Fish Selection For A 30l Tank !?! Make That A 60l Now !

[$e73n]

Now that i have had a lot of my questions answered on these forums, i was wondering what kinds of combo's people would recommend for a small tank like the 30l Biorb i have.

What would you put into your 30l tank if you had one

edit crap the details above, i have convinced the wife to get the 60l version scroll down for the rest

 

[$e73n]

I have just noticed that one of the community members has a 35l tank, and the stock is as follows.

1 x Khuli Loach
2 x Yoyo Loach
2 x Penguin Tetra
1 x Clown Loach
1 x Silver Polka-Dot
1 x Rainbow Shark

Showing that i am a real nooby here, but is that not to many fish for a small tank, or is that acceptable. Please give me some advice on possible fish selection for a 30l Biorb tank. Thanks in advance for any comments here !!!

 

[catxx]

none of those in a bioorb really.
maybe the tetra.
in a bioorb you can only have fish that occupy the mid-section of the tank, as there is next to no surface are at the bottom or the top, most of those fish prefer the bottom.

and as for another member having those fish, are you sure it was 35l and not 35 US Gallons? thats too many fish for a 35l (9 US Gallons). your bioorb would roughly be 8 US gallons. most fish can't cope in anything less than 10 US gallons.

is yours a tropical or coldwater bioorb?
have you only just bought it and do you have the receipt?
most fishkeepers on here don't favour the bioorb heh, it's a glorified over priced fish bowl, yes it can look arty and cool, but it's difficult to clean and the parts are expensive to replace (and you will have to replace them)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

your tank's about 9us gallons

the general rule for stocking is 1" of fish for every us gallon. worked out on the adult size of the fish. so you can have 9x1" fish, 6x1.5" fish and so on. that being said you can't put a 1x9" fish in there and think it'll be alright. I wouldn't go for anything bigger than 2" in such a small tank.

bi-orbs you need to work at least strictly to that rule or under it, the filtration on them isn't very good so can't support any extra load. as others have said due to the shape of them your limited as to the swimming space you have so can only have mid water swimmers.

that being said there are still some nice stocking options available to you, it's just gonna require a little careful planning.

dwarf puffers are very cool little fish, could have 1 in there or a male siamese fighter would probably love it.

or if you want several fish then look at something like microrasbora's or endlers that stay very very small but are lovely little fish.

even bumblebee gobies could work although they're brackish water fish.

 

[$e73n]

OK guys and gals, i have managed to convince the wife, and i know some people dont like them but, we are going to swop the tank for the 60l version so now we have double the water to play with for my son's fish . I know that the tanks are not very popular but the 30l was free and the local shop will let us just pay the extra to upgrade to the 60l.

So with that in mind what type of fish options would you stock into a 60l tank. Please keep the ideas coming guys/gals as the forum is really proving to be a life saver !!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

OK guys and gals, i have managed to convince the wife, and i know some people dont like them but, we are going to swop the tank for the 60l version so now we have double the water to play with for my son's fish . I know that the tanks are not very popular but the 30l was free and the local shop will let us just pay the extra to upgrade to the 60l.

So with that in mind what type of fish options would you stock into a 60l tank. Please keep the ideas coming guys/gals as the forum is really proving to be a life saver !!!

excellent, the 60 is much more practical

the same rules as above apply and the same limitations, however with twice the room you have twice the options.

give us an idea of what you want the tank to look like and we'll help you with some fish choices

do you want lots of small colourful busy fish?
a few larger 'centerpiece' fish
somethng a bit different/unusual

tell us the overall look you want and we'll give you some pointers

 

[catxx]

is the heated or unheated version? i know if it's unheated it's awkward then getting a heater in there...and this will decide what you can keep in there.

 

[mark.w.jones]

You've got around 15 - 16 US gallons to play with.

First things first though, fishless cycle your tank. Whilst your fishless cycle is running is course, takes 3 - 5 weeks ish, research what fish youre going to get, what plants to get, go out and buy your gravel or sand / rocks / wood / ornaments / fish food / liquid water testing kit / cleaning bits etc. etc. Also read all the pinned articles at the top of this forum, the tropical chit chat one and also at the top of the forums about the fish youre thinking of buying.

 

[$e73n]

Thanks for all the rapid responces. Right i will try address the questions you have asked but please bare witgh me as i am a total novice at this, but what to do it right and with 100% safety for the fish !!! I am doing this for my son as a gift so in the process i want to teach him how to look after fish also, so please keep posting and help me out as much as you can !!!

1. Miss Wiggle = give us an idea of what you want the tank to look like and we'll help you with some fish choices

do you want lots of small colourful busy fish?
a few larger 'centerpiece' fish
somethng a bit different/unusual

tell us the overall look you want and we'll give you some pointers

Well, i would ideally like maybe a pair of key fish then some nice small busy fish to add to the tank. Fish wise i would like something unusual (not scary looking, but nice and colourful). But am fairly flexible as long as they are nice on the eye, coourful etc...

2. Catxx = is the heated or unheated version? i know if it's unheated it's awkward then getting a heater in there...and this will decide what you can keep in there.

