What can i put in a 60ltr tank?

[Marne]

Following on from my other thread (where one of my guppies had died due to not doing a full cycle and living in a tank so small not fit for purpose), i now have a 60ltr tank which has just started it cycle before putting the 3 remaining guppies in. What else can i fit in the tank? would probably have to be more guppies or tetras (small fish), i don't want to overstock it but want to make use of the space.

I'd go for more guppies, they are a shoaling fish so like to be in large groups. If you stick to males then you won't get overrun and you can mix different varieties if you don't want a tank full of fish that look the same.

You could have 6-8 males in there comfortably.

Ooh, I remember your other thread now- did you manage to get a refund on the other tank?

I havn't took the tank back (i'm not great at complaining) as the moment the other 3 guppies are still in it until the other tank is ready, i didn't want to take the guppies back to the shop as when i went in there last week i saw several ill looking fish (including a poor lion fish) , they seem happy and healthy so should be ok until the big tank is ready. Have also bought a full testing kit so i can complete the cycle and make sure the water is perfect before putting the fish in. I will be buying the fish from somewhere else (i checked out pets at home and their fish looked a lot healthier so will maybe get them from there). Would it be possible to keep one of those fish that cleans the bottom (sorry, can't remember their name) with guppies? or is that a bad idea?

I havn't put to many orniments in the tank so theres plenty of swimming space, i have bought a stone cave so they have somewhere to hide, and a few fake plants. Is this ok?

If you are moving them all over to the new tank then you don't need to do a full cycle, you can just move the filter sponge over. They'll be much happier :) So like this-

1. Set up new tank, get it running to make sure there are no leaks and everything works.
2. Make sure the pH is the same in both tanks.
3. Empty out enough water from the new tank to fit in the water from the old tank.
4. Take sponge from filter in old tank, move it over to the filter in the new tank, then get it running again.
5. Catch and bag the fish and move them over to the new tank.
6. Move all the water over to the new tank.
7. Once the temp has levelled then you can release the fish into their new fishy mansion.
8. Take the small tank back to the shop and hit the sales assistant over the head with it.

Hope that helps.

Your set up sounds fine, if them seem skittish then you can add more fake plants.

There aren't any kind of fish that clean tanks. Some fish will eat algae but not as many species as some shops will have you believe! There's aren't any algae eaters that would fit in a 60 litre with guppies really. You could get some nerite snails, they will eat algae off the glass and they don't breed in freshwater so you won't get overrun.

Thank you, the filter in the tiny tank doesn't have a sponge (it has pellet things, not sure what they are called), the new filter has sponge so will that mean i need to do a full cycle?

I like the idea of the snails, i remember seeing some in the fish shop last week .

How long after puting the 3 guppies in the big tank can i introduce new guppies? should i let the original 3 settle first?

We accidentally got snails in our tank, they must have come in with the live plants. They are good help to keep the tank clean, but obviously you still have to do water changes. Our Cory is also very good at eating any food that has sunk to the bottom, so a bottom feeder is also helpful.

Thats the name i was looking for 'Cory' would i have room for one of them if i only had 6 guppies?

Also is 24c an ok temp for the water? i got a new heater with the tank but when i unpacked it the temp control knob had broken off so its stuck on 24c. I bought the tank ,filter and heater from someone on e-bay but picked it up and payed cash so can't really take the heater back .

Corys are shoaling fish so shouldn't be kept alone really, they are playful and like lots of other fish to play with! 60 litres isn't really enough space for a shoal as well as guppies, they are quite active when they get going so need a bit more space.

24 is OK, I wouldn't let it get much cooler than that.

Thank you, i won't be getting a cory then (unless one day i get a bigger tank), will stick to guppies as they are nice and colouful .

Oh shit, I didn't know that Corys are shoaling fish! We got him at Pets at Home (yeah, I know...) and they never said anything. Once the bigger tank is ready we will get him some friends. He is very lively and playful indeed!

They probably didn't know, I don't think they get much in-depth training. Yes, get him/her some friends when you move them to a bigger tank, it's ace watching them chase each other around. They might breed too! Do you know what species he is?

Will deffo get more, I think we got him on a Sunday when only untrained staff is there (students et all). He is an albino cory, hence he is called Albert or lovingly "Albie"

Oh right, he's probably a corydoras aeneus then, that's the most common albino one.

That's him!

ok, my tank has had a few accidents in the way of dd2 putting toys into the tank, do i need to change the water? i have tested it and it tested ok for everything appart from one thing (kh), it looks a bit cloudy today (is this normal durring the cycle?).

If they are just plastic toys then it shouldn't be a problem. The cloudiness is normal, sounds like a bacteria bloom. This is when you get a sudden spike in ammonia and the bacteria multiply really quickly, it looks cloudy or milky but should clear up in a couple of days.

High KH isn't a problem, that just means you have hard water so you should steer clear of any delicate fish that like soft water. Guppies love hard water though so it's nothing to worry about.

EauRouge- i have just tested the tank the guppies are in (the tiny useless one) and was shocked, it had high everything , am now really worried about the poor guppies and i'm not sure what to do. Should i just do a biger water change on the small tank and hope it settles or do i risk putting them into the new tank? I don't want to take them back to the shop as they will probably die there anyway but its too soon to put them in the new tank (even though the water is testing ok so far), what would you do?

I'd move them pronto following the instructions that I posted up there ^ Are the pellets ceramic things (sometimes they look a bit like cat biscuits)? Just bung them in the new filter, as long as they can't get stuck in any of the moving parts! If you're worried then you can put them in the toe of an old pair of tights and put that in the filter.

Either way it would be best for them to be in the bigger tank rather than the smaller one that obviously is not coping.

I'd let them get all settled in and then maybe in a few weeks think about new fish.

ok, thank you, i will move them in the morning, the pellets are like little tubes (hard to explain) but i should be able to remove them and stuff some of them into the new filter. I will wait a few weeks before getting any more and will keep testing the water, at least it should be easier to control the water in a bigger tank (can now see why these silly small tanks are not fit for purpose), the small tank keeps going very cloudy and the filter keeps going funny so is probably not doing its job), will transfer them tomorrow, they are going to be very happy guppies in a tank thats huge compared to the one they are in.

Like this? Yes, get in as many as you can in the filter and chuck the rest in the tank.

Thats the ones

I now have 3 very happy guppies chasing each other around the big tank, they look so much happier now they have space .

Excellent news