54L tank advice

[ALAW]

Hi all wondering if you could all throw some advice my way.
Setting up a 54L aquarium and wanted to work a small community around having a single Betta as my 'feature fish.'
Was thinking of adding a small school of Neons but struggling to think what else I could put in there without overstocking.
I like Rasboras but I'm not keen on the bottom dwellers if I'm honest, any suggestions from more experienced fish keepers would be appreciated!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Bettas are best kept on their own. They have long fins and some fish will bite their fins. Some male Bettas get really agro and kill other fish in their tank.

If you want a male Betta, set up a 10 gallon tank for one and put a snail in with it.

 

[itiwhetu]

54g is a large tank. I don't like neons but love cardinals, I like black phantom tetras with cardinal tetras, to add to that, I like rasbora espei, With Hatchet fish on the top. Catfish look at pygmy cats. You can add a ghost knife fish for fun.

 

[seangee]

54g is a large tank. I don't like neons but love cardinals, I like black phantom tetras with cardinal tetras, to add to that, I like rasbora espei, With Hatchet fish on the top. Catfish look at pygmy cats. You can add a ghost knife fish for fun.

OP said 54 litres which is not a large tank.
Personally I would skip the betta and set up a nano community. Assuming you have soft water (likely in Leeds) you could look at species like ember tetra, chilli rasbora, pygmy cories (despite the name these are not bottom dwellers) or celestial pearl danio. All of these species do best in larger groups and will make a good display on their own without the need for a "feature fish".

 

[itiwhetu]

Sorry thought it was gallons.

 

[dmaccy]

If you're in Leeds check your pH before stocking. I'm in Leeds and our tap water is around 7.4 which limits which fish you can get, neons and ember tetras for example don't like that high pH. I have a shoal of flame tetras which are lovely to watch

 

[ALAW]

OP said 54 litres which is not a large tank.
Personally I would skip the betta and set up a nano community. Assuming you have soft water (likely in Leeds) you could look at species like ember tetra, chilli rasbora, pygmy cories (despite the name these are not bottom dwellers) or celestial pearl danio. All of these species do best in larger groups and will make a good display on their own without the need for a "feature fish".

Thanks for the advice, I considered having a few dwarf gourami instead of the fighter, they look just as good I reckon, I'm still doing a lot of reading up at the minute, I don't want to just dive straight in, I'd like to have bit of research under my belt, I realise I'm limited on variety in with the tank size, so trying to figure out a good mix, thanks a lot.

 

[seangee]

This is what 20 ember tetra look like. Tank was new so the plants had not grown in. They don't need a feature

Dwarf gourami are not advised because most of the fish in the trade have iridovirus which is untreatable https://www.myaquariumclub.com/dwarf-gourami-iridovirus-the-killer-untamed-10513.html
If you are determined on a centre piece and your water is suitable you could consider a pair of sparkling gourami

 

[Essjay]

GH is more important than pH.

Go to this page

Yorkshire Water - Check your water hardness

Providing essential water and waste water services is only the start of what we do. Find out where we are now and where we plan to be in 25 years time. Do you have hard water? Find out more about the water hardness in your area with Yorkshire Water. Water hardness is the measure of the...

www.yorkshirewater.com

Click on "check your water" and enter your postcode. That will give your hardness as mg/l calcium. Tell us that number.

 

[Colin_T]

Avoid dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) and all their colour forms because they can carry the gourami iridovirus and or TB.

There are other types of small gourami that are usually free of these diseases.