New 70L Tank - advice

[MikSmith85]

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Hi All

I am new to the forum, and am seeking some advice on a new 70L (15 ish UK gallons) tank I am going to be setting up. Some of my questions are quite beginner like, hence posting this here

I am not entirely new to fishkeeping, my family having had a large tropical tank in my childhood, but there has been a fair gap between that and inheriting a small 40L tank from the in laws earlier this year. The tank had been established successfully for years and was only dormant for a few days before I set it up (the filter was kept wet), so after adding new decor etc decided to test if it had an active cycle, and lo and behold, it seemingly did.

Being concious of over stocking, I monitored the tank for a while, and as all was well, I purchased 2 platies (which my children named of course, making the next bit of the story all the more harrowing) and watched with pleasure for a number of months.

Ultimately, as you would expect, the sheer stress of monitoring the water conditions nearly consumed me (the kids were fine, BTW). I would have weeks of perfect readings, before one day casually checking, seeing a massive ammonia spike and having to dash to do a water change when in a shirt and trousers, and should be on my way to work.

Daffodil and Bubble (told you it was harrowing) lasted about 8 months, before both succumbed to Ich recently. I simply struggled to get an outbreak under control, I am assuming one of the aforementioned spikes occurred and made them more susceptible to Ich and they weren't able to shake it off.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we are having our kitchen renovated, and I have just agreed to buy a second hand 70L tank from one village over for a really good price as the owners are upgrading. So I am looking to make a bit of a feature of it in the new open plan kitchen diner which will be done by end of Nov (FYI we also have a tortoise and a truly beautiful cat, so I am resigned to the fact the new kitchen or me might actually be the last thing people look at when they come over). I intend to plant the tank which I didn't do in the nano. I am in no rush to set it up, my experience with the Platies has reignited my interest in the hobby, so I would like to take a measured approach, especially given in hindsight my less measured approach earlier this year. I fully appreciate no aquarium will be stress and certainly not work free, but I am sure if I take a considered approach I can cause myself less stress than I did earlier this year.

But here is where I would like some community advice on a number of matters:

1 - I intend to get a stand/cabinet, meaning I can hide pumps etc if needed. What does the community recommend as the best option for filtration on a tank of this size? The nano had a decent enough clip on, but it looks ugly, and I probably need something a bit meatier in the bigger tank
2 - Other than aesthetically, do blue "night" LED lights have any benefit whatsoever?
3 - the exciting bit - the fish. I try and involve the kids in the various animal husbandry practices, so I like their opinion as well. My eldest is keen on something with "personality" - a broad church, I know - so we had a chat with someone at an LFS this weekend about Betta fish, and dwarf puffers. Any thoughts/advice on keeping either species? My wife and kids are keen on puffers
4 - Assuming I do go with one of the species above (FWIW, I pretty desperately want a Betta) - what possible tank mates and stocking levels should I consider? Obviously I would only ever intend to get 1 x Betta.... I have read about Otocinclus as a possible mate for both, but conscious of them being a shoaling fish and their appetites, I don't want to push bioload too much. I had also read of recommendations of a number of tetras to consider
5 - any other recommendations of some cool combinations I could consider?

Thank you for reading my ramblings, and I thank you in advance for any advice

Mik

 

[Fish Fanatic34]

​

Hi All

I am new to the forum, and am seeking some advice on a new 70L (15 ish UK gallons) tank I am going to be setting up. Some of my questions are quite beginner like, hence posting this here

I am not entirely new to fishkeeping, my family having had a large tropical tank in my childhood, but there has been a fair gap between that and inheriting a small 40L tank from the in laws earlier this year. The tank had been established successfully for years and was only dormant for a few days before I set it up (the filter was kept wet), so after adding new decor etc decided to test if it had an active cycle, and lo and behold, it seemingly did.

Being concious of over stocking, I monitored the tank for a while, and as all was well, I purchased 2 platies (which my children named of course, making the next bit of the story all the more harrowing) and watched with pleasure for a number of months.

Ultimately, as you would expect, the sheer stress of monitoring the water conditions nearly consumed me (the kids were fine, BTW). I would have weeks of perfect readings, before one day casually checking, seeing a massive ammonia spike and having to dash to do a water change when in a shirt and trousers, and should be on my way to work.

