Suggestions For Tiny Tank

[KathyM]

Hi

This is way in advance as it's unlikely we'll be setting this up for a few months. I have a very very small tank (I think it's 18" x 12" x 12", but it could be 2ft - will have to measure up), and my son is ater a tank in his bedroom if we get the new house.

He's 9, and the tank would be mostly my responsibility, but also a learning experience for him. He is a very nature minded lad and would like something a little bit diferent in there (although I think he's tempted by Mickey Mouse platies as you would expect).

I was wondering what this tank would suit? As I said, it wouldn't be 100% under his care, it would be under mine, but he would like something a bit diff, and fascinating/interesting. He was originally wanting something along the lines of Triops but was put off by their short life span.

Anyone got any suggestions? He wants to be able to go online and research with me while we wait and see if we get the new house. It's a big deal for him as he's never had his own room and his is a major influence on him feeling "secure" in being alone in his own room.

Thanks

Kathy
xx

 

[ZeeZee]

I would suggest a betta but they only live for about 2 years. Maybe you could get some ghost shrimp(which look totally awesome ) and some gentle schooling fish. Hope that helped.

 

[KathyM]

I think he'd be tempted by a betta if it wasn't for the point of keeping them alone. I'm not sure they'd keep him fascinated for long *lol*. But the other suggestions are something we'll definitely look into, thanks

 

[OohFeeshy]

What about a group of females? Plenty colourful with great eprsonalities.

 

[wendywc]

What about a group of females? Plenty colourful with great eprsonalities.

I second that! If your tank is 18'X12"X12", then it's a little over 11 gallons. A group of female bettas would be awesome.

 

[KathyM]

Thanks for the suggestion - I have shown Dan some female bettas (and we've had a look at the info pages in the Betta section) and although he likes them, they're not what he's after. I hope that doesn't offend.

 

[PlecMama]

Neon tetras? they are pretty and they 'do stuff' - they look nice swimming together and look quite exotic.

 

[xJake]

If you're looking for something with personality (as bettas in general don't swim around much) for a tank that small, a friend of mine keeps 2Dwarf Indian Puffers in his 20-gallon. They only need about 5-gallons each as they reach a max size of 1". You could probably only keep 2 in a tank that size but you would have to keep it heavily planted which wouldn't cost that much with such a small tank. The only catch is that they won't really touch flake food so you would have to feed it crustacean foods such as brine shrimp, krill, mollusks (snails) and earthworms. It's not really a big problem though as you can get dried krill and brine shrimp (and get hitchhiker snails on live plants) in almost any pet store as a staple food and supplement their diet with some frozen foods.

 

[Gill]

Kathy

Take him to a decent LFS in your area. Let him have a look at the fish there - let him tell you which ones he likes. He can come home and post on here or research about the fish he has seen.
That way he is making his choices and is learning about them at the same time.

I used this trick @ Dobbies and the parents were great. They Loved that someone was explaining the fish to their children and helping them make the right choice. Plus we had a great book Resources so would show them over to the books aswell.

HTH.
And good luck with the house, fish keeping is such a great development experience for children.

 

[KathyM]

Thanks very much for your suggestions

xJake - do puffers not need their teeth clipping or what have you? They look pretty cool but that guide says 30g+.

Gill, sadly our LFS is absolutely rubbish, but there is a good one that we can get to on a day trip out, so maybe that's something we can plan once we know about the house.

Thank you very much for the good luck wishes, we blimmin' need them

 

[three-fingers]

He was originally wanting something along the lines of Triops but was put off by their short life span.

Slightly old thread that i missed, but how about Triops Cancriformis? They live longer than the regular species, usually about twice as long-but in something that size probably longer. They get bigger too-they are known to get up to 4.5 inches. You dont even need to cycle the tank for them, if you bring them up in it. In large tanks thier eggs are known to hatch without drying out quite frequently, so in the right conditions you could have an endless supply of them growing, if(this is very unlikely) they dont, all you need to do is dry some of the eggs they will lay in the sand for a day, then freeze them for another day.

If you have a decent filter in the tank(wrap the intake in alot of filter wool, to stop babies being sucked in) you will basicly never have to do water changes-once every few months is great, and much less if you dont mind cloudy water.

Whats more is that they are the oldest living animal species on the planet, and are endangered in many places, especially here in the uk where they can only be found in two protected places.

Just give me a pm if your interested and need any info .

 

[demonmagus]

Thanks very much for your suggestions

xJake - do puffers not need their teeth clipping or what have you? They look pretty cool but that guide says 30g+.

Gill, sadly our LFS is absolutely rubbish, but there is a good one that we can get to on a day trip out, so maybe that's something we can plan once we know about the house.

Thank you very much for the good luck wishes, we blimmin' need them

the guide probably refers to South american puffers

dwarf puffers would be much better. They are true freshwater and need snails and stuff to wear down their 'teeth'. Also, they need a good filter and I think 2 would do great in that tank. It must be very interactive though, lots of bogwood, plants and whatnot