hi all i was wondering what do you suggest i do with my 55L i want some idea of my options before buying fish i need to have chosen and setup by the 25th so i figured ide better start. since i know there are ALOT of options let me give you an idea of what i want. any ideas will be apreaciated though. i would like a breeding tank but i want it to be pretty at the same time. i was thinking planted with colourful fish with preferably interesting behaviour. but im open to any other ideas. so far ive got a UGF, silica sand/fine gravel sustrate a heater and a light (i dont know the wattages there not new and i couldent find the boxes) my current ph is somewhere between 7.5 and 8.0 but i can easily soften the water. FISH= a fetherfin cat and a spiney eel i also have 6 black neons but there soon being reahomed.
Why dont you try guppies. They are colourful. You can also try dwarf chiclids(kribensis) but then you must remove the undergravel filter as they like to dig int he sand and when the UGF is exposed it will not do the job. Stay away from africa chcilids. they need tanks of 100L per breeding pair. I dont know what your experience is, but you can also try rams or tetras
pH and Water hardness are 2 completely different things. You can have extremely soft water, and still have a high pH. Don't play around with changing pH. As long as your pH stays C~O~N~S~T~A~N~T... your fish will be fine. (If you are keeping more fussy fish, then you need to look at buffering the pH) You are obviously aware that your current fish will outgrow that tank... so rehoming them will be the most humane thing to do right now. FOr that size tank, I would say getting Guppies would give you the prettiest tank, and the easiest to raise the fry in. Any egg laying fish prefer to have their own tank to raise their fry, and the chance of survival is much higher. Guppies on the other hand are livebearers, are small, and well, breed like guppies.
i think if you should have 6-8 congo tetra's in that tank, you would be very very happy.. they look gorgeous! especially if you have a purple or blue or pink light to offset their colors! got some pics off the net
+1 On the guppies.. IMO its the best starter fish.. it'll help u learn alot and prepare u for other "harder fish" dont worry, we all start somewhere
perhaps i was thinking that a species only tank would be less problems, they are beautiful fish as well. mixed fish often have varying requirements.. to what size do congo tetra's grow? i've only ever seen them at about 5cm also, with a mixed species tank, wouldnt one be tempted to keep adding more and more fish?
ok i know this sounds stupid but SO many people breed guppies. i do like guppies but not JUST guppies could i put something else with them.
I have seen congo's at 8cm but it was in a 2m tank. They only look that amazing big though ( I think.)
hmm 8cm.. that would look awesome, but i think you are correct, a 55L tank would be too small for them at that size.. they would probably get bored of having nowhere to swim and explore, and just sort of hover there going nowhere.. i've seen it in our own tank with malawis, when their tank was too small. upgrading to a bigger tank changed their behavior drastically..
2 trios of any kind of Fundulopanchax gardneri would be my suggestion. They do ok and will breed in hardish water. pH not a issue
