what would you do?

Hey all,

have an extra 20 l (5.5g) tank hanging around, what would you folks turn it into?

a mini reef tank (perhaps with just corals)/frag tank? this would mean i need to invest in lights
a QT tank?
a tank for a single fish or invert?

on a fresh water note

i have a pond with beautiful fattening koy carps 20 l seems a little small for them no? they are about 10 cm big and growing?

a better fish would perhaps be a betta, in this regards i have several questions for the freshers out there...

would it be safe to fill the 5.5 g tank with the pond water my kois are in? can anyone direct me towards what soft live plants they bettas prefer? and finally what would be the simplest filtering system to insure their survival?

im doing my own research on the side of corse but any fast fact input is welcome. thank you in advance

 

I'd give my hand at trying for a seahorse only tank once I read up and understood more about them and maybe ad some stag corals too but that's just me.

 

QT tank. If you do a sea horse you have to invest in a chiller unless they are TR. 2nd choice would be a frag tank.

 

Seshorses need height more than width. They are vertical swimmers.

I would try a mantis tank. It's enoubh space and they don't need intense lighting.

 

Polar bear tank.

Should be big enough.

 

Personally, I would do something simple, like the betta tank. Add a couple rocks and a few plastic plants and call it a day. Maybe it's just me, but I tried multiple SW tanks before, and between working all week then spending all weekend performing maintenance, I had no time left at all to just relax and enjoy them.

If you go with FW, yes your kois will get too large. No, I would not recommend using pond water, but rather, RO/DI and water conditioner for the species you plan to keep. Lastly, a simple HOB power filter suitable for a 10g tank will provide plenty of filtration and circulation.

Good luck!

 

frag tank or maybe mantis?

 

yea im thinking betta is what im gonna go for.

set up will be the following.

black or colored substrate

one nice chunk of drift wood

a couple live plants

and my main concern a mechanical filter...do i really need one? i dont mind changing 2-4 l of water a week.


thx for answering the pond water question bill. so i can simply use water from my RO system and drop him in directly? alternatively i could fill a canister with the LFS FW.....water
any further input is more than welcome, any betta owners out there who can give me some tips&tricks?

 

I have a nice fresh water invert tank, planted and full of cool snails and shrimp. I have a couple cyprus knees in there with lots of different types of moss and java ferns. Very cool looking tank and super low maintenance. The shrimp are a jumbled up strain now from several super red strains. Very pretty and active, fun to watch and like I said super low maintenance.