s own line of extra-bright fish (bred with a fluorescence gene, they glow under the right lighting conditions). To this end, you get LED lights that emit the exact shade of blue necessary to set off a colorful display in the right fish, but which may not suit those sourced from elsewhere.
The kit itself is a nice one, however. The tank is a seamless acrylic design with a curved front that should show off its inhabitants to their best. The Tetra Whisper filter included is a popular model that will keep the water clear and is easy to service, dropping a new cartridge in every month or so and disposing of the old one.
GloFish makes plenty of products to accessorize your aquarium too, with plastic plants that will glow under its lights, ornaments, and even colored gravel to add some interest to the bottom of the tank. The lights themselves are neatly hidden in a slim black hood that should help reduce evaporation and protect from the heartbreaking danger of fish jumping to their doom.
Ideal for low-light environments or even as a night-light in a bedroom, the GloFish tanks are a unique experience.
If you're looking for a decent starter kit for your small family of finned friends, then this 8-gallon tank could be just the ticket. With a decorative 3D rockery mountain background, one 7W 110GPH internal power filter pump and one colored led aquarium light, you'll have everything you need to get going.
Ideal for the home or office, the curved glass design looks sleek and stylish and is suitable as a fresh water or salt water aquarium. It's easy to set up and maintain and requires no special stand with cushion pads on the bottom to prevent it from slipping and sliding about.
One word of caution though - if you want to use the power filter, you'll want to stick to fish longer than two inches as smaller fish may get sucked into the filter. The filter itself, while powerful, is super quiet and features a two-stage process that ensures the water in the tank stays clean and fresh.
If you're looking for a tank that's not too big, not too small, then the Aqueon LED Fish Aquarium Starter Kit is a great buy. At 10 gals, it's roomy enough to accommodate your finned friends, whilst still being fairly compact.
There's some fantastic features on here, including the addition of a preset heater, LED lighting and LED Pro Filter that flashes with a red light to let you know it's time to change the cartridge, but be aware that its higher flow rate might be too powerful for some types of fish.
What's particularly favorable about this tank is that it really includes everything you need to get started, minus the decorations you'll want to pick up as an extra to make the aquatic landscape truly interesting for your pets.
All in all, it's a decent tank for beginners, but experts may be inclined to look elsewhere and you may find yourself upgrading in a few years or so to a larger tank.
How to choose the best small fish tank
Once full of water, even the smallest fish tank can be surprisingly heavy, so make sure you are sitting it in a position that will be able to take the weight long-term. Tanks smaller than four or five gallons aren’t really worth considering, as they will not be able to give your fish the space and turnover of water they will need to live a happy life.
Modern curved-front tanks look great, those that are curved all the way around look even better, and the acrylic that makes these curves possible also means that they’re lighter when not filled.
It’s important not to over-stock your tanks, even if the water is churned up by a powerful filter, so try to stick to the old rule about having one inch of fish to one gallon of water, excluding tails. So in a five gallon tank, you can have five inch-long fish. Modern filtration may allow you to push this rule to its limit, but the more fish you have, the more important it is that you carry out regular maintenance to keep the water in top condition. Most cartridge-based filters expect you to change the cartridge every month, but this may drop to every two weeks if you’ve got a lot of messy fish.
