What Fish Can I Have?

[fishywoo]

Any platies are great, they come in heaps of colours! so for example I have 4 platies and they are all different colours, they like people, mine even let me pat them and line up for it! and they look nice too. Mine are with neon tetras which are really small but really nice fish, so I may suggest a couple platies and half a dozen neon tetras. I would however put 3 neons in first off and test them with your platies in case they get eaten, also be sure you get your platies as juveniles so they are not big enough to eat theneons when you first introduce them. Im only a beginner myself, so may not be totally accurate but it has worked for me!
hope this helps

 

[Lynda B]

Edit; Oops or a betta sorority, Lynda B would kill me if i didn't mention that...

 

[-germ-]

 

[Lynda B]

The Betta's like to come to the top of the tank for air?

The bettas have to come to the top of the tank for air..... I have my female sorority in a 15 gallon high. I would never risk putting them in anything taller than that. You'd be asking them to swim twice that height every time they need to breathe. They'd be exhausted and would not survive. It'll be interesting to see what you end up with in this tank. It's not very user-friendly.

 

[sunpirate2u]

I had a male betta with 4 pristella tetras also called x-ray tetras for short. Here's what they look like,

http/i192.photobucket.com/albums/z108/su...2u/DSCN2058.jpg
http/i192.photobucket.com/albums/z108/su...2u/DSCN2096.jpg

They school in a groups of 4-6 or more. They are very hardy! They were the survivors of the ick wipe-out in my tank. What I was told is they don't take up much space in your tank.

You can find more comments and info here,

http/www.timstropicals.com/FreshwaterFis...stellaTetra.asp
http/www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_pristellam.php

 

[steve_b21]

The bettas have to come to the top of the tank for air..... I have my female sorority in a 15 gallon high. I would never risk putting them in anything taller than that. You'd be asking them to swim twice that height every time they need to breathe. They'd be exhausted and would not survive. It'll be interesting to see what you end up with in this tank. It's not very user-friendly

What would be the ideal height of a tank for betta's?

I know its a very awkward size. How much gravel to you think i should use? I have read that using anywhere in between 0-6" is ok? Height of tank is 28"... if i use say 4-6" of gravel.... would that mean the betta's could be used?

 

[steve_b21]

any one?

 

[Gremily]

This tank sounds like it's going to be very hard to maintain and stuff, my arm(shoulder to finger tips) seems to be just over 28 inches so unless yours are quite a bit longer it'll be hard if you ever want to try and do stuff to the bottom of the tank (not to mention that your whole arm is going to displace quite alot of water in this tank). And also 5 inches deep seems very narrow, are these definitely the measurements you're going with?

 

[steve_b21]

This tank sounds like it's going to be very hard to maintain and stuff, my arm(shoulder to finger tips) seems to be just over 28 inches so unless yours are quite a bit longer it'll be hard if you ever want to try and do stuff to the bottom of the tank (not to mention that your whole arm is going to displace quite alot of water in this tank). And also 5 inches deep seems very narrow, are these definitely the measurements you're going with?

Yup, thats the size lol. Tank is made, its just over 5" in depth. I know its going to be a pain reachin the bottom of the tank, thats why i thought i would place more gravel? whats the ideal amount i can use?

 

[Gremily]

It looks like you'll have to understock quite alot due to the lack of surface area so you could probably put the grave quite high. It's weird to imagine your tank as I'm just cycling one of the same volume but with quite different dimensions!

For stocking I think you'll have to go for something that is very small and isn't very active but I'm no expert and couldn't really advise you on this. Maybe some small shrimp?

 

[steve_b21]

Fish wise, im going to go for guppies or platies... as some one recomended earlier in this thread.

To cover say 5" of gravel at the bottom, how much gravel will i need? Take is 5" depth, 47" width.

Im going to get a few pix going to show you guys exactly what ive got myself into lol

 

[steve_b21]

Here we are people...

Ive put the backing on which is black... sat it in the wall where it is going and ive not left enough space to get my hand down for cleaning (i sort of knew this lol)

I can get my hand down say about 23".

I have two options...

1. Add say bout 5/6" of gravel... which would mean it will be easier to maintain, as i wont have to reach all the way down the the tank.
2. Get the front glass cut down about 3", which would mean it would sit at 26", and give my arm more room to get down to the tank.

Pix...

I think it looks great.... just need to sort this issue out before i attach all the gear and get cycling

 

[Gremily]

Wow looks nice and flush, I hope you won't have to try to net out fish very often!
Trimming a bit off the top might help a bit aswell as having the gravel quite high.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this tank goes, post pics as you go along if possible!
Good luck!

 

[steve_b21]

Im going towards the idea of adding about 6" of gravel.... which would leave me with 22" tank space... of which i will fill about 18" with water. This way i could put my hand in and use a Gravel vacume.... wont be easy... but it will have to be bearable.

Is 18" height of water suitable for a betta fish then?