Yay! Finally found a new tank!

[OohFeeshy]

Fine, its not huge. It's about 15 US gallons. But it's better than my 4.5 gallon So, obvious question. What can I put in it? I'll give a list of things I like later but some more info next.
Not sure what it comes with, its 2nd hand. So what wattage of heater will I need, and size of filter? Do I need lighting? I will want some plants, I can get them very cheap (30p each!!)

So- fish. I know its a small tank.
I like (and can get)-
Corys
Platys
hatchets
Tetras
And most other common fish

So can anyone reccomend a good combo?

 

[WILDER]

Platys are fine the hardiest of livebearers, I would only keep males though, harlequins are a nice shoaling fish, would rather have cardinals over neon tetra's are hardier and don't carry neon tetra desease, maybe two bottom feeders.

 

[Slyspy]

I believe you are wrong about cardinals not carrying NDT.

I love my panda cories, though they seem a bit less active now that I have quite heavy plant cover and they have learnt where their food comes from! Some form of tetra or guppy is a must for colour in a smaller tank.

Not sure but a 50W heater should be ok. For filters probably the smallest internal filters will do (though not the mini ones) but its easy to check because it says it on the box! For plants you will need lighting. 2 watts per gallon is recommended, though it can get very complicated for small tanks. I gave up trying to understand the varying advice and stuck to about 2wpg with medium and low light plants and everything has been fine.

 

[daza]

my tank is only a little bit bigger and comes with a 100W heater and a 400 litres/hour filter. Both of which can be found cheaply enough on ebay and I guess any LFS.

How about:
Sand substrate
Amazon Swords (they survive in my <1W/g), Java moss, Java fern.
6 small corries
6 Harlequin Rasboras

I've not kept those fish, but I was thinking recently what I might do if I had another tank to set up, and that was it

 

[FrAnK3333]

For plants you can not have all the lighting, youll have to do research though and make sure you get low lite plants. Congrats on the new tank. Id cycle it first and do some research on what fish you want.

 

[corykitty516]

Cories and tetras, Corys and tetras, Corys and tetras !!!!!!!

wheeeee *dances around room singing*



OK seriously

My FAVORITE tank has julii corydoras, pristella tetras, sand substrate, amazon sworn, java moss, java fern, & nothing special as far as lighting or fertilizer. I've just upgraded from a 10 to a 29 but all I'm adding to it is some otos when it gets more established.

Oh yeah and a heater because my house is FREAKING COLD all the time.

I need to lay off the valentine chocolate .... I'm getting a bit punchy here.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I guessed. Cardinals don't get NTD.

OK, looked through my book and I like....
Cherry Barbs
Dwarf Gouramis (I saw some today, for some reason males are more expensive...)
Angelfish (can't really have them because the tanks too small and I want communtiy fish)
Rams
All species of dwarf cichlids (esp. cockatoos)
glass catfish
Otos
Whiptails
UD catfish
All gobys

I am picking up the tank at 5ish, put up pics so you can get an idea of what I'm working with. I will have sand if I can, I really want black sand And hopefully I can go to the shop tomorrow and get a better idea of what I can buy.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Ok... got the tank. Looks OK, but I'm a bit doubtful...
There are some cracks in the base. Not too big but they worry me. I will be getting some cork tiles to put underneath the tank, so hopefully they won't spread, but do you think the tank will be OK with sand, water and fish in? And deco?
Also the filter is filthy, so that needs a blooming good scrub, not to metion new filter media. At least the hood has lights in it already. If they work.... And the gravel vac is not all there, they forgot to put the nozzle in!!!! So I'll need another..... I need more than I thought.... And it takes up nearly my whole desk.... Any hints anyone?

 

[Raechal]

I guessed. Cardinals don't get NTD.

OK, looked through my book and I like....
Cherry Barbs
Dwarf Gouramis (I saw some today, for some reason males are more expensive...)
Angelfish (can't really have them because the tanks too small and I want communtiy fish)
Rams
All species of dwarf cichlids (esp. cockatoos)
glass catfish
Otos
Whiptails
UD catfish
All gobys

I am picking up the tank at 5ish, put up pics so you can get an idea of what I'm working with. I will have sand if I can, I really want black sand And hopefully I can go to the shop tomorrow and get a better idea of what I can buy.

Cherry Barbs- You could get a school of these if you wanted. They look very pretty in schools of 5-6.
Dwarf Gouramis- A pair of dwarf gouramis would be very nice. Maybe get a male and female and see if they'll breed?
Angelfish- Yea, you're right. They would get way too big for a 15 gallon so these are definately out.
Rams- Most rams are very delicate and would benefit from a mature tank. I suggest not to get these as a starter fish.
All species of dwarf cichlids- Same as above.
glass catfish- Glass catfish also need very good water conditions. They also like to be in groups of ATLEAST 3, but I think 6 is better. These catfish can get up to 5 inches so I wouldn't get these for a 15 gallon.
Otos-Otos are very fragile fish. They can die for no reason, some people say. I also belive these fish like a mature tank of atleast 6 months. I suggest not to get these as a starter fish for your new 15 gallon.
Whiptails-??? I don't really know much about them.
UD catfish-??? I don't know much about them either.
All gobys- I think all gobies should have brackish water, but I am not sure.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Oh yes, I htink gobys are brackish....And I know about the fragile fish, I just want someone to suggest a good community tank before mum goes and makes me buy something silly like an angelfish, 2 neons and a silver shark

 

[Raechal]

I think you should get a pair of dwarf gouramis and maybe some pygmy cories.

Or the dwarf gouramis and the cherry barbs?

 

[FrAnK3333]

Why not cockatoos? I like mine. They have a lot of color and are cool fish. Dont go cory, go loach. Chain loaches would fit perfectly in your tank.

 

[newfishies]

i vote for corys...lots of personality and cleaning power!

 

[FrAnK3333]

Loaches have a lot of personality and plus they look cooler IMO plus they do an awesome job of cleaning.

 

[aloaring]

Well done on the new tank, i have a 20 gallon tank which i have recently set up and so far i have a school of pencil fish that are lovely little fish that colour up great and are already starting to breed and i've only had them 2 weeks, i also have two sparkling gourami which are gorgeous tiny fish smaller than the dwarf ones. I also have a whiptail catfish who just sits around and hangs out with the medusa plec (the medusa will probably get too big for my tank but at the mo is still small!!) I also have some shrimp in there and its quite heavily planted, theres some photos on this thread to give you an idea:
My tank
As for the cracks why not get some sealant and put that on them if you think you are going to worry to much but the cork tiles are a good idea!!