Newbie Here!

[NathanS]

Hello!

I recently purchased and set-up a 48 litre (13 gallon) "Interpet 48l Fishbox" - complete with Interpet Internal Filter and a Deltatherm Heater (temperature set to 25.5 degrees C)

It currently houses 5 cherry barbs, who are swimming happily and I have had absolutely no issues with, utilsing SafeStart and Prime to ensure levels of ammonia and nitrate are minimal to none.

I just had a few questions, really!

What fish can I safely stock, and quantity?​

What fish food would you reccomend?​

Any ideas on how to maximise the aquarium to its fullest potential?​

Are loaches possible?​

Thanks!

Nathan

 

[glolite]

Hi Nathan and welcome to the forums.

In a 13g you can stock 1 inch of fish to 1 gallon of water.

Loaches probably no but you can have ottos which are weeny plecs, good at eating algae.

I would recommend tropical fish flake and catfish pellets. With maybe 4 ottos 2catfish pellets per day plus a tiny pinch of flake for the barbs.

you could stock with tetras, say neons or glowlights in a shoal of 6 or 7.

Livebearers are not a good idea in a smaller tank because they breed like crazy. Stick with tetras.

You could also have shrimps.

Have fun

 

[waterdrop]

Agree! A wonderful guideline for getting started is to stock to about 1 inch of what will be the mature adult maximum size fish body (fins don't count) per US gallon of tank volume and to hold at that or below for the first year of fishkeeping while you are learning as much as you can about the nitrogen cycle and fishkeeping in general. Later, depending on your filtration and what you've learned, you may make changes to this, but for the beginning this is the level you want.

I'd begin your homework by reading the Beginners Resource Center paying special attention to the Nitrogen Cycle, the Fishless Cycle, the Fish-In Cycle and Tank Startup articles. Ask questions here! You may need a new test kit, depending on what you have! Good Luck!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Curiosity101]

You are at just under 8" of fish at the mo. So if you are going by the 1" per US Gal rule then you have just over 5" left to fill. Some will say the inch per gallon rule is incorrect/outdated. But for a 13gal tank and a new fish keeper it's absolutely perfect.

Possible stockings:
5 Cherry Barbs
2 Honey Gouramis
(12.6" of fully grown fish)

5 Cherry Barbs
5 Sparkling Gourami
(13.8" of fully grown fish)

5 Cherry Barbs
1 Dwarf Gourami
1 Snail
5 Shrimp (Cherry and Amano are good starter shrimp, i'd get 5 of one species though)
(13"ish of fully grown animal/fish)