Small tropical tank setup

Hi,

I was looking into tropical fish keeping (I have alot of time, patience and dedication so don't worry about that)

What I wanted to know was with a small tank (20 Litres) Would it be ok to keep one betta fish and afew shrimp of some kind or would that be crowding it? I don't want to do anything to stress or harm the fishy,

Many thanks,
epi

hi epi and welcome
someone will be along shortly to answer you
im no good with measurements of litres..lol
but 20 doesant sound alot, so maybe just one fish.
as theres the filter/heater/gravel.to go in

DIANE WHERE ARE YOU

Just over 5 US gallons, quite a small tank. I'd like bigger but space is an issue, there isn't much of it lol

Hiya epi, welcome to the forum

For a 20litre tank a single male betta would be possible, and you might be able to get away with a shrimp or two as they dont add much to the bio load.

HAve you read about the fishless cycle by the way? If not, have a little read of the info there in the Articles section as it will help you properly prepare your tank for your fish

That sounds ideal and I've kept similar set ups myself. Cycling such a small tank would be quicker if you could get hold of some mature filter media. Sometimes the LFS oblige by letting you store the sponges in their filters for a week or two.

the fluval edge tanks are around 22liters but very expensive in terms of liters per pound/dollar but are stylish

likewise - baby biorbs are 15liters but if youve got space for 20litres - im sure you can eek a bit more out of the space and have a 30liter tank.

This gives you more room for mistakes and more room for your fish etc.

Anyway - a betta and a couple of shrimp sounds fine to me but id be sure to get the tank well established long before adding shrimps - they are quite delicate and rather expensive - ive been keeping fish for over 3 years now and still not ventured into the inverts yet (except for the rogue snails )

good luck and welcome to tff

shrimps are amazing creatures. i had one (amano shrimp) for about six months (it was fully grown and already pretty old when i got it) and it would always scurry around the tank bottom eating up all the food that settled down, and the way he ate his food- his chest would open up and he would pick up a piece with one of his claws and stuff it into the gap- was cool to watch.

sometimes the shrimp would get stuck in a plant and i had to push him out- i don't understand why he ever got stuck, maybe it was because he had 16 legs, 4 claws and 2 massive feelers (imagine all those limbs getting snagged in a plant).

i wouldn't think twice before putting a shrimp in a tank. just make sure it doesn't fight with the betta.

I love my Amano Shrimp too! I have some of them for over three years which is a pretty good innings for a shrimp, I'd say!