# new member with nano tank looking for some advice



## peter1979 (Feb 24, 2010)

I have just bought a fluval edge tank for a limited space i have in my study. I am a complete novice to fish keeping but have been reading a lot over the past couple of weeks. I started a fishless cycle today and am contemplating the fish i should get when the tank is ready.
Here are my ideas, either...
6 x chili rasboras
6 x galaxy rasbora
6 x endlers livebearers (male i guess as they look nicest)

i would like to add to this either some small shrimp, a betta or a small cat(s) if the space allows. 

I have fairly hard alkaline water, tested today at around 7.8-8pH.

My questions are, what are my choices like, what would be best and of the additional fish/invertabrates what would go well? If you have some better ideas of what i could add then i would be keen to here.

Cheers
Peter 


Edit: just to add i am also keen on Badis badis, are they too big? would they go well with my initial ideas?​


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Hi Peter, welcome to the forum! Exactly how many gallons is your nano tank??


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

Apart from the size question which is essential when talking about stocking few other thoughts from my end...

Had you considered live plants? As smaller tanks are pretty easily wacked out of balance specially for someone new to the hobby and live plants (to an extent of cause) will help you a lot there.

Endlers I'd ONLY suggest male otherwise they breed like bunnies and your tank will be wayyy overstocked in no time at all; so that wouldn't be good. Housing a Betta with them will not work as the Betta will be aggressive towards any other fancy tail fish like the Endlers - So there you'd need to decide either or.

For Shrimp I'd suggest you read over this first http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-shrimp/general-guide-shrimp-keeping-37012/
Your water is fairly hard there so maybe consider adding something like driftwood to your tank to lower that a lil in favor of housing shrimp. Then maybe start with ghost shrimp as they're pretty inexpensive. Ideally they love sand set ups.
​


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Fluval Edges are 6g. 

Don't add a betta; you will have to lower the water level so he can breathe and also he WILL eat your danios & rasboras for sure.

Cories also like to gulp air so personally I would not do.

There are many varieties of dwarf shrimp that would be fantastic in your tank... Red Cherry Shrimp, Crystal Red Shrimp, Emerald Green, Pearl Blue, Gold Bee, Blueberry... the list goes on. There are a few retailers on the web, like shrimpspot.com which offer a good pictoral catalogue of shrimp. 

Some othe fish you could try are 

-Dwarf Puffer
-Bumblebee Goby
-Scarlet Badis
-Other microrasboras
-African dwarf tetra species

I STRONGLY suggest you purchase the book _Nano Aquariums_ by David E. Boruchowitz... I stumbled upon it of my library and in addition to awesome info about setup/maintenance of nano tanks it has a really good guide to nano-fish complete with pictures, making it an awesome book to flip through if you are simply looking for a cool-looking fish to put in your nano tank.

Good luck!

Kelly


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

And no, as far as I know Badis Badis would make an excellent 'centerpiece' for your microrasboras. Also, have you checked out Dario Darios? They are similar but red in color.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

kelly528 said:


> Fluval Edges are 6g.
> 
> Don't add a betta; you will have to lower the water level so he can breathe


Kelly, I'd never heard this before. I keep a betta in a heavily planted 6gl and I've had "my guy" for nearly two years. He's strong and healthy. As always, adding my 2 cents, LOL. 
Please note, I agree with all the other info in your well written post!


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## LMychajluk (Jan 27, 2010)

I was thinking about the Edge and the same thing that Kelly reffered to. It's not the size, it's the fact that the Edge is a 'sealed' top with a relatively small opening. When the aquarium is 'full', you can't see the surface of the water - the water is all the way up to the top, with no air gap. Since Bettas and Corys gulp air, they'd only have the small opening to go to - anywhere else and they'd just hit the top of the aquarium before breaking the surface.

Hope I'm explaining myself clearly...maybe this pic will help:


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## peter1979 (Feb 24, 2010)

Thank you all for the replies. In answer to some of the questions, the tank is 6 gallons. I am indeed thinking of live plants, maybe java fern, java moss and some cryptos of some sort. I have a small piece of bogwood in the tank at the moment but im not happy with it so i will be changing it for another piece i have ordered.
I have already got that book kelly, on the advice from someoe elses forum thread i had read. Its very good and i have larned a lot from it, but there isnt a lot of info on compatability.
It looks like i will either get
endlers or micrrasboras with either some CRS or a badis badis or the Dario darios you have mentioned.
thank you for the help


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Now that I see a picture of the tank I understand why bettas would be a no-go. That's a very nice looking tank!


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

As for fish and 6g I'd then add no more then what you have listed in the OP. As for stocking/ compatibility this site will help you and if you select fish that don't get along will give you warning msg in red on the bottom AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

For plants (I love plants had I mentioned this before) what kind of light do you have over the 6g? Do you know the wattage, Kelvin rating, Lumens?


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

aunt kymmie said:


> Kelly, I'd never heard this before. I keep a betta in a heavily planted 6gl and I've had "my guy" for nearly two years. He's strong and healthy. As always, adding my 2 cents, LOL.
> Please note, I agree with all the other info in your well written post!


In an edge or a normal tank? I meant the edge because there is only one little square of surface for labyrinths or cories to gulp air from.



> For plants (I love plants had I mentioned this before) what kind of light do you have over the 6g? Do you know the wattage, Kelvin rating, Lumens?


The Edge I believe has a halogen light so low light plants only. I have seen people simply sit a CFL Strip on top of the glass (in front of the light/box/filter/top thingy).


ALSO. Threadfin rainbows. Just read a blurb on them the other day. You should look them up.


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

The halogen may not necessarily be bad, just really dep on the wattage/ kelvin/ lumens of the bulb in it (or exchange it for a proper plant one).


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## peter1979 (Feb 24, 2010)

im not sure about the lighting in lumens or kelvin. They are 2 x 10W halogens. MR11 compatible. I have been looking at MR11 LEDs which i have heard will improve the lighting, but the best i can find for lumens and kelvin are 15 quid a bulb which seems a bit expensive.
There have been a few people that have modded the lighting to include a small bulb to fit in the hood unit, bit it looks a bit dodgy to me, if the bulb were to somehow become detatched it could fall into the tank.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Don't mix Badis species with small fish!

I keep a Badis badis pair (actually a trio as I've had one fry survive to adulthood) with some zebra danios. I wanted to increase the size of my danio school so bought four more. Unfortunately, the big male Badis ate all four within an hour or two. These fish are extremely predatory and will eat any fish small enough to fit in their quite large mouths. These danios were about half his length and about a quarter to a third of his body size. Adult Endler's and galaxy rasboras and things of that size would get eaten for sure.

Since your pH is on the high side, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you've got fairly hard water. In that case, I'd go with the Endler's as they'd do great in those conditions. Should do well with a bunch of cherry shrimp in a planted tank!


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## peter1979 (Feb 24, 2010)

yeah the water is quite hard in this area.


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