A 60 Litre Tank To Be Filled...

[frida]

Hi!

I'm completely new to this forum and to the world of fish keeping (well, at least at home - I work in a Danio rerio lab so used to handling fish on a daily basis)

Anyway, I am thinking of getting a 60 litre tank sometime in the future (probably not for another two or three months... I know, I tend to plan ahead! ) but unsure of what kind of fish would be suitable.

I had my heart set on purple emperor tetra (Impaichthys kerri) and the praecox rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox) - maybe having three of each in the tank but I am having second thoughts. Will they need more room? If so, what are the ideal conditions?

If you were to set up a tank of 60L, what would you have in it? I'd be interested in colourful fishes or fishes that are interesting to observe. I'm really open to ideas and being educated so don't hold back on your comments!

Thanks!
Frida

 

[mayurkirti]

Hi!

I'm completely new to this forum and to the world of fish keeping (well, at least at home - I work in a Danio rerio lab so used to handling fish on a daily basis)

Anyway, I am thinking of getting a 60 litre tank sometime in the future (probably not for another two or three months... I know, I tend to plan ahead! ) but unsure of what kind of fish would be suitable.

I had my heart set on purple emperor tetra (Impaichthys kerri) and the praecox rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox) - maybe having three of each in the tank but I am having second thoughts. Will they need more room? If so, what are the ideal conditions?

If you were to set up a tank of 60L, what would you have in it? I'd be interested in colourful fishes or fishes that are interesting to observe. I'm really open to ideas and being educated so don't hold back on your comments!

Thanks!
Frida

Congrats and good luck! You will need to decide saltwater or freshwater. The fish that you talked about are freshwater, but there are lots of interesting saltwater fish species that you might want to keep too.

Its good that you planning ahead of time. You can first decide what kind of fish you want and how many, and then buy a tank based on that.

 

[Ed Green]

Hello

What about some Scarlet badis (dario dario)? they are tiny and colourful and interesting to watch and not everyone has them. Personally I think they are very cute and look like a small cichlid.

Other more experienced fish keepers might correct me but I think you could keep a German Blue Ram or two in a 60l tank, provided it was matured for a while. I keep nano tanks so cant get one of these little fish but if I had a big enough tank would jump at them - they are beautiful!

 

[frida]

Hello again! Thanks for your replies

mayurkirti: I think I want to stick to my idea of having a 60 litre tank with freshwater. I think that's what I can afford in terms of expense and space.

Ed Green: Wow, the fish you suggested are beautiful! I never hear of Scarlet badis before - are they quite unusual? They seem really cute, I like the sound of them being interesting to watch
The German blue ram looks amazing too. Could a couple of these co-exist with some (say 4?) scarlet badis or is that overcrowding?

Hmm... Seems like it's going to be harder than I thought to get the right fish! There are so many amazing ones to choose from!

Thanks for the replies though

 

[bagu]

german blue rams are soft water fish. its a pair of german blue rams to 20gallons; so your tank will be too small

 

[mayurkirti]

i am pretty sure these are not real fish ...jk, I dont think I can find them here.

 

[Ed Green]

Hello again! Thanks for your replies

mayurkirti: I think I want to stick to my idea of having a 60 litre tank with freshwater. I think that's what I can afford in terms of expense and space.

Ed Green: Wow, the fish you suggested are beautiful! I never hear of Scarlet badis before - are they quite unusual? They seem really cute, I like the sound of them being interesting to watch
The German blue ram looks amazing too. Could a couple of these co-exist with some (say 4?) scarlet badis or is that overcrowding?

Hmm... Seems like it's going to be harder than I thought to get the right fish! There are so many amazing ones to choose from!

Thanks for the replies though

Ok well as someone said up there Rams need a bit more room apparently. I hear they are fussy little buggers too. They are on my list of fish to keep one day.

The Badis on the other hand are easy to keep. They grow very small ( about 2cm) so you can get a bunch of them. They love planted tanks so if you can get a nice green jungle in the tank for them they will act as they would naturally and their colours will show much better

Google them - there is plenty of info on them. Where about are you from? Might be able to point you in the direction of some for sale. I haven’t seen them in many peoples tanks although i hear they are more common on the mainland. they aren’t aggressive fish and make little territories for themselves - you will do well to find females so would probably end up with a bunch of males - happy to live together though.


Other suggestions - what about a small shoal? If you get something like 5 emerald dwarf resorba

or Galaxy Rasbora

Your smaller tank will look a lot bigger and nothing beats a nice shoaling fish!

 

[frida]

It does look like I need to do some serious research here! But thanks so much for the suggestions - it gives me ideas and something to start from

I really like the sound of the scarlet badis though, I've been googling them a bit. I'm based in the UK (Cambridge), any idea where I could get them from?

Hmm, shame about the German Blue Ram - I guess it will have to go on my "future dream tank" list!

The emerald dwarf rasbora is stunning too! Hehe, it is funny how I seem to be falling in love with all the pretty fishes I come across! This is truly not going to be an easy task...

