New Community Tank

[Suzi]

im thinking of getting a small 7 gallon tank and i cant make my mind up what fish to get...
so i was wondering if any one had any ideas??

 

[Suzi]

http/www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0032133.htm
will probably get this one, depending on the tanks they have at my lfs...

 

[catxx]

that's still a real small tank.
i have a 7 gallon similar to that with a large male betta and 2 baby corys.
the corys are going to move out soon though to a larger tank.

 

[seanc]

20 litres doesn't give you much choice.. a betta or dwarf puffa, or ADF's/Shrimp are the best options.

 

[catxx]

this is my 7 gallon, an old pic though
(it's since got a large big of bogwood, and a LOT more plants, real and fake, and my blue betta is in there now who's much larger than the yellow one)

but even when it's this empty it's still pretty pokey

 

[Suzi]

i have this fish magazine which says if i was to keep small fish eg guppies its about 1cm of fish for every litre of water (the tank is 20 litres)b which would mean 20 guppies. from what ive heard from everyone this would be too much for this tank... im getting confused now!!

 

[catxx]

guppies are active fish i think. (never kept them personally) but i think they'd prefer a larger tank to move around in.

the "inch per gallon" (or "cm to litre") rule only half applies. the needs for each fish go beyond just how big they are.

 

[Animation]

I keep guppy's and 20ltr's is way to small. The calculations are out but not by to much, Guppy's prefer to stay top water so..

 

[ryanryan]

sorry but no ideas from me

 

[Suzi]

idealy id love a betta but my boyfriend isnt too keen on them... the pic above is exactly what i wanted originally but he looks lonely... id be too tempted to put some other fish in there.

 

[seanc]

1cm a litre? Even at that 20 guppies is a vast overestimate. Guppies are small but are around 4 cm+ fully grown, and 5 guppies in a 20litre tank wouldn't show their full colours, they are quite active. I keep 14 guppies in a 33 Gallon tank and wouldn't want to add too much beyond that. You'll need to keep an all male group also otherwise you'll be overrun with fry.. and that means a min 5 fish to spread out the agression. All in all I wouldn't try it.

"idealy id love a betta but my boyfriend isnt too keen on them... the pic above is exactly what i wanted originally but he looks lonely... id be too tempted to put some other fish in there." Take a look in the betta section for suggestions on tankmates: an ADF or a few shrimp might work well. Alternatively divide the tank and keep 2 bettas.

 

[Suzi]

ok thanks for your help everyone!
ive been looking in the betta section but i keep getting dissaproving looks from my boyfriend each time i mention it!!
i think this size tank is about the biggest i can get at the moment...
its not looking hopeful for me

 

[seanc]

Perhaps you could get a small 2. galacrylic tank solely for a betta and then put something else in the 20litre tank? Even then though a 5.2 gal tank isnt huge.

 

[Suzi]

ok so i think i can make a deal with my boyfriend... he likes peppered catfish and i know these are compatible with bettas so i was wondering how many catfish i could put in this 7 gallon tank with a betta?

 

[catxx]

you mean peppered cory cats right?
hmm you could within reason keep 2 in there, BUT only when they're small, and this is not ideal, they need to be in schools of 4+, and eventually they WILL grow out of that tank. cories are fairly active nosey little fish and like to get into everything with lots of ground space to dig around in, you could keep some there for a temporary measure, but really they need 10 gallon+.

p.s. corys are fine with Bettas, as long as you don't get a betta like mine in my avatar who's hobby was to take chunks out of my albino corys.