15l fishtank - too small?

Homeownertobe

Does anyone have any advice on this sort of thing?

I really like the look of it but I've never had any tropical fish before and I don't know if 15l would be big enough for them?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avo/avo-the-stylish-self-cleaning-fish-tank

Homeownertobe

Should've said - I was looking at a Betta fish.

bagpussbear

I feel 15l is too small.

This subject is fiercely debated on fish keeping forums! I learnt the hard way by starting with a 19l to keep two (coldwater) fish. I lost one fish and my other (black moor) got to be 5 inches and I could see it had become almost cruel to keep it in such a small space.

He is now in a 70l and loving it. I suspect if he grows bigger I will need a bigger one.

Seek the advice on some fish keeping forums as I'm not an expert, but I would suggest a minimum of 30-40l.

I think these tiny tanks should be banned to be honest, as they tend to be designed to fit in with people's likes, wants, needs etc rather than the fish themselves, and then people wonder why their fish doesn't thrive well or dies within a short time.

Go as big as you can! but definitely seek out good advice, try the forum on practical fish keeping.

shjo558

Hi,

I think that would be far too small to keep any fish to be honest.

I would go up to maybe 40 litres for a Betta and remember you can only have one and there are very few other types of fish that you can put with them.

A Betta isn't too fussy with water quality as they are labrynth fish, naturally living in muddy paddy fields but I would recommend reading up on fishless cycling before you buy anything to avoid the fish dying off prematurely.

I love my tropical fish, never had a Betta before but they are stunning.

Good luck

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Beta fish AKA Siamese fighting fish are mid to top dwellers and able to breathe air, varied diet.


A box is no good contrary to popular belief, slow swimmers and can be aggressive (be careful what you home it with it wont bother with bottom dweller type fish or fish that can out manouver it.


on its own I'd say 15l with an open non covered top (carefull these can jump out the tank so a vented plastic cover is less than ample there GO 40-80 litres so you can make plantation feature tank or it will look bare, some top covers like fake lilly pads and vine and some open top area's it would be content with, but water clarity becomes a severe issue, ammonia nitrite and nitrates are hard to keep down in a small tank, even with one fish!, larger you go more control you have over the water clarity due to more volume and filter area.


choose filter carefully a harsh flow can have impact on its tails, splitting and tearing them, but the less the output input rate the more your filter will struggle to hold down the water clarity need a nice fine balance between input (how fast the filter draws water in) and flow output.


I had an external filter, fluval 305, put the inlet pipe as close to the bottom of the tank as possible, had the outlet going into piece of gutter that I cut slits in the bottom and capped the end so it filled up under pressure let some out the bottom and some over flow the edges, this created a calm surface for my betta to top dwell, I also had 5ft x 2ft x 2ft tank where It had loads of freedom from other fish that were mid to bottom dwellers.


nano tank not suitable,round orb tanks (why view is obscured), hexagon (why fish swim length ways not up and and down), best suited tanks for any fish is conventional ones, maybe a bowfront courner one.


always fishless cycle, would you like to live in in acid as cycling a tank with a fish in it ammonia (yes its own waste) burns it!


have fun enjoy, share some picks with us when your done!

Homeownertobe

Thank you all for your advice. I didn't think you could house a Betta with anything else? Would they be happier with some company?

Also you say to have the tank open topped - I've got a cat so I think I'd be best with a different kind of fish.

The tank above (I know it's Kickstarter, so anything could happen) but it seems to have it all contained and doesn't need much upkeep which is frankly the only reason I considered it.

Would it be wise to wait until these had been on sale for a while to read the reviews?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Homeownertobe wrote: »

Thank you all for your advice. I didn't think you could house a Betta with anything else? Would they be happier with some company?

Also you say to have the tank open topped - I've got a cat so I think I'd be best with a different kind of fish.

The tank above (I know it's Kickstarter, so anything could happen) but it seems to have it all contained and doesn't need much upkeep which is frankly the only reason I considered it.

Would it be wise to wait until these had been on sale for a while to read the reviews?

You get the odd betta that is willing to share a tank (you never know their tempremant till you try but they are aggressive territorial fish in the wild and captivity, and this reflects in homebred Betta's somewhat also.


heres my old pearl white Betta came from a show winning breeder this female cost £15 not a good pic (OLD phone camera), lived with other fish fine, but I did at first section off my tank so I could see how it would react, it wasn't bothered but others I had in the past weould flair out like peacocks feathers shake its head back and forth like a boxer dog having a game of tug-o-war I knew then its not a good idea for it to be in the tank so used my other tank that was empty at the time.


Youll spend more time in maintenance on a small tank than a mid- large due to water clarity, bacteria blooms, white spot due to water issues and so on, in a larger tank, all you end up doing now and then is sucking out waste from the bottom of the tank, the filter (a good one properly cycled), and some algea control every 6-12 months.


EDIT:
heres my first 4ft tank, it was setup as a brackish (light salt water) for green spotted puffer fish, the small top tank is my quarantine tank for growing snails to feed spotted puffers to shave their teeth, the round tank next to it, is for live shrimp brine.


I bought the tank off FB, £40.00, I had cycled the tanks filter (6 weeks) with boots bottled ammonia, the filter itself was new £45.00 from maidenhead aquatics, the gravel is believe it or not, pebble stone form B n Q (cleaned thoroughly many many many times in many many buckets of boiled water as was the big terracotta planting tub) the rest of the plants I paid £1 each off FB local tropical groups.


I then sold this tank and its contents to my best friend who took it to Scotland with him, the fish survived the tip aswell!.


the base was made by my neighbor.


another EDIT:


say hello to PIKA, the MBU (spoken MABOO/MABU) puffer fish, this beast was community friendly (rare for these fish) and expensive kept this one in a 5ft x 2ft x 2ft.