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2K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Angel079 
#1 ·
I have got 60l tank and would like some advice on what fish i could put in the tank as a beginer. I would ideally like a centre piece fish and a group of neon tetras but would love to have some advice on the do's and dont's with fish i could keep together.Dont want to dive into anything to big to start off with but would like the scope to expand. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Hello and welcome to the Tropical Fish Keeping Forum.

A 60 litre tank is equivalent to a 15 US gallon [for those of us who still think in gallons when it comes to fish tanks:)] so you could have a nice community of smaller fish like some of the shoaling tetras, rasbora, hatchetfish, Corydoras catfish, a pair of dwarf South American cichlids, Gourami (depending upon species), etc. Your water parameters (pH, hardness) might limit this list, as all these do better in soft slightly acidic water although some can adapt to slightly basic (alkaline) water if not too hard. For harder water, livebearers are an option but they reproduce very quickly.

Tetras, rasbora and Corydoras are shoaling fish which means they are social and/or prefer to be in groups, so when planning your fish bear in mind that each of these species should be in a group of 5-6 in order to be less stressed and thus healthier. A couple of species of these along with a pair of dwarf cichlids or gourami in a planted aquarium would be very attractive.

Byron.
 
#3 ·
Hello & Welcome
first what is important is to 'cycle' your tank, meaning to start it so that beneficial, needed bacteria can grow and develop that are necessary for your fish (and their survival) detailed explnation here http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquariums/aquarium-cycle-252/

Next step is to determine what kind of water you have, which should incl the pH and hardness. For this any pet store of your choice has liquid test kit's for sale (here commonly by the brand API, but I donno if the UK has different brand names there). The clear advantage of these set's is helps you to measure your water accurate (vs the strips they sell are very inaccrate results) and also offer test's within the kid such as Nitrate & Nitrie and Ammonia (these 3 are the need-to know one's while cycling a tank and that will also show you when its done cycling and/ or when levels get too high and could harm your fish).
So in the long run and for starting your tank, this is a VERY good investment.

Then comes the consideration if you'd like live plants in there, if so select the plants you like and plant them in your tank when you first fill it with water. Personally I pref live one's over plastic simplye because it gives you a nice & natural look.

Last but not least: Fish :) Now there's fish that prefer higher pH and harder water, while other (such as Tetra) like lower pH and softer water, to make this decision on what you like and what will thrive healthy in your tank, test the water from your tap. They can handle a slight up or down from ther natural habitat but not a LARGE swing.
If you already have seen fish at your store that you like and recall names a very good page to read up on their needs is here (use search function on left side to enter names) Tools - Seriously Fish

To select different fish what you'd want to watch for is:
- What water do I have and what do the fish ideally need?
- What tanks size do I have and what do fish need? (Don't get a fish that will outgrow your 60l tank)
- The fish I want is it aggrassive and do I want to house it with let's say a calm fish (such as Tetra)

Hope this helps for the moment, please post and and all questions any time, there's a lot of very knowledgable & helpful people on here that will gladly help you hrought the whole process (which really seems more complicated right now maybe then it really is) :)
 
#5 ·
There's some fish that tolerate poorly maintained tanks easier then others. But really I couldn't say there's 1 fish easier to keep then another. If you inform yourself up front what water parameters you have, what fish like these kinda waters and what their needs are (eg. peaceful vs aggressive fish) and just stock the tank with this in mind wisely, you won't have a problem. Usually people mix the wrong fish in a community tank and that is when they start having issues, or they have very poor water quality and then have problem.
If there's any particular fish you already have in min, here's a good site (use search bar on left) to read up on any fish Tools - Seriously Fish
 
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