Hello, I am new here and need some help. I have always had coldwater fish but for a change am now going to get tropical. I only have a small 10L tank at the moment (Elite Cool 10L), how many fish can I get and which ones would be best? I'd love a Dwarf Frog and my husband wants a Clownfish, would they be ok?
Jules

This post has been edited by JulesyBaby1983: May 30 2008, 11:10 AM

10 litres is a bit more than 2 gallons. There is really not much you could do in tropical or coldwater with a tank of that size, you could have:

1 betta
2 african dwarf frogs but maybe the frogs is pushing it

there is no way a clownfish of any sort will fit in a 2 gallon tank, i'd say your only option is a betta

orange shark

10l is a very small tank and you will be massively limited in what you can keep in there. Do you have a filter and a heater for this tank? Clown fish as in Nemo are not suitable for a normal tropical tank, they need brackish water which is a whole new ball game and not something you'll be able to do in your 10l i'm afraid.

hey, welcome to fishkeeping!

First, read the thread about fishless cycling, this will prepare your tank for fish, by growing essential bacteria in the filter which will handle your fishwaste.

http://www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

Dont know anything about frogs myself, however clownfish are marine (salt water) and not suitable for a freshwater set up.


sorry just noticed you said 10L not 10Gal

This post has been edited by gaz gun man: May 30 2008, 11:18 AM

replied in your other thread Jules

hi there and welcome to the forum and to tropical fishkeeping.

there's a critical problem there to start off work, frogs are freshwater, clownfish are marine (saltwater) fish. They're very different and there's abs9olutley no way you can have both in the same tank.

I'd advise you to stick to freshwater tropicals to start off with, the saltwater is a lot more money and a lot of work, it can be done by beginners but it's generally best to start out with trops which are a bit easier then you can get a marine tank once you've a bit more experience.

The 10l tank is really very very small, there's not a lot of fish which are suitable for it, also very small tanks are very unstable so they're hard work to look after. However that being said the tank would be OK for a single dwarf frog if you really want to keep one. But If you want more variety and a community tank you should be looking at something quite a bit bigger. 100litres is a good size to start off with, easy to manage and with enough room to get a good variety of fish.

You'll need to cycle the tank before adding any fish, there's two links in my sig 'what's cycling' and 'fishless cycling' those will explain the process to you and what you need to do. Have a read of them and then ask us any specific questions you have.

Yeah, 10 L is going to limit you to a small amount of fish, and marine fishlike clowns are kinda out of the question. You also need to think about the filter, maybe for you an external one would be better because you wont hav much room for one inside the tank!

Also, if you read around this forum a bit you can learn a lot about the hobby. I'm new and i've learnt so much on here! So keep an eye open for topics that might help you out.

Agreed. (with all of the above!) (good morning MW )

I remember seeing the Elite Cool 10L in the shop when I went to buy my first tropical tank. I remember it being called a "Goldfish Aquarium", which is all it is suitable for keeping I'm afraid. I don't know if the "cool" in the name is supposed to be an indication it is designed for coldwater only or not, but I don't think it is suitable for any tropical fish. I'm sorry but if you want tropical fish I really think you need a new tank.

I looked into getting frogs myself, and if you only want a small tank you'll be happy to know that African Dwarf Frogs aren't a bad choice. But try to look for one that has lots of floorspace, i.e. not a tall thin one, or a globe shape. And it should be the biggest one you can look after/fit in your house/afford. Absolute minimum is 30L and more if you actually want some fish with the frogs.

Yeah, tbh I think you'd be better off keeping the 10 L for goldfish and getting a bigger tank for tropicals, a good size to sart with is 10 gal i think.

I know how small the tank is but we are very limited on space!! We were told by the man who sold the tank to us at the Fisheries that it would be suitable for 4-5 small tropical fish. We wanted to start small as we have a young son who wants to be part of looking after the fish. We were thinking of one Barb, two Tetras and possibly a ADF. Is that too many?
Jules

10l is in no way suitable for a goldfish, they got to a foot long!!!! these tanks are only suitable for the smallestt of trops and even then are very hard to maintain.

I'm really sorry Jules but the man in the shop just wanted to make a sale. the tanks nowhere near suitable for those fish.

I can appreciate you may be short on space (i live in a 1 bedroom terrace, i can sympathise for sure!) but just something a little bigger, even if you only go up to 35litres that would be more manageable.

it's great to encourage your son to get into the hobby, but think it's much better to teach him how to care for animals properly than to just make do and have the fish in poor conditions, just think how upset he'd be if his fish became deformed or died as a result of being in this small tank.

Barbs need to be in groups of 6+ and need a tank of around 100l, tetra's again need to be in a group, you could have some in a 60l tank or there abouts.

Really in this small tank one ADF and maybe a shrimp is all there's room for.




morning hun, hows the cycle today?! lol

How big is you Elite Cool 10L? In terms of the maximum width, length and height I mean.
I remember that tank well because it is such stupid tank . Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't it bow inwards at the front? Then don't the sides taper inwards towards the back, so although it is say 30cm (guess) at the front it is much smaller at the back? This basically means that you lose lots of volume yet you still need the same size space to house the tank as you need to accommodate its widest point.

My point is this. For a 30L tank you would need 35cm(L)x25cm(W)x35cm(H) or thereabouts. On a sensible tank there wouldn't be much in the way of excess width and length to add on this (just a couple of cm), and maximum 10cm for the lid (I doubt height is the problem with fitting it in your house anyway). I really think that the Elite Cool 10L is about this size (less a couple of centimetres) anyway. It's just because it's such a silly shape that it has a small volume. Measure it and see for yourself. But I only think you'd need a few cms more for a 30L tank, in which you could keep a few happy frogs at least.

I think you should take the Elite Cool back to the guy who mis-sold it to you and get a simple-looking 30L tank.

This post has been edited by davefish: May 30 2008, 01:28 PM

That is such a good point!! I think I will measure the space the tank takes up and see if I can get a rectangular one with a larger volume but not much bigger in wigdth/height/depth. Thanks for the advice!!

yes very very good point, that's definatley the best option so far!

Very happy to help . I hope you can find one to fit. I'm sure you won't regret getting a bigger one. Good luck

So which are the best fish to put with ADFs? I have read that Bettas, Platies, Mollies, Swordtails, Tetras, Corycats & Dwarf Gouramis are good - any comments on these or suggestions of others? We'd also like a Bala Shark but how big do they usually get?
Jules

all of the first group of fish you mentioned will work with the frogs if you get a bigger tank. bala sharks grow to about 14 inches and need to be in groups. you would need a tank up in the 100's of gallons.