Advice For New Tank

[Beephnix]

Hi,

I've just bought a 60 litre (just over 15g) tank and am currently in the run-in process, stablilising the water etc. The tank has a filter, heater and lighting, as well as a lid.

I've spent the evening researching which fish to put in there (in a couple of weeks time). My initial hope was that I'd be able to have a puffer fish and a few other shoaling ones, but the store person suggested against it because of the aggressive nature of the puffers and said they could only be kept safely on their own. I don't really want to have just one fish in a 15 gallon tank, especially one that starts life at around an inch in size, so the puffer idea was scrapped. Since then, I've been trawling through the internet, trying to find a fish with some character, but that would be able to live peacefully with other fish.

I have spent the last few hours trying to find out as much information about the Bettas as possible. As far as I can see, people recommend against keeping them with other fish, but this advice seems to be for smaller tanks. I imagine that a 15 gallon tank is fairly large compared to the tanks these fish are frequently kept in, so I was wondering if the larger size would enable me to keep some other fish in there relatively safely.

Assuming that I get a Betta, what other fish/creatures could I put into the tank with it? I would ideally like some shoaling fish and some bottom feeders of some sort, to help in cleaning the tank. It would be fantastic if I could have another fish with character too, maybe about the same size as the Betta, so any recommendations on that front would be appreciated.

Please let me know any suggestions you may have to guide my research. Also, any opinions on the puffer situation would be much appreciated, as would any suggestions for non-aggressive fish with character if you believe the Betta is a bad idea.

 

[Betta5]

cories cats? (sp)
Raboras?

 

[Beephnix]

Any of the rasboras or specific genera? http/habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/f...sh/text/203.htm

 

[llamalord305]

Maybe you could get a sorority tank of female bettas. As some people will tell you here, it all depends on the individuals.

 

[Betta5]

Any of the rasboras or specific genera? http/habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/f...sh/text/203.htm

Hi i would say any of the smaller rasbora would be good, If you had a betta, school of rasbora, few cory cats and some live plants it would look really nice. I would steer clear of tetras and barbs as they tend to be nippy, that being said i have 11 cardinals and neons (6 cardinals 5 neons) in with my angels and no nipping there, so bit of a chance you have to take i guess.

You can also add snails (apple etc) African Dwarf frogs (i kept one but you need a sacure lid mine got out and i havnt seen him since). And shrimps etc. I have also herd honey Gouramis and bettas being kept together successfuly maybe somethign to think about.

Here are some fish profiles,
http/www.badmanstropicalfish.com/profile.html

Maybe have a look through?

 

[Beephnix]

Thanks for the responses. Currently I'm thinking:

1 Male Betta
4 Cory Catfish (or more?)
6 Glowlite Tetra
4 small Rasboras

Can anyone recommend another slightly larger fish which could go in without causing trouble or would I be overstocking here?

EDIT: Also, I just saw a site that says cherry barbs and gold barbs are peaceful and don't nip fins(http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/BarbsDaniosRasborasArt.htm). Would these be suitable in place of perhaps the tetra or Rasboras above?

 

[Beephnix]

Sorry to double post. At the recommendation of the person in the store, I have decided to go with the following. Please let me know if any of these obviously don't go together.

1 Male Betta
4 Cory Catfish
6 Glowlite Tetra
6 Harlequin Rasboras
6 Cherry Barbs
1 Sailfin Plec

The sailfin plec was recommended to me to clean up the algae in the tank.

Does this seem a reasonable setup for a 60 litre tank?

 

[Fish_Only4ever]

I had a sailfin pleco and if its the same one it gets like 50cm so thats a nono, What about a clown pleco, 5" max and very pretty. Also cherry barbs wont school and dont really like eachother,

I would do

1 male betta
6 cory cats (pygmy haha they are so cute!)
6 Harlequin Rasboras
1 clown pleco,

I would make sure you stock the tank slowly and dont put all your fish in at once,

good luck

 

[alessasavoca]

please be careful with any tetra, they are known to be quite nippy, otherwise good luck

 

[Beephnix]

I imagine that the clown plecos are also a bit too big for a 15 gallon tank then. Should I get a couple of amano shrimp instead or will they just get eaten?

EDIT: How about 6 Otocinclus Catfish instead of the Corys and the Plecs?

 

[stang1]

Ottos prefer a mature tank and are not the hardiest of fish. A Clown Pleco would be fine or you could get a Bristlenose Catfish which will also help with the algae, either one of these would be fine in a 15G tank. As with Ottos though, you are best letting the tank mature before adding a Pleco.

 

[connorsbala]

Go into the pleco forum and there's a pinned topic listing plecs that stay under 8 inches

 

[VampirePlec]

Sail Fins are Monsters! your best bet would be a bristlenose, not quiet a plec but pretty close, you can get many varietys of thse, most common are the browns, albinos and starlight aka peppermint, these guys can get expensive but are worth it. i have an orange spot bristlenose wich is also i lovely variety. a clown plec is an option but again these guy can get pricey, here they can be $60 to $90, the peppermint $40 to $60, and the orange spot about $30 ( tho i got min efor the price of a common bristlenose) there are also long fined varietys these guys are gorgouse but again come with a nice big price tag.

Hope this helps.

Vamp.

 

[Beephnix]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Based on everyone's input, I'm planning to go with:

Betta
Clown Pleco (or Bristlenose if I can't find one)
6 Cherry Barbs
6 Harlequin Rasboras

I would have liked to have added 6 glowlite tetra too for variety, but I don't want to overload the tank, so I'll just stick with the above I think.

I recorded a short video of the (currently fishless) tank to get your opinions on whether it will be suitable:

http/www.tehkwoon.com/files/tank.ASF

It's about 2.5mb, but the transfer rate should be pretty quick. Also, please ignore the bubbles on the glass, this was recorded shortly after the water was put in.

Thanks again, everyone's input has been much appreciated!

EDIT: Btw, which fish should I put in first to cycle the tank? I was thinking either three cherry barbs or three rasboras.