# 60L tank - stocking options?



## blackbat67

Hi, I have a 60L tank but I'm not finding a lot of coldwater options so I'm considering buying a heater and turning it into a tropical tank. I'm a fairly novice keeper though (having only kept goldfish in the past) so not looking for anything too demanding - obviously I'm willing to do my research, etc... any advice? thanks!


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## Ony

Cold water: wcmm, a lone paradise fish, flag fish (species only), shrimps

With a heater: most of the small common shoaling species like cherry barbs, tetras, cory cats... Huge variety to choose from.


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## shaun-sharky

you can't go wrong with tropical fish as long as you keep up with the basic husbandry, they're probably easier to keep than goldfish. I'd get yourself a couple of small Corydoras catfish for the lower layers. And for the main part of the tank, a nice shoal of small tetra would look good, a few i like are black phantoms, neons, cardinals, serpae. Rasbora are also another good option for a shoal fish, like harlequins. get yourself a couple of Ottocinclus catfish for the sides of the tank as they love algae.


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## smith86king

black widow tetras or bleeding heart tetras would be a good start, get yourself a heater and a combined filter pump and your away after youve cylced it. see sticky


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## RubyRoo12

tropicals are most certainly easier to keep healthy and right than goldfish,goldfish need very large tanks, big filters and plenty of partial water changes to keep the water quality up with them being big messy fish. i love my tropical swordtails and platys, so many colours to choose from, my 125l tank has just these in there with some otto catfish which love the live plants. i dont do bottom feeders in my tanks as with faster fish like tetras and livebarers i find it difficult to get food down to them. i gravel vac the bottom each week at partial water change time anyway. if you do have livebarers look at just keeping 1 gender as 60l will quickly get overstocked with babies surviving.


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## 59sound

Another :2thumb: for Tropical, there is so much choice. personally tropical kept my attention much longer than coldwater and as others have said you could never keep goldfish in your tank.

Platys are very forgiving, bright and have live babies (that will only live if you have enough hides/cover) they are very interesting to watch breed and they are ideal for a new tank. 

Dwarf gwami's are nice and there some lovely dwarf cichlids you could consider as "feature" fish, such as blue rams:










Corydoras are lovely for the bottom, nice and small, lots of varieties too. I would go for at least a group of 3 though more if you have space.


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## 59sound

RubyRoo12 said:


> tropicals are most certainly easier to keep healthy and right than goldfish,goldfish need very large tanks, big filters and plenty of partial water changes to keep the water quality up with them being big messy fish. i love my tropical swordtails and platys, so many colours to choose from, my 125l tank has just these in there with some otto catfish which love the live plants. i dont do bottom feeders in my tanks as with faster fish like tetras and livebarers i find it difficult to get food down to them. i gravel vac the bottom each week at partial water change time anyway. if you do have livebarers look at just keeping 1 gender as 60l will quickly get overstocked with babies surviving.


The babies won't overrun the tank if they get eaten! I've had platys and guppies for years and never been over run with them, I think that is only likely to happen in very densely planted tanks as the babies find it easier to hide.


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## blackbat67

thanks for the advice! I went to my LFS and there's so much choice... don't know where to start!


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## 59sound

blackbat67 said:


> thanks for the advice! I went to my LFS and there's so much choice... don't know where to start!


just start slow with 2 or 3 small fish and you'll be ok


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## Ony

59sound said:


> just start slow with 2 or 3 small fish and you'll be ok


Not a good idea unless you are using plant based filtration. 

The absolute first thing to look at is fishless cycling: Fishkeeping - Fishless Tank Cycling and Avoiding New Tank Syndrome - General Guides - Articles

Get a handle on basic water chemistry and you will have a much smoother set up and make far fewer silly mistakes later on too. It should also get you up to full stocking a fair bit quicker than an old fashioned fish in cycle. This hobby is all about research!


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## blackbat67

yeah the tank is cycled and ready to go - I just don't know what to put in there because everything looks so damn good lol!


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## 59sound

Ony said:


> Not a good idea unless you are using plant based filtration.
> 
> The absolute first thing to look at is fishless cycling: Fishkeeping - Fishless Tank Cycling and Avoiding New Tank Syndrome - General Guides - Articles
> 
> Get a handle on basic water chemistry and you will have a much smoother set up and make far fewer silly mistakes later on too. It should also get you up to full stocking a fair bit quicker than an old fashioned fish in cycle. This hobby is all about research!


Yes sorry I meant after it's fishless cycle. Good example of why people should never listen to me :blush: lol


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## blackbat67

what heater do you recommend for a 60L tank? there seems to be just as many of them as there are fish...


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## cjd12345

blackbat67 said:


> what heater do you recommend for a 60L tank? there seems to be just as many of them as there are fish...


A 50W heater will do the job in a 60L tank. I think it's a good idea to go up a notch, so I'd use a 100W in a 60L, you should find maintaining a constant temperature uses the same energy regardless of the heater so the 100W would only be on for half the time a 50W would. Having extra heating capacity means that if your water change water isn't quite warm enough your tank will recover to the correct temp quicker.

When it comes to heating I stick with brands I trust rather than some cheap generic Chinese import - I've used Jewel and Deltatherm so far, but I'll probably try one of the Fluval E Series heaters when one of my current ones needs replacing.


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## blackbat67

thanks for the advice! I'll continue to research/see what I like and go from there!


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## biohazard156

Would be best to find out what kind of water you have as it will influence the fish you would be best suited to. What is your pH?


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## blackbat67

does this heater look OK?

Interpet