Tank Advice Pleas

[Sparklesnail]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forums
I have a 40l filtered aquarium which until recently housed a big goldfish (he was rehomed to the botanic garden's pond- never again!) leaving me with a lovely aquarium. I'm in a position I've never been in before- I can choose what I want to put into a tank.
I wanted to keep the tank as a temperate tank and had my heart set on a betta fish- they have such great personalities but further reading suggests they're happier with a heater. I do have a heater for the tank but didn't want to get back into the problems I had with tropical before.
Does anyone know of any wee personalities like the betta that would be happy in a temperate tank? Or am I better just going for it with the heater?
Sorry for the long post
Beca

 

[CoryFever]

I feel your choices are widened a LOT if you just invest in a small heater. You can keep simple, easy to care for fish like bettas or guppies, or you can go for colorful schooling fish such as neons.

 

[lrhodes]

Agreed. Slap that heater in there and get you a betta! Lol.

 

[BerryAttack]

make sure you cycle the tank before getting any fish.
you can make it into a planted tank, with shrimp, neons/cloud tetra and a beta if you choose. the temperament of each beta will vary. some will be fine, do their own thing.. then others will chase and kill everything in site.

 

[Sparklesnail]

This may sound yuck but I've kept the tank running as it is- the water parameters are perfect at the moment and the filter is biologically 'dug in'
I know I'll need to do a clean out of the tank but it seems a shame to wreck it all  

 

[lrhodes]

That's what I did with my five gallon that is now my betta's home. It had been running for about 6+ months with fish in it. And they got moved to the 55. And I cleaned it out and kept it running with the same filter media.

 

[Gruntle]

This may sound yuck but I've kept the tank running as it is- the water parameters are perfect at the moment and the filter is biologically 'dug in'
I know I'll need to do a clean out of the tank but it seems a shame to wreck it all

As long as you don't wait too long to put something in, you'll be fine!