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What is suitable for a small 18-20litre tank?

eatyourpeas said:
I have discovered bookshelf tanks and found them amazing! They do not have much height and depth, but make up for it in swimming width. My 3 gallon works great for my pea puffer, with twice a week water changes and good filtration. There are different sizes of bookshelf tanks, so that may be an option to consider.
:fish:
... and I still kept the books!
Click to expand...
I may be looking for something similar (long and narrow) for my shelves soon as I’m thinking of starting a heterandria Formosa only tank to give any fry a fighting chance of survival.
Sort of 250x560x?mm /8”x22”x?.
 
Small tanks are do-able - with the right fish. Guppies and platies are unfortunately not suitable for 10 litres/2.6 gallons. Pea/dwarf puffers are just about OK with a lot of maintenance as they are messy eaters - and they need hard water.

Please ignore, replied to the wrong thread :blush:
 
Last edited:
eatyourpeas said:
I have discovered bookshelf tanks and found them amazing! They do not have much height and depth, but make up for it in swimming width. My 3 gallon works great for my pea puffer, with twice a week water changes and good filtration. There are different sizes of bookshelf tanks, so that may be an option to consider.
:fish:
... and I still kept the books!
Click to expand...
Have you any manufacturer names? Website details etc? I’m in U.K. so it’d probably just be for ideas etc if I could see a few.
 
essjay said:
Small tanks are do-able - with the right fish. Guppies and platies are unfortunately not suitable for 10 litres/2.6 gallons. Pea/dwarf puffers are just about OK with a lot of maintenance as they are messy eaters - and they need hard water.
Click to expand...
Dwarf puffers, according to SF, need at least 3.3 gallons (12.6). A bigger tank is recommended though. I guess you could skate by with 1 puffer in that tank, but it would take a lot of work to keep that tank clean and the little guy healthy,
 
PheonixKingZ said:
Dwarf puffers, according to SF, need at least 3.3 gallons (12.6). A bigger tank is recommended though. I guess you could skate by with 1 puffer in that tank, but it would take a lot of work to keep that tank clean and the little guy healthy,
Click to expand...
Yes, I am aware of it. I am pretty good at keeping up with his water/tank parameters. I welcome the time I get to spend with Nicodemus so it does not feel like a chore, but definitely not for everyone.

This is his tank, an Aquatop 3 gal, one internal and one sponge filter to home the ostracods he loves to eat, in addition to snails:

tank3gs.jpg
And the bit himself:
nicodemus-s.jpg
 
Geemance said:
Hi all,

I have always wanted to keep tropical fish and thought I would start small. I am looking into getting an 18/20 litre tank and I’m looking for advice as to wether this will be large enough to keep 3 guppies.
I have researched online but different sources have different answers. I would also love to own some neon tetras but I have doubts as to wether the tank would be big enough for a small group of these as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...
Have you thought about shrimp? More interesting than you first think.
 
Hi everyone thank you so much for your replies, I have been doing more research in the meanwhile, the water where I live is considered very hard water so I’m looking into getting a betta, as they will be ‘betta’ suited to the hard water conditions and tank size is more suitable for a single betta than a small group of guppies or something similar.
I have also found a 24 litre tank that I think will be more suitable and will fit the small space in my house :)
 
Bettas are really soft water fish, but commercially bred fish (ie virtually all the bettas in shops) can take water up to 260 ppm/15 dH.
Do you know how hard your water is? Your water company's website should tell you - the unit of measurement may well not be the same as those used in fish keeping so we might need to convert the number.
 
Shrimps are best for small tank and they are more interesting to watch than fish.
 
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