Tank size

[LouiseC]

Hi its been about a decade since ive had a fish tank! I always had a large tank with tropicals.
My daughter has been begging to get fish so Ive agreed for her birthday we would get a tank. (I'll be the one looking after it of course) the tank will be in her room though so I would like to keep it smaller. There's a 28 litre one I was looking at. Can these happily hold more than a betta? Her birthday is for 4 months away but wanting to research whats best now so we get the right fish in the right home.
She initially wanted 2 goldfish but I thought about the possibility of a few tropical instead. Keeping in mind we will most likely go with artificial plants (at least to start with)
So any help on these few questions would be very much appreciated then I can research further from there.
1. Is the 28L enough for anything but a betta or would I need to get a 40L ?
2. Are male guppies happy in a tank on their own without females or would they fight etc. We really dont want breeding!
3. If we could do male guppies how many is a good number for that size tank?
4. Could we fit 2 angels in there happily 5. I know this is a tropical forum but would 2 goldfish work or would they grow to big?

Dont think we will mix breeds shes happy to either have goldfish, guppies or angels.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I want to do the right thing by the fish so getting all the info I can

 

[LouiseC]

Ok ive ruled out the smaller tank (sounds to small for happy fish and ruled out goldfish. Tank wont be nearly big enough ive just read.

 

[LouiseC]

Ruled out angels too due to space.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Only requirements are that they are happy in the 40 litre tank and prefer colourful as they will be a kids pet too

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there Louise, welcome to the forum

Go for the largest tank you can afford/find room for. Larger tanks are actually easier, as the conditions are more stable. Just as an example, on a very hot day, a small volume of water will overheat much more quickly than a larger volume.

Both goldfish and angels get quite big; it can be hard to remember or realise that nearly all the fish you see in your LFS are only babies! Goldfish need a tank that's at least 100l in volume, and angels need a tank that's at least 50cms high, as they get so tall when they're fully grown.

Before we can recommend species, we really need to know if your water is hard or soft. Guppies, for example, need hard water to thrive, so if your is soft, they won't do well. You can find out the hardness of your water on your supplier's website.

 

[LouiseC]

Thank you for your reply
Ive ruled out angels and goldfish due to the tank.
The 40L tank is the Aquastart 340 and is 45cms high x 36cms deep x 35cms wide.
We are only have rainwater and havent looked into suitability etc
The reason for that tank is it needs to fit onto my daughters desk in her bedroom.
So glad im doing research though the idiot at the pet store said I could fit 3 goldfish into a 28L not impressed!
Ill look into info about the rainwater
Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

When you say you only have rainwater, does that mean you have no mains water at all? Or do you just think rainwater would be better?

 

[LouiseC]

No mains water at all. We live on a rural property

 

[fluttermoth]

Nice!

Presumably you're already filtering the water for drinking? You will need some test kits (for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH) once you have your tank and start cycling so, if you get those now, you can test the water yourself. Make sure you get liquid or tablet based kits, not the paper strip kind (as they're sometimes inaccurate, and often don't test for ammonia).

 

[LouiseC]

Went to a different store today and decided on a 50L tank. Spoke to the lady she was great.
I can take in a sample of our water and they will test it before we go ahead and buy everything then we know what we are dealing with. Another guy there said in the 50L we could put a few guppies and a red dwarf gourami. I just read thats not the best combo as the gourami will most likely be to aggressive to the guppy. Was hoping with the 50L we could have about 5 guppies and a mystery snail the maybe one other compatible fish. Something colourful and peaceful. They dont have the hugest selection but any suggestions on a few that could work and then we could look into it from there?
Obviously this depends on our water
Thanks

 

[Gruntle]

I know they're not totally accurate, but you may want to try a 5-in-1 test strip on your tank water. It should give a general guide as to your GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) as well as a PH test. Having those factors will help inform what sort of fish would be happiest in your natural water (you can change water parameters but it's costly and can cause more harm than good). Buy the smallest number (I think you can get a 4-pack) because other than a general guide initially, they're not as good as a liquid test kit.

I highly recommend the API Master Test kit which is liquid based and far more accurate than strips. However it does not test GH and KH, so I think an inexpensive test strip to give you an initial general idea of your water parameters would be good.

Of course, if you have a GOOD local fish store (and in my experience that pretty much rules out any chain store, and anyone who suggests a goldfish will be quite happy in a small tank) they may be willing and able to let you know your KH, GH and PH.

As for fish, there are quite a few colourful, peaceful small fish that would be quite happy in a small tank (as long as there aren't too many of them. People here are happy to suggest, but ultimately it's what you want.

 

[Essjay]

Surely rainwater will have zero hardness? Won't LouiseC have to add remineralisation salts like those people who use 100% RO water?