How Many Fish In A Small Starter 26L Tank?

[pongo]

Hello peeps, hope you all had a great christmas.
 
was Just wondering how many fish i could get in a 26l starter tank. My son wants to go and buy some tomorrow with his Christmas money.
Please could some one reccommend some suggestions for hardy and easy to look after starter fish.
Thanks in advance

 

[Essjay]

In a tank that small, you are looking at one betta (siamese fighting fish) or a shoal of one species of fish that don't grow very large. There is a list of fish suitable for small tanks here. Just one species of fish, not all of them together. Some are suitable for hard water, others for soft water. You can find out what your water hardness is from your water supplier's website; that will help you narrow down the list in the link.
 
Don't forget that if your son gets fish tomorrow, you will be doing a fish-in cycle with all the work that involves - see here. It would be much better if you could persuade your son to do a fishless cycle.
 
Do you have a fish tank? If you do, you could seed your son's filter with media from yours.

 

[Blubble37]

before you add fish, have you cycled the tank? if not, read up about fishless cycling on the forum.

for a 26L however, i recommend a maximum of six fish. small, of course, like, 6 female platy's at most
 
one betta splendens (siamese fighter) will be fine, no other fish in the tank or it will kill them. you need gravel and a heater also, i recommend black gravel and a 50 watt heater with a temperature scale. you will also need a thermometer, they do aquarium alcohol thermometers. you will also need plants. i reccomend making the gravel 1.5 inches thick and planting with small plants that stick close to the ground, and a couple of taller ones towards the back
 
can you give the flow rate for the filter and possibly a picture so i can determine if anything needs to happen with it other than cycling the filter. if the filter has a model number/name, that would help a lot
 
best of luck

getting fish tomorrow may result in deaths, much better to wait and set up a much nicer tank by fishless cycling

 

[PrairieSunflower]

See if you can organize to get mature media for your filter first before getting fish.  (Mature media is the stuff from in the filter, like floss or a sponge that houses the bacteria needed to process ammonia).  Places you may get this are, from friend's tanks, possibly buy some from your local fish shop.  If you do get some, you need to keep it wet in tank water (dechlorinated water) for the duration of the journey to your filter).  Only then, with mature media, will your tank be ready to take a fish that day.

 

[Blubble37]

See if you can organize to get mature media for your filter first before getting fish.  (Mature media is the stuff from in the filter, like floss or a sponge that houses the bacteria needed to process ammonia).  Places you may get this are, from friend's tanks, possibly buy some from your local fish shop.  If you do get some, you need to keep it wet in tank water (dechlorinated water) for the duration of the journey to your filter).  Only then, with mature media, will your tank be ready to take a fish that day.

+1. If you fill the filter with matured media, it will be okay to add fish, but not a lot of fish all in one go, also, keep an eye on the levels of ammonia and nitrite for a week or so after to make sure the media is active and working.

 

[Lillefishy]

before you add fish, have you cycled the tank? if not, read up about fishless cycling on the forum.
for a 26L however, i recommend a maximum of six fish. small, of course, like, 6 female platy's at most
 
best of luck
getting fish tomorrow may result in deaths, much better to wait and set up a much nicer tank by fishless cycling

6 females platys are way too many for such a small tank, I wouldn't put even one platy in 26 litres.
A single Betta or 6 chilli rasboras would be ok in a tank that size

 

[Blubble37]

 

before you add fish, have you cycled the tank? if not, read up about fishless cycling on the forum.
for a 26L however, i recommend a maximum of six fish. small, of course, like, 6 female platy's at most
 
best of luck
getting fish tomorrow may result in deaths, much better to wait and set up a much nicer tank by fishless cycling

6 females platys are way too many for such a small tank, I wouldn't put even one platy in 26 litres.
A single Betta or 6 chilli rasboras would be ok in a tank that size
 

platy's dont grow very big, just over an inch maybe, perhaps you're thinking of mollies, if so, i agree, i've had 3.5 inch long mollies before females won't breed either. 6 is the very most i'd put in, 3 is what i'd probably put in tbh, but only with good filtration

rasboras would look nice indeed, i have a feeling there are certain nano fish aswell..
 
another suggestion, if you can generate the flow they like, is WCMM's. they're temperate, small but also very pretty. 4 would do.

 

[Lillefishy]

I beg to differ, males stay around an inch but female platys can get to over 2" & I have seen them bigger

 

[Blubble37]

I beg to differ, males stay around an inch but female platys can get to over 2" & I have seen them bigger

I thank you for the knowledge, i was going from my own experience, the ones i have kept have grown to about 1.5 inches at the very most, with a lot remaining at 1 inch. will be remembered for the future

 

[pongo]

Cheers for all the advice people. sorry forgot to say that the tank is now fully cycled took about 5-6 weeks. as with most people new to this hobby we set up the tank added all the chemicals and waited three days then bought 2 Gold Neon Barbs. The fish seem to be ok and have grown slightly. Any advice on some more fish that will go with the Gold barbs would be appreciated.

 

[tunagirll]

Golden Barbs are a shoaling fish that need to be kept in a group of at least 5 - they grow to around 3 inches and need a large tank as they are very active swimmers. They aren't suited to a small tank unfortunately!

I have a 28 litre planted tank with a betta and three kuhli loaches; the loaches will need to go to a larger tank once they've grown more. Check out the link provided earlier for suitable nano fish or look at shrimp