Fluval opinions

[Kyt]

hi,

It's me again hope you aren't sick of me!!

I really want a 60 litre tank to get some little shoals in. I wanted a rectangular one but me and my mam have butted heads as she says it'll take up a lot of room. She loves the thought of fishies but we have limited room.

I then stumbled upon
FLEX AQUARIUM KIT, 15 US GAL (57 L)

It's more cube like than anything else but it worries me paying all that as biorbs are round and hated in the fish world so I was wanting opinions on these fluval ones??

Thanks in advance xx

 

[Essjay]

With a footprint of just 41 x 39 cm (16 x 15.5 inches) stocking will be tricky. There is very little swimming room, so you would have to choose small fish that are not very active.

Are you sure your mother won't allow a tank 60 cm (24 inches) long? That would give you a lot more options. Maybe find a box, or even sellotape some sheets of paper together to get a 60 x 30 cm rectangle and see what that looks like. That is the most common size for a 60 litre tank.

 

[Kyt]

Thank you for your quick reply!!

Been refreshing all the time lol.

It's because of it being rectangle it really limits our space so she's really hung up on it.

As to stocking to be honest I fancy it a cold/temperate of white cloud minnows with perhaps some bottom feeders. Would that not be suitable? Xx

 

[Essjay]

White clouds need a tank at least 60cm long http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/tanichthys-albonubes/

And it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a temperate bottom dweller for the 57 litre Flex I'm afraid. A shoal of 10 pygmy cories would just about fit, but they need slightly warmer water than white clouds (22 to 26 deg C for the cories and 14 to 22 deg C for the white clouds). Fish should be kept nearer the middle of their preferred ranges rather than at the extreme ends.

 

[Kyt]

These are the measurements

• Aquarium Size: 16 L X 15 W X 15 H IN (41 L X 39 W X 39 H CM)

Ah so the Pygmy cories are tropical right? as I can only do colder water where it would be sat (can't overload the socket and it already has one plug in so two more would be risky x

Thanks for this advice though I really want to do this properly xx

 

[Essjay]

My son is an electrician and I asked him about overloading sockets for another thread. He said that using an extension cable is perfectly acceptable for the loads a fish tank uses. For example, I have 2 18 watt led lights, a 10 watt filter and a 200 watt heater for my 180 litre tank. This adds up to less than 3 amps. In the UK, a 4 socket extension lead can run up to 10 amps. That means I can use appliances that take up to another 7 amps as well as my fish tank. A 60 litre tank would use a less powerful heater, a less powerful light and a smaller filter. The only proviso is that the extension lead should have sockets in a line, not one of those blocks with sockets on 3 sides. My son doesn't like those (heat gets concentrated in the middle of the block, while the side by side ones have heat distributed along the length). And a 6 socket extension lead can run up to 13 amps.

 

[Kyt]

Wow, thank you for taking out time to talk to me about this. I honestly appreciate it.

That is real useful info!! We are on a really old electricity system and well over due a re wiring which is why I'd be panicky to have the plugs

 

[Kyt]

If I had it as a tropical what could I put in? I was so hoping for cold water been looking at blood fin tetras for cold?

 

[Essjay]

If the wiring is quite old, you would need to be more careful. Older houses have wiring circuits that can't take as much current as newer houses. For example, our house was built in 1991 and we have a fuse box under the stairs. Apparently, if we wanted to upgrade to an RCD 'fuse' box, we would need the main fuse in the meter cupboard upgraded by the electric distribution company (NEDL in our case) as it is not rated high enough for an RCD 'fuse' box. This also means that we can't run as many appliances at the same time in the house as a whole as a more modern house can.

But as long as the washing machine, dishwasher, power shower, oven etc were not all working at the same time, there shouldn't be a problem.



My son has only recently qualified so we got a lot of lectures about what he was studying Did you know that modern new build regulations state there should be a socket every metre above worktops in the kitchen? I was amazed.

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid bloodfins also need 60 cm length. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/aphyocharax-anisitsi/