55 gallon to a 12 gallon Fluval

[MulliganAl]

Hello everyone,

I'm a new guy on the block but have been an aquarium guy for almost 40 years and there have been very few time in that 40 years when I didn't have some type of tank or tanks.

Well, my wife and I recently did some home renovations and part of it required that I take down my 55 gallon tank, I just don't have time, energy or space for a larger tank anymore.

So I was kinda' bummed out and the house felt very empty without a tank, when low and behold my wife bought me a 46L Fluval as an early birthday gift.; yea I know, she's a keeper. Since we travel a good bit a 46L affords me the benefits of still having a tank while the time needed to maintain it will be a good bit less (time required do water changes at least).

But I have a few question that I'm sure you guys can assist me with.
1) I'm guessing the stock lighting is not sufficient for plants so what additional light source would you recommend and what output should I be looking for to complement the stock light fixture?

2) What fish choices would you suggest and how many can normally be place in a 46L upright Fluval tank since there is limited surface space? I'm looking to do a combination of fish, snails, shrimp, plants and some moss balls if possible. I was hoping to be able do just two med size fish like angels but I'm thinking the tank is not large enough for them.

Since my wife is Korean I'm trying to do a nice Asian theme for her and unfortunately she had he heart set on a few fancy goldfish but I had to disappoint her and let her know the tank was way way to small for goldfish, but she does like plants in the tank so that will make her happy.

Thanks in advance for the help everyone and I look forward to being part of the community.

 

[Freakgecko91]

Blue eyed rice fish!


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[TheresaM]

I have a Spec 5 with stock lighting, tank is planted with dwarf sag, subwassertang, a moss ball plus floating baby tears and salvinia minima.

Shrimp and snails would be fine, just keep in mind that shrimp do best when added to an established tank.

You could do a nice-sized group of some sort of micro rasbora; sparkling gouramis are also an option. In any fish/shrimp setup shrimplets will most likely get eaten. Safety of adult shrimp depends on what type of fish.