Daffodil and Bubble (told you it was harrowing) lasted about 8 months, before both succumbed to Ich recently. I simply struggled to get an outbreak under control, I am assuming one of the aforementioned spikes occurred and made them more susceptible to Ich and they weren't able to shake it off.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we are having our kitchen renovated, and I have just agreed to buy a second hand 70L tank from one village over for a really good price as the owners are upgrading. So I am looking to make a bit of a feature of it in the new open plan kitchen diner which will be done by end of Nov (FYI we also have a tortoise and a truly beautiful cat, so I am resigned to the fact the new kitchen or me might actually be the last thing people look at when they come over). I intend to plant the tank which I didn't do in the nano. I am in no rush to set it up, my experience with the Platies has reignited my interest in the hobby, so I would like to take a measured approach, especially given in hindsight my less measured approach earlier this year. I fully appreciate no aquarium will be stress and certainly not work free, but I am sure if I take a considered approach I can cause myself less stress than I did earlier this year.

But here is where I would like some community advice on a number of matters:

1 - I intend to get a stand/cabinet, meaning I can hide pumps etc if needed. What does the community recommend as the best option for filtration on a tank of this size? The nano had a decent enough clip on, but it looks ugly, and I probably need something a bit meatier in the bigger tank
2 - Other than aesthetically, do blue "night" LED lights have any benefit whatsoever?
3 - the exciting bit - the fish. I try and involve the kids in the various animal husbandry practices, so I like their opinion as well. My eldest is keen on something with "personality" - a broad church, I know - so we had a chat with someone at an LFS this weekend about Betta fish, and dwarf puffers. Any thoughts/advice on keeping either species? My wife and kids are keen on puffers
4 - Assuming I do go with one of the species above (FWIW, I pretty desperately want a Betta) - what possible tank mates and stocking levels should I consider? Obviously I would only ever intend to get 1 x Betta.... I have read about Otocinclus as a possible mate for both, but conscious of them being a shoaling fish and their appetites, I don't want to push bioload too much. I had also read of recommendations of a number of tetras to consider
5 - any other recommendations of some cool combinations I could consider?

Thank you for reading my ramblings, and I thank you in advance for any advice

Mik

Hi I am wondering if you where looking at a male or female betta ?

 

[MikSmith85]

Hi I am wondering if you where looking at a male or female betta ?

Thanks for the reply - male, probably

 

[BigJfish12]

If it is a male betta it is best kept without other fish species due to its aggressive nature, you might be able to keep it with shrimp and snails but each betta has its temperament. If you provide water parameters we will be able to provide more help with stocking options.

 

[MikSmith85]

If it is a male betta it is best kept without other fish species due to its aggressive nature, you might be able to keep it with shrimp and snails but each betta has its temperament. If you provide water parameters we will be able to provide more help with stocking options.

Obviously no tank set up currently, but my tap water is:

7.0-7.5 Ph
general hardness - 180-200

so pretty hard water area. The above is pretty consistent with the readings I'd get out of my previous set up

 

[Essjay]

180 - 200 ppm is the same as 10 - 11 dH for those who prefer that unit.

It's sort of middling, not very hard but not soft either. It's too soft for some hard water fish (mollies being the typical example)

Other than aesthetically, do blue "night" LED lights have any benefit whatsoever?

No it doesn't. In a tank with no live plants, blue light like other colours will encourage algae if left on too long. In a tank with live plants, if there's too much blue and not enough red, that will encourage algae at the expense of the plants. Aquarium plants need both red and blue to flourish, but algae can can thrive with just blue.

Betta fish, and dwarf puffers.

BigJfish has mentioned bettas; puffers also need a single species tank as they can and will bite chunks out of tank mates. If you don't mind a tank with just puffers, they would be OK in the new tank.
If you still have the 40 litre tank, that would be perfect for either a single male betta or a small group of dwarf puffers and have something else in the new tank

 

[MikSmith85]

BigJfish has mentioned bettas; puffers also need a single species tank as they can and will bite chunks out of tank mates. If you don't mind a tank with just puffers, they would be OK in the new tank.
If you still have the 40 litre tank, that would be perfect for either a single male betta or a small group of dwarf puffers and have something else in the new tank

Thanks for the reply - initially I will just run the 70L to focus on getting that right, but absolutely will keep the 40L, and have designs in my head of setting it up in my daughters room at some point in the future, where perhaps she can have her own fish