The tank is the Tropical version

3. JonseyUK = You've got around 15 - 16 US gallons to play with.

First things first though, fishless cycle your tank. Whilst your fishless cycle is running is course, takes 3 - 5 weeks ish, research what fish youre going to get, what plants to get, go out and buy your gravel or sand / rocks / wood / ornaments / fish food / liquid water testing kit / cleaning bits etc. etc. Also read all the pinned articles at the top of this forum, the tropical chit chat one and also at the top of the forums about the fish youre thinking of buying.

I dont have the tank yet but am planning on getting it this week with the idea of preparing the tank and reading up on the fish so i can have it ready for fish in february/march so i have time and i dont want to rush. With regards to plants, gravel or sand etc i have no clue i guess that will have to be tailored to the fish i finally decide on with your help. And yes i have quickly read through the pinned topics but i will read them several more times in the following weeks.

So there we go, please continue to add to this topic please and help me through the planning phase, i guess that should be the hardest part.

 

[$e73n]

Don't tell me you have given up on me already

 

[dwarfgourami]

Good idea to upgrade in size- it makes life easier.

If it is the 60 ltr bioorb you're looking at, I believe that comes with a ceramic substrate which is part of its filter system, so you are stuck with that.

This being so, I would not go for corydoras in this tank- they are rather dependent on being able to snuffle round the bottom.

But there will plenty to choose from in the way of top and middle fish. The biorb does not provide as much swimming space as a rectangular tank, seeing that fish tend to swim horizontally rather than vertically, so I would go for a schooling fish that is not an ultra-fast swimmers. The smaller tetras, in other words. Neon tetras can be a bit sensitive in a new tank- I would look up glowlights, black neons (totally different species to neons), X-ray tetras or maybe black phantoms. Another option is harlequin rasboras. All these are schooling fish, so you will want a group of at least 6. Alternatively, if you are dead set on the neons, run in your tank with another fish, and add them after 6 months.

A school like this will still leave you room for a centrepiece fish. Something like a honey gourami. Dwarf gouramis tend to be prone to disease, so I would get a honey instead.

Or instead of a single centrepiece fish you could go for a trio of medium-sized fish. Like cherry barbs (1 male, 2 females). Or a trio of female platies - though there is a risk you will get fry (they're nice fish, though). Or, if you want algae eaters, a trio of otos (only after the tank has been up and running for a bit though).

 

[PaPeRo]

I'd go with a couple of dwarf gouramis and some platies and guppies. If you get gouramis make sure you have some floating plants like java moss. Throw in some amano and/or ghost shimp as bottom feeders to clean up any leftovers.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

1. Miss Wiggle = give us an idea of what you want the tank to look like and we'll help you with some fish choices

do you want lots of small colourful busy fish?
a few larger 'centerpiece' fish
somethng a bit different/unusual

tell us the overall look you want and we'll give you some pointers

Well, i would ideally like maybe a pair of key fish then some nice small busy fish to add to the tank. Fish wise i would like something unusual (not scary looking, but nice and colourful). But am fairly flexible as long as they are nice on the eye, coourful etc...

good stuff on doing your research first and getting the tank set up properly before you rush into getting fish.

a fishless cycle is a great idea, so make sure you read up on that.

OK that's a great start then, with 16" of fish you can easily find a pair or trio (some fish prefer to be kept at a ratio of 2 males to 1 female so are best suited to a trio) then 2 small groups of small fish.

some options for your centerpiece fish could be

cherry/golden barbs
rams
apistogrammas
dwarf gourami's
platys

just google them and see what you like, there's a good fish index on this site too to get some more info for you.

I'd choose these first then you can choose your small fish to suit them and with colourings to compliment them.

then some of the smaller rasbora's or tetra's would be good for your shoals, some personal favourites of mine you might like to look into are

harlequin rasbora's
microrasbora galaxy
rummy nose tetra's
black neon tetra's

you'll probably be adviosed somewhere along the line that danio's are good 'starter' fish, while this is true and they do stay small, they like a lot of swimming room so they're a no no for your tank.

and then if you want something a little different look into getting a few amano shrimp, they're small cute different and they eat algae, winner all round!

hope that's enough for you to go on!

 

[$e73n]

OK so thanks to the people contributing to this post i think that i have decided on the fish for my tank for my feature fish i have decided on the dwarf gourami's, they look such interesting fish and the colours are spectular. For the two smaller shoals of fish i have decided on the microrasbora galaxy and the cardinal tetra's. Now that i have sort of got the species down i was wondering what numbers people would advice for the tank size. I was thinking of 2/3 dwarf gourami's but with regards to the two groups of smaller fish what numbers would you suggest All ideas are greatfully recieved !!!

 

[dwarfgourami]

OK so thanks to the people contributing to this post i think that i have decided on the fish for my tank for my feature fish i have decided on the dwarf gourami's, they look such interesting fish and the colours are spectular. For the two smaller shoals of fish i have decided on the microrasbora galaxy and the cardinal tetra's. Now that i have sort of got the species down i was wondering what numbers people would advice for the tank size. I was thinking of 2/3 dwarf gourami's but with regards to the two groups of smaller fish what numbers would you suggest All ideas are greatfully recieved !!!

The thing to remember about dwarf gouramis is that they are highly territorial, so get one male only- he can either be on his own or with a harem of two females (the silver-coloured ones).