Is five gallon / 20 liter doable

[beastie]

The title pretty much sums it up. I have an option to get a very cheap 40x25x25 cm tank. I would be basically replacing a windowsill 30l vase i have for leftover plants.

It would get part of light from other tank + daylight and sunlight in the afternoon. Ideally no filter and no heater (thus no betta, my no heater tanks run 19C lowest, in summer on the sun i expect up to 27C as a maximum). Given that i now have breeding cultures of microworms for my Indostomus paradoxus, walter worm culture is in the post and i breed baby brine shrimp every third day, i considered getting one scarlet badis.

But i am not sure the tank is doable like that. In order to not have a filter it would have to be chock-full of plants which the badis would enjoy. Alternative fish could be a sparkling gourami, though no idea how that fish handles solitaire life. 

If you were me, would you purchase the tank?

( Btw it would be my fifth tank 🙂 )

[Guppysnail]

For one Scarlet badis yes doable. I suggest adding Grindal worms. The adults are a touch large to make a full meal of microworms. Mine would try to eat white worms but were a touch small for those. 

[Colu]

I just read an article about scarlet basis recommended temperature is 72-79 your tank will probably get to cold for them at certain times of the year unless you add a heater 

[Levi_Aquatics]

Maybe some cherry shrimp instead? They tend to do better with lower temps, but I definitely understand that you want some fish. Some H. Formosa possibly?

[beastie]

On 3/27/2023 at 11:03 PM, Guppysnail said:

For one Scarlet badis yes doable. I suggest adding Grindal worms. The adults are a touch large to make a full meal of microworms. Mine would try to eat white worms but were a touch small for those. 

I would consider a moina culture or something similar, because grindal is too large for the indostomus, and if I were to add another live food, ideally should be one both could eat

On 3/27/2023 at 11:27 PM, Colu said:

I just read an article about scarlet basis recommended temperature is 72-79 your tank will probably get to cold for them at certain times of the year unless you add a heater 

I read several articles, some go 70, some go 72, but seriouslyfish says 18C. Most of winter my tank sits at 22 or 21. Summer is way higher, so a short period in fall and spring when the house heat is off the tank can go 19. Again, I will still do some more research to be sure

[beastie]

On 3/28/2023 at 12:25 AM, Levi_Aquatics said:

Maybe some cherry shrimp instead? They tend to do better with lower temps, but I definitely understand that you want some fish. Some H. Formosa possibly?

I have cherry shrimp in the tank that would be sitting next door to them, with the indostomus paradoxus. They do very well with low temps and are super low effort ,true, but they dont hold my interest as much as fish do. And they dont help with my excess of live food, which was what lead me to consider having a fish in the first place.

[beastie]

BTW does anyone have any experience with Elassoma evergladei, Everglades (Pygmy) Sunfish ?

[Cmike15]

I’ve listened to the aquarist podcast where they talk about that sunfish a few episodes. They are colorful, small/micro fish and eat live foods  I’m currently looking for them. I might go on a Road-trip trying to find some this summer. 

On 3/28/2023 at 3:04 AM, beastie said:

BTW does anyone have any experience with Elassoma evergladei, Everglades (Pygmy) Sunfish ?

 

[Flumpweesel]

Will you be putting an airline in the tank?

Why favour this tank over your larger vase that is already in use if your not going to add any powered items to it I don't see an advantage in buying something smaller. Try your ideas with that you have.

If you are thinking about fish that might be sensitive to cold I would check what my overnight low can be my unheated tank dropped to at least 9C some nights this winter.

Get a thermometer which tells you min reached. Just to save a disappointment

 

[beastie]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:43 AM, Flumpweesel said:

Will you be putting an airline in the tank?

Why favour this tank over your larger vase that is already in use if your not going to add any powered items to it I don't see an advantage in buying something smaller. Try your ideas with that you have.

If you are thinking about fish that might be sensitive to cold I would check what my overnight low can be my unheated tank dropped to at least 9C some nights this winter.

Get a thermometer which tells you min reached. Just to save a disappointment

 

I just found a low flow airpump and half a sponge in my closet that I will use there to not have a fully stagnant water (sponge is already soaking in my other tank). The vase has a thick distorting glass, I have some ramshorn in there, it does not look good and it is getting brown algae. Tank dimensions will look a bit better to view I think and some plants might do better, as the vertical volume of water is simply not enough 

[Flumpweesel]

Fair enough if the price is right give it a go then. 

[beastie]

Allow me another question though.

I have a 56 cm x 25 cm x 36 cm which is about 40l, housing a shrimp colony and 8 (hopefully still eight) indostomus paradoxus. The fish are tiny, the shrimp are tiny, the tank is basically empty looking.

The new tank will be 40 cm x 25 cm x 25 cm, which is only 20 liter, and could not house basically anything. In theory I guess it would make bigger sense to have the shrimp+indostomus in the smaller tank and the larger one to set up for something in the future. But how would I achieve that, with the substrate moving, with sensitive shrimp, with detritus filled substrate, with the new fish I have no idea if I can even catch. Is what I am thinking reasonable or even doable? 

[PineSong]

On 3/28/2023 at 3:04 AM, beastie said:

BTW does anyone have any experience with Elassoma evergladei, Everglades (Pygmy) Sunfish ?

Not sure which Elassoma he has, but @Fish Folk I think has some?

[Fish Folk]

On 3/28/2023 at 3:04 AM, beastie said:

BTW does anyone have any experience with Elassoma evergladei, Everglades (Pygmy) Sunfish ?

Yes! You want Elassoma, 100%. We bred E. Okefenokee a few years ago.  Here’s a comprehensive spawning report:

You can order Elassoma gilberti here. Seller can offer sound feedback. They’re on the dark-side of their color form — look a _lot_ like E. Okefenokee. I have a breeding group. Here’s one of the males doing his happy dance…

They can be shoehorned into tiny tanks. 5 gal is great. Just super-stock with plants. 

Edited March 30 by Fish Folk

[beastie]

Thank you, I will definitely check it out, though I doubt they ship to the middle of Europe where I am living 🙂 I saw some suppliers do carry either one of those fish, so there is a chance 

[Fish Folk]

On 3/30/2023 at 2:11 AM, beastie said:

Thank you, I will definitely check it out, though I doubt they ship to the middle of Europe where I am living 🙂 I saw some suppliers do carry either one of those fish, so there is a chance 

If you, or someone you know plans a trip to USA, there is a way to legally hand-carry certain fish in luggage. Paperwork must be correctly prepared, and limits are established for water volume. I know this because I just shipped off fish from my fishroom to CA for someone’s friend returning to France. They did all of their research ahead of time. Cost was low, but careful planning essential. Pure oxygen and ammonia control are essential aspects. 

Edited March 30 by Fish Folk