Little 90ltr - Ideas for a Fussy Keeper.

[Kittiee Katt]

Hello mfkers, I hope you're all staying safe and entertained during these troubled times.

I have a 90ltr tank, and have been playing with a few ideas of what to stock it with, but I have a problem: I've not seen the adult size of most of the fish I'm considering.
Keep in mind my bettas have had tanks 100ltrs and over in the past so I'm not sure what to do with an iddy biddy tank like this. I tried doing the whole "betta in a desktop tank" (50ltrs) thing and he was only in there for a month or so before I moved him to a 4' 200ltr..

So, with that in mind, these are the options I'm considering:

#1. Classic betta tank: male elephant ear betta and x7 khulli (sp?) loaches. Elephant ear because they seem to have the most trouble swimming (which sounds horrible, I know) so I'm less likely to want to upgrade him due to that. And the loaches because they're awesome.

#2. Apisto tank: one male apistogramma trifasciata and 2-3 females, with a small group of 6-9 ember tetras. Or, if the torture chamber isn't big enough maybe just the pistos, I've always loved pistos.

#3 Hatchet tank: small group of marbled hatchet fish and a small group of either corydoras pygmaeus or corydoras hastatus, probably hasatus because that little spot near their tails is just to cute.


Alrighty, so, of those 3 tanks the only one I've seen adult fish sizes for is #1. I've never seen an adult pisto or hatchet, and never seen either of the corys or adult ember tetras.

Would tanks #2 and #3 work? Would I have to upgrade?
The people who know what I'm like, how likely is it that I would feel like I'm torturing these poor fish if I were to attempt either of those tanks?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[kno4te]

Combo of tank 2 and 3 could work in a 20g long.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Sorry, probably should have given the measurements of the tank...
Its 60cm long, 35cm wide and 40cm tall.

Combo of tank 2 and 3 could work in a 20g long.

I don't think I would combine tank #2 and #3 because I'm not sure how pop will feel about large frequent WC's so I want to be able to keep the bio load light so I can get away with 30-40% weekly and a large flush every so often (determined by test results) that way I'm only using 30ish litres a week on my WC's. Probably should have put that in the op too lol

 

[tlindsey]

I like #1 or #2.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I like #1 or #2.

Definitely leaning towards #2. I honestly wasn't sure if the tank would be big enough for though, since I do like a sparsely inhabited tank. And not sure if I'll be able to get the corys I want lol

 

[MrsE88]

I like the sound of tank 2 as well.

 

[Salty&Onion]

I like the kuhli loach option. They are awesome to watch, but make sure you'd have plenty of hiding places and you will see them more around!

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

#2

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I like the sound of tank 2 as well.

Tank #2 definitely seems to be winning here. I wasn't sure if the tank would look crowded with #2 or not. I assume based on the responses here that it likely won't.

In my head its this iddy biddy box that barely holds a cup of water, then I look at it and think "hold on, I could almost sit in that" it's bigger than I give it credit for, but not nearly as big as I'd like it to be haha

I like the kuhli loach option. They are awesome to watch, but make sure you'd have plenty of hiding places and you will see them more around!

I love loaches. I've had kuhllies before and loved watching them explore all the little crevices in their tank. #1 was basically my fall back option as I know it will work.

 

[Salty&Onion]

[QUOTE="Kittiee Katt, post: 8223402, member: 139760"
I love loaches. I've had kuhllies before and loved watching them explore all the little crevices in their tank. #1 was basically my fall back option as I know it will work.
[/QUOTE]
That'll work for sure. I'll be adding about 12 kuhlis to my 125L. They'll be so happy!