Uh, what size is that tank? You definitely need to clean it already. The smaller your tank, the more often you have to do water changes. When I had my 10 gal I did 10% water changes every week. At this rate, your fish stand a good chance to get ammonia poisoning and die. You'll need to test the water to see what the levels are at. If you don't have an in home test kit, then you should probably get one. Otherwise, most petstores that sell fish are more than happy to test your water for you. Plus, the tank definitely looks too small for them. I can't tell what type of fish they are (it's been a couple of years since I had my tanks), but the general rule is 1 inch of fish requires 1 gallon of water.

Also, it's not really a good idea to bring ornaments from nature into your tank. No matter how well you think you've cleaned it. Usually there are people who put live plants and such into their tanks, but they are experienced fish keepers.

Lastly, I suggest researching the housing requirements for the fish you have. The tank itself is incredibly bare decoration wise, and silk plants are usually safer for fish with bigger fins.

I used to keep two tanks with bettas in them. A 10 gallon and a 5 gallon. Keeping fish is incredibly fun, but it does require more work than people think.

i'm new w/ this so i have little or no idea ,beside it's a 5 gallon ....water level?...all right

i see so nothing from nature i guess...

silk plants got it O-o

yeah i know what you mean! =3 ,but seems sucky that i can't decorated w/ some of the stuff i have...

:) Don't feel too bad. When I first started keeping fish, I had a three spot gourami in a 2 gallon tank. The kind people from a fish keeping forum pointed out that they needed at least a 20 gallon tank per fish. Oops. Luckily, someone adopted her straight away and put her in a proper tank.

Your tank is definitely too small for the fish you have. I'm guessing they're rosy barbs or goldfish? If you can still return them to where you got them, some excellent fish to start off with would be some neon tetras. They would be perfectly suited for a 5 gallon. Small, bright, colorful, and incredibly hardy. Or you could get a male betta, or three female bettas.

If not, then just keep your water changed. I'd still remain on a once a week schedule for a five gallon, and vacuum out the gravel every so often.

i see O-o.........

well i can't return them now...but doesn't a fish grow base on the environment around them (or the amount of water there is)? i see it only takes around 4 days and fish tank is still dirty well like the picture...either way let's avoid having to move the fishes out or getting new ones....

i see i will too bad i don't have a vacuum , beside the way i clean (after placing the fishes in a 1 gallon fish tank) i take out the gravel and clean it all by hand and while i'm there i usually clean (more like wipe) the fish tank from the inside , as well as try to wipe out any poop from the filter , then i place the gravel in a long w/ the decoration and design it how i want it , finally i place the whole thing back ,and take fill it w/ cold water (since gold fishes prefer the cold water , right?) afterward i place around 18-23 drops of Aqua safe for the wishes , then i place the fishes in a bag , and place the bag in the water for a while (to assure the temperature would be the same) then i take them out and place them in the fish tank.

Yes, your fish will have what's called stunting. Their bodies will not grow, but their internal organs will continue to grow. They will not last to their full life span in such a small tank.

Eee- Doing a clean out like that is very bad! There is bacteria in your tank that grows over an amount of time. This bacteria is the reason why some pet stores won't sell to you if you just set up your tank that day. The tank needs to "cycle" and grow these bacteria. This bacteria is very good in keeping your ammonia in good levels. Every time you take out your gravel and clean it, you are completely killing the bacteria that is beneficial to it. Doing only partial water changes lowers the ammonia levels while not killing the bacteria. They survive in your gravel.

Vacuuming your gravel out removes any excess feces while not completely killing the bloom.

Also, the reason you're having lots of feces and build up is because your tank is overstocked. If you have fish in a properly sized tank, this isn't as big of a problem.

Actually, here, let me give you this link:

http://www.petfish.net/kb/6/

Petfish.net is a great resource for people who are new to keeping fish. There are a ton of articles for people who are completely lost. I used it when I first started with my bettas. :) Hopefully it will help you along.