Anyway, thanks again for the advice you are all giving me, this is such a friendly and helpful forum!!

 

[didz04]

Hi, i have been keeping fish for over a year now and what i have seen is that having shoaling fish are really nice, but i seem to prefer to keep the type of fish that just do there own thing which is more exciting to watch and to see how they interact with each other.
Since you are just starting and looking ahead is really good and you are on one of the best forums to get advice where everyone replies lol. Yeah the fish that Ed green posted are really nice including that Scarlet badis, which i might look at to. But since you are a beginner, i think that the best fish to get would be a guppy as you might of heard of. I know its a very common fish but i have had them and found them to be very entertaining, including there interacting with other fish is entertaining to watch. They are very colourful fish which would be the male, the female can be colourful but for the colours to come out well for the male, you will need a female. The only issue with these as they breed like mad, so you may need an extra tank if you want to keep the babies alive or sometimes they dont get eaten so leaving them in the tank wouldn't be a bad idea.

Another type that would be really nice for your tank would be a shrimp, they are also easy to keep and very nice in colours just like the cherry shrimp, which are small but beautiful red on them. Another shrimp that would be very nice is a wood shrimp or other names are bamboo and fan shrimps. Ive seen this shrimp go all different colours from brown to red and even green. When the bamboo shrimp is at its best, it will go into a very nice bright reddy orange colour with a white stripe on its back which really stands out. These are very interesting types to watch including with million legs that come out when it swims.
Also one more fish that would be nice is the siamese fighting fish which go for the male, they are very beautiful too in colours, and don't get put off by the name fighting lol. But only get one male and you will be all good.
I think i have said enough for you to read and i hope this helps.

 

[Ed Green]

It does look like I need to do some serious research here! But thanks so much for the suggestions - it gives me ideas and something to start from

I really like the sound of the scarlet badis though, I've been googling them a bit. I'm based in the UK (Cambridge), any idea where I could get them from?

Hmm, shame about the German Blue Ram - I guess it will have to go on my "future dream tank" list!

The emerald dwarf rasbora is stunning too! Hehe, it is funny how I seem to be falling in love with all the pretty fishes I come across! This is truly not going to be an easy task...

Anyway, thanks again for the advice you are all giving me, this is such a friendly and helpful forum!!

you can get dario dario from an online fish shop - type buy tropical fish into google and it is the second option.

yer shame about blue rams there isnt anything else quite like them - they look almost like a marine fish to me. oh well one day!

 

[frida]

you can get dario dario from an online fish shop - type buy tropical fish into google and it is the second option.

yer shame about blue rams there isnt anything else quite like them - they look almost like a marine fish to me. oh well one day!

Hi again Ed - do you mean: http/www.directtropicals.co.uk (just wondering because I think google results can be different depending on what parameters you use). Have you bought from them before? Do the fish arrive in good health? They certainly seem to have some competitive prices there.

Thanks again with all the ideas and help - I now need to look for a good tank and then wait until I move into my new house before I can even cycle & then finally get the fish... Seems like a long time to wait! I'm sure it'll all be worth it though!

Frida

 

[Ed Green]

you can get dario dario from an online fish shop - type buy tropical fish into google and it is the second option.

yer shame about blue rams there isnt anything else quite like them - they look almost like a marine fish to me. oh well one day!

Hi again Ed - do you mean: [URL="http/www.directtropicals.co.uk"]http/www.directtropicals.co.uk[/URL] (just wondering because I think google results can be different depending on what parameters you use). Have you bought from them before? Do the fish arrive in good health? They certainly seem to have some competitive prices there.

Thanks again with all the ideas and help - I now need to look for a good tank and then wait until I move into my new house before I can even cycle & then finally get the fish... Seems like a long time to wait! I'm sure it'll all be worth it though!

Frida

Yer that’s the place. I haven’t ordered from them but will be doing next Tuesday. I will let you know if they get to me in poor condition. I have spoken to them and they seem to be very helpful/knowledgeable.

Good luck with your wait! I hate waiting for things – this hobby has taught me that sometimes you just have no choice!

 

[Glassman]

Hello

What about some Scarlet badis (dario dario)? they are tiny and colourful and interesting to watch and not everyone has them. Personally I think they are very cute and look like a small cichlid.

Other more experienced fish keepers might correct me but I think you could keep a German Blue Ram or two in a 60l tank, provided it was matured for a while. I keep nano tanks so cant get one of these little fish but if I had a big enough tank would jump at them - they are beautiful!

I have a pair of the German Blue Rams and a pair of the Scarlet Badis in a 37 Gallon tank. They get along OK together, there is some chasing but not one gets hurt. The scarlets when they do find each other will put on a show for you, and you are right the Rams are beautiful.

 

[frida]

Ed: I'd be really interested to know how the fish arrive from directtropicals. Hehe, talk about having to be patient... I guess it's a good thing that the hobby teaches us

Glassman: I do love the sound of the Scarlet Badis! Are they difficult to keep in your opinion? I have heard that they don't like flakes and pellets (although I can't see this being a big problem as I prefer the idea of feeding my fish frozen or live foods)