Taking the plunge....

[DepotFish]

I've got four in one 5.5 gallon tank. Here's my red roundtail girl. Sorry about picture quality.

The blue/white marble girl with purple girl in background. This was before I added plants.

What I did for plants was I cut a piece of plastic canvas to fit and hung individual plant branches upside down for an interesting looking tank. Plants or caves are a must so girls can get away if another is in a bullying mood.

 

[DeFeKt]

Short summary would be, "If you dont do it, your fish will die / become diseased. Either way, it'll cost you more £££ not cycling."

Harsh..Cycling is more then possible with minimum stress provided you can keep an eye on and stay ontop of the cycle.

A better summary would be, "If you don't cycle, you fish MAY be stressed due to chemical poisoning. This can let down the fish's immune system and lead to disease which, on odd occasions, MAY mean death"

Alot more effective isn't it...

~Matt

 

[2cvbloke]

Been looking at Bettas on GoogleImages and they're too frilly for me (at least the ones that appeared in the search are)...

Anyways, I've been going through the equipment my mum has spare in her empty tank and she has a heater in there, so IF I wanted to get some fish that wanted warm water I could just nick off with that (that's a UK term for taking without asking... )...

As for Cycling the tank, I'll have to print them articles out and take them home with me (I don't have internet access at home at the moment...) but as it'll give me a few weeks to decide on fish I'll also be able to save up for some bits to add to the tank (like this cool skull I found on eBay from the same seller as the tank) and a couple of plants...

ALSO, I'll be going to a Car boot sale (Boot = Trunk) on Sunday at my local sports centre to see if there are any 2nd hand tanks incase I can't get the tank I want, there's occasionally a few tanks, but not often though...

 

[JustOneMore20]

For that amount of money, I think you could find a bigger tank. That's alot for a 5.7g tank. A bigger tank would allow you more stocking options.

A standard 10g tank is only 20 inches long. It doesn't take up an enormous amount of space. It would atleast allow you more options than just a betta. You could have a school of small fish in a 10g.

Like the others told you, loaches get too large for a 5.7g tank. All of them. The only fish suited for that size would be:

-1 male betta
-few male Endlers
-couple of male guppies
-1 female betta
-snails
-dwarf rasboras (not sure on this one)

I would also tell your mom that her tank is very overstocked. Even one goldfish gets too large for a 5g tank. They may seem happy now...but they will die an early death for being cramped in a little tank.

 

[DepotFish]

You must have been looking at male bettas. I also think they are too frilly. Females are much different.

 

[Tomiam]

Short summary would be, "If you dont do it, your fish will die / become diseased. Either way, it'll cost you more £££ not cycling."

Harsh..Cycling is more then possible with minimum stress provided you can keep an eye on and stay ontop of the cycle.

A better summary would be, "If you don't cycle, you fish MAY be stressed due to chemical poisoning. This can let down the fish's immune system and lead to disease which, on odd occasions, MAY mean death"

Alot more effective isn't it...

~Matt

Perhaps my words could come across as harsh, but in a tank the size that the OP is considering, I personally would consider 'not cycling' a very poor decision.
Well.. bottom line would be 'not cycling' is a poor option in ANY new tank.

 

[Big Ben]

get a few guppies if you're keeping coldwater. But make sure the tank you get them from is coldwatered. I would recommend getting at least a 10 gal. That's what I started out with and it isn't hard to keep clean at all. I would suggest getting a heater, there are so many more options for fish. You can get decent heaters for not that bad, my heater for my 10 gal cost me 15$ cdn.

 

[SkullJug]

Female Bettas are one of my favourite fish, I keep two of them in my work tank (Very small, just so I can fiddle with a tank on my desk instead of doing work) with a dwarf gourami. Anabantids(Gouramis and Fighting Fish) are are very tough fish and I would strongly recommend them - That being said you can't let them get too cold. Only the male fighting fish are frilly, the females are (imho) very streamlined and agile. They are not all that popular though so you hunt around a bit to find a some really good specimens.

 

[2cvbloke]

As I keep saying, fish tanks over here in the UK are much more expensive than they are in the US, so I can't just go out and buy such and such a tank for so and so a cost. However, I have recently found out that I may be able to get some free tanks and equipment from my brother's fiancee's dad who used to breed fish, so watch this space....

I still want a Weather loach or two though....

 

[2cvbloke]

Well, it's looking like I probably will get a free tank, a small one though, but at least it'll be for free, I guess it'll be about 14-18" long, however what depth and the gallonage I don't know just yet, but free heater, light, pump & other bits, can't be refused!!!

 

[2cvbloke]

Just thought I'd make the joke of not having a dime to spare, but low and behold I found one in a box at home last night!!!
Not much use here though....