Which Small Fish For A Fluval Edge Tank?

[craigieboy01]

I'm looking to buy a Fluval edge tank as the wife is not to happy about having any kind of fish tank, i have talked her into an Edge as they are small and look pretty good. I had a tropical set up when i was a lot younger, so kinda know the basics, i was looking for advice for buying some nice colourful small fish and quantities? Thank you

 

[arobinson1984]

There is not many fish at all that can fit and live happily in a fluval edge to be honest.

The tank is 23L which is roughly 6 US gallons. I think your best bet would be:

1 male siamese fighting fish (betta)
Shrimp

Andy

 

[kelly528]

Bettas are iffy... there's like no surface area for them to get air.

I have always thought that some microrasboras or dwarf tetras would look simply stunning in this high-impact setup. Endler's livebearers or guppies would also work. Here is a list of microrasboras:

-Boraras briggitae
-Boraras merah
-Boraras micros
-Boraras maculatus

(You will need to order them from a specialty aquarium store, which isn't as much or a stretch as you might think. Not since Google Maps was invented lol.)

In the meantime, I strongly recommend this book for you:

Mini Aquariums: A Guide to Succesful Nano Aquariums Proper Setup, Maintenance and Species Selection
by David E. Boruchowitz
TFH Publications 2008

Try ordering it at a library or bookstore. It's a fabulous book with legit information.

 

[aly_starh]

I agree with Kelly, bettas are not suitable for that tank, a member on this forum was in a similar situation. There is not enugh gap in the surface for the betta to breathe.

 

[craigieboy01]

Bettas are iffy... there's like no surface area for them to get air.

I have always thought that some microrasboras or dwarf tetras would look simply stunning in this high-impact setup. Endler's livebearers or guppies would also work. Here is a list of microrasboras:

-Boraras briggitae
-Boraras merah
-Boraras micros
-Boraras maculatus

(You will need to order them from a specialty aquarium store, which isn't as much or a stretch as you might think. Not since Google Maps was invented lol.)

In the meantime, I strongly recommend this book for you:

Mini Aquariums: A Guide to Succesful Nano Aquariums Proper Setup, Maintenance and Species Selection
by David E. Boruchowitz
TFH Publications 2008

Try ordering it at a library or bookstore. It's a fabulous book with legit information.

 

[craigieboy01]

Thanks a lot for the help, i'm going in to purchase the tank tommorrow and hopefully pick up the book to, so hopefully soon i will have it up and running. Thanks again

 

[kelly528]

Thanks a lot for the help, i'm going in to purchase the tank tommorrow and hopefully pick up the book to, so hopefully soon i will have it up and running. Thanks again

No problem! I also strongly suggest you read up on cycling this tank. In a 'cycled' tank, nitrifying bacteria are cultivated before the fish are added (it takes about a month to get a colony in your filter). They will break the ammonia into nitrIte, then nitrAte, which is considerably less toxic to fish and requires only about a weeky 20% cleaning to keep at safe levels.

Some people opt to skip the bacteria and simply give the tank thorough weekly 100% cleanings. After all, by cycling the tank you are basically making it dirty enough to attract bacteria so until the bacteria actually take over, the tank will have very high ammonia which is stressful to fish if you have added any before cycling.

An uncycled edge, however, seems like it would be very hard to clean so I would definitely do a fishless cycle before adding fish. You can read up on it in articles on this forum.

 

[craigieboy01]

Will definently take your advice about letting the tank do a fishless cycle, would hate to put my fish under any stress or risk losing any right away, want to give them the best chance in the best water conditions. Thanks again

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, our fishless cycling article in the BRC by rdd1952 is one of the best around and having the members here add to it by chatting with you as you go along, you will get some of the best tank startup advice possible. Small tanks can be pretty frustrating to start up and learn on as the water chemistry is less stable and the feedback is harder to read but at least the water is easier to change!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[kelly528]

Will definently take your advice about letting the tank do a fishless cycle, would hate to put my fish under any stress or risk losing any right away, want to give them the best chance in the best water conditions. Thanks again

Yeah lol escpescially if you order them, losing one will have you miffed!

 

[craigieboy01]

Yes, our fishless cycling article in the BRC by rdd1952 is one of the best around and having the members here add to it by chatting with you as you go along, you will get some of the best tank startup advice possible. Small tanks can be pretty frustrating to start up and learn on as the water chemistry is less stable and the feedback is harder to read but at least the water is easier to change!

~~waterdrop~~

Thank you, will check it out.

 

[ellena]

Endlers would probably give you the most bang for your buck in that small tank. Males only (females are big and dull) a small shoal would look awesome

 

[waterdrop]

That's a great suggestion ellena!

Oldman47's endlers

~~waterdrop~~

 

[AdAndrews]

I would plant it up and have 1x dwarf puffer with a group of ghost/tiger shrimps, maybe try an otto also.

 

[OldMan47]

Although endlers are small themselves, they will quickly over-populate a small tank. A mixed group of endlers is not really suitable for a small tank. An all male endler colony could work for that situation. If you wanted a mixed sex tank of small fish, I would instead recommend Heterandria formosa or even Xenophallus umbratilis, golden teddies. Neither of them will breed completely out of control like endlers but both will produce some surviving fry in small numbers and the adults are quite small themselves. I am keeping a breeding colony of each in their own 10 gallon tank and there is no excessive population pressure in either tank.