Are There Any Fish That I Can Have Have?

[pinkdolphin_113]

i have just set up a small tank in my kitchen but the temperature in there is 20oC / 68oF. i put a little heater in but its either not working or not making a difference. i'll try it over night, again, tonight. but is there any small fish that live in this temperature?

 

[Spooky76]

yes - but you need to be sure what temp its going to be. What size is the tank ?

Not sure about temp, but a small heater in 50 litres would take a few hours to get it up to temp I would have thought.

What size is the tank and what filters have you got ? Also has it got lights etc ? If so you could have some real plants in it. Also has it been cycled or is it new ?

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

well the tank is a tiny little thing, just something to make my kitchen i little more interesting lol its 16 x 8 x 8 inches so its about 4 gallons.
there will be no lights direct for the tank but i am getting some over head lights fitted, underneath my wall mounted cabinets/cupboards, which will be over the tank. dya reckon this will be adequate?

i have placed a few bits of vallisneria in one end of the tank so the nitrites shouldn't rise too high, too quick but i am leaving it for a week or so and i'm monitoring whats going on with the water chemistry.
i've put some plant fertiliser in the tank, so the vallisneria would grow faster and eventually absorb alot of nitrates etc, as well as some whitespot treatment (it also gets rid of fungus and i know fungus grows rapidly when there isn't any fish in a tank so i thought i'd be sure) hoping it would keep my water in a decent condition.

the tank is a clone, i think, of my 20 gallon. i put an aquaflo mini in the 20 gallon for a few days and then put it in the small tank, also filling this small tank up with water from the 20 gallon. i'm not sure whether thats how a tank is cloned but thats the method i used.

i was hoping to get a male betta in this tank and maybe a small catfish or 2.
if i were to get a male betta, would i be able to add a female or 2? or is that pushing it with the space factor?
its just, i would love to breed bettas!

any tips on keeping the water in good condition would be greatly appreciated as i have no previous experience with "nano" tanks... if thats what this is lol

 

[Honeythorn]

You don't have a hope in any hell of keeping a male betta, in that tank at that temperature. They need about 27 degrees C. You need a better heater or a bigger tank .

You also have barely enough space for the betta. No catfish of any sort can fit in a 4 gallon. Not even corydoras , since they like to be in groups of 6 upwards and need at least 20 gallons to grub about. The only thing you could fit in there with a betta would be a snail of some sort. Putting one female in a 4 gallon with a male betta would possibly be the worst idea ever. The male will more than likely chase her incessantly. Females are best off in groups . You could keep a group in your 20 gal if you have the space. But nothing at all in the 4 gal except the male and possible snail.

Putting a filter in your big tank to mature " for a few days " isn't long enough to cycle it. You need at least a month, and better still to transfer some of the used media from your main filter, into the new filter.

I can't fathom why you have put whitespot treatment in a tank that has no whitespot. Fish only tend to get that when stressed. You don't need it in there at all. Just your dechlorinated water.

Your plants aren't likely to grow much unless the lights you are putting in your cabinets above the tank are for an aquarium. For small tanks you can get lighting units that clip on to the top. I'm pretty sure Arcadia make them. Vallis is quite a tall growing plant, you will have to do a lot of snipping off if it grows, as it gets really long unless it's one of the smaller species. You might be better off with something like dwarf hairgrass and java moss.

You will need to do at least once if not twice weekly water changes on a tank this small, as the small volume of water, even with a filter , can accumulate toxins quickly.

 

[shelaghfishface]

it may be a teeny weeny tank, but when you have sorted out what you are going to do with it i hope its a massive succses for you

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

the temperature has settled and is currently at 76oF and has been all day.
i kno vallis grow tall because i have kept this plant for years. the small shoots i've put in the small tank are cuttings from my bigger tank.

you say i need atleast a month but the water parameters in the smaller tank are exactly the same as that of the bigger tank and the aquaflo mini was only in the bigger tank for a week

I can't fathom why you have put whitespot treatment in a tank that has no whitespot.

the treatment also stated that it eliminates fungus so i thought i would put some in before any fungus had the chance to grow.

i think i will stick to the one male betta.