27 Litre Recommendations

[JoeDaniels]

Hello all, I have recently purchased a very small 27 Litre tank and am soon receiving a larger tank, within this tank at the moment is a filter/pump with spray bar( for the oxygen), a 25w heater, an external thermometer, some fern(more added soon), natural coloured gravel and a nice back piece. At current I have 0 fish in this tank reason being I am testing to prepare the perfect conditions( which I now believe I have fount). To this tank I am going to add a betta( siemese fighting fish), a bristlenose pleco and maybe some neon tetra( not recommended I know but I like them) and/ or maybe some new bred guppy a friend has. The reason I post this is because I would really appreciate anyone's input on whether they agree or have improvements for my tank?? And yes I know it's small but my large one isn't ready just yet.
Thanks
JoeDaniels
P.s I have also put this in members freshwater forum as it is my first post and wasn't 100% sure where to put it haha.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Hello all, I have recently purchased a very small 27 Litre tank and am soon receiving a larger tank, within this tank at the moment is a filter/pump with spray bar( for the oxygen), a 25w heater, an external thermometer, some fern(more added soon), natural coloured gravel and a nice back piece. At current I have 0 fish in this tank reason being I am testing to prepare the perfect conditions( which I now believe I have fount). To this tank I am going to add a betta( siemese fighting fish), a bristlenose pleco and maybe some neon tetra( not recommended I know but I like them) and/ or maybe some new bred guppy a friend has. The reason I post this is because I would really appreciate anyone's input on whether they agree or have improvements for my tank?? And yes I know it's small but my large one isn't ready just yet.
Thanks
JoeDaniels
P.s I have also put this in members freshwater forum as it is my first post and wasn't 100% sure where to put it haha.

If your tank isn't fully cycled, I'd suggest you read the link below so that it's prepared for your betta.

Tips and tricks for your fastest fishless cycle!

Just a note, bettas actually breath air, so it's important to have a calm surface area in some part of your tank.

 

[JoeDaniels]

Thanks for the tips, my plan was to grab the guppy from the other tank to speed the process up a little but then realised that guppy and betta are a no no. Also I have read that due to the betta's ability to live in puddles etc etc this makes them an extremely hardy fish and gives them the ability to live in varying conditions as long as there is no chlorine etc and there is space for the fish to get to the surface and get it's oxygen things would be ok and it would naturally build up the tank. Is this definitely a no no or would the fish be ok ? Then I could slowly add to it. Also would grabbing a few litres from a healthy older tank work ?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Thanks for the tips, my plan was to grab the guppy from the other tank to speed the process up a little but then realised that guppy and betta are a no no. Also I have read that due to the betta's ability to live in puddles etc etc this makes them an extremely hardy fish and gives them the ability to live in varying conditions as long as there is no chlorine etc and there is space for the fish to get to the surface and get it's oxygen things would be ok and it would naturally build up the tank. Is this definitely a no no or would the fish be ok ? Then I could slowly add to it. Also would grabbing a few litres from a healthy older tank work ?

If you have a stable tank you can resource for bacteria, you can instant cycle the 27L in about 30 minutes. I know, I've done it 3 or 4 times .

Get a 50/50 mix of cured tank water and dechlorinated water into the new tank and some "dirty gravel/a piece of decco" and put it in too. If you have an extra filter on the healthy tank, use as much media from it as will fit in the new filter, if not garb no more than 50% from the healthy tanks filter (or as much as will fit) and add it to the new system. The latter may cause a mini cycle, but IMO/E it'll be minimal at worst.

Get all that into you 27L, let it run for an hour or so, test it (liquid test kits are best IMO) and you should be ready for fish.

I've had great luck with Cardinal Tetras (farm raised, not wild caught), ghost shrimp and nerite snails with my betta. Here's a link to my betta tank if you want to see what I've done.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...val-ebi-with-betta-as-centerpiece-146503.html

 

[JoeDaniels]

Awesome that helped a lot, thanks now have to find some healthy water as my friend just told me he can't do it till next week :/ grrrrr, I'll text another friend, this should be fun, so you don't recommend the bristlenose or neons with the betta ? What about a ruby/red tailed shark that could be moved into the new tank next month ??

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Awesome that helped a lot, thanks now have to find some healthy water as my friend just told me he can't do it till next week :/ grrrrr, I'll text another friend, this should be fun, so you don't recommend the bristlenose or neons with the betta ? What about a ruby/red tailed shark that could be moved into the new tank next month ??

Your 5g tank is pretty small, so the BN is out IMO and I was warned against neons with bettas (Cards are docile and 3 are fine IMO). The RTS is a definite no-no from what I've read, they're very aggressive. I think a couple Ghost shrimp or RCS would be a better choice. The rule with bettas is, any fish with a flashy tail/fins will PO the betta lol.

 

[JoeDaniels]

Oh right now I get it haha, can I grab some of your water out of your betta tank hahaha that is a piece of art. Anywho back to business so no neons no bristlenose and yes red tails are very aggressive and there fin nippers so thinking about it not good trying to think of the perfect combo :/ do you think there is any chance of me getting this tank ready in two days ? Or should I just forget the betta and go with a different combo ? By the way thanks for all this as we gotta start somewhere haha.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Oh right now I get it haha, can I grab some of your water out of your betta tank hahaha that is a piece of art. Anywho back to business so no neons no bristlenose and yes red tails are very aggressive and there fin nippers so thinking about it not good trying to think of the perfect combo :/ do you think there is any chance of me getting this tank ready in two days ? Or should I just forget the betta and go with a different combo ? By the way thanks for all this as we gotta start somewhere haha.

If you can follow what I posted (instant cycling), then you can have it ready in a couple hours. I think the 5g is a perfect size for a betta and a small school of fish. I recommended the Cards, only because I know they do well with my betta and other may have a different suggestion.

One thing I did forget to mention is the unwritten rule of posting pics, especially with new builds lol.

 

[JoeDaniels]

Ok so cards it is with my betta then haha and yeah have tried but my iPhone won't let me upload the pic :/ apparently there is an issue with the forum runner plug in and I should contact an admin :/ otherwise I would most definitely have a pic, I'll try via the official site and not the app. So anything I can add to the tank that you think would go well with the betta, got any tips that could help for anything ? Finding it hard to find someone with a tank now :/ haha

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Ok so cards it is with my betta then haha and yeah have tried but my iPhone won't let me upload the pic :/ apparently there is an issue with the forum runner plug in and I should contact an admin :/ otherwise I would most definitely have a pic, I'll try via the official site and not the app. So anything I can add to the tank that you think would go well with the betta, got any tips that could help for anything ? Finding it hard to find someone with a tank now :/ haha

Plants are a great choice. My betta loves to "tangle" itself up in the Italian vals I have planted. They like keep themselves submerged using things like that lol.

I have a droid and the app is all jacked up for me too. I hope they fix it soon, I'm not a big fan of the website .

 

[JoeDaniels]

Yeah it's being a pain in the rear, hope the fern might do that for me then and I'll get a load more. Just had a right result got off the phone from my best mate and remembered his dad has had an aquarium for about 10 years and it's seriously healthy and a large tank and he is gonna give me some water and some gravel so that should be a massive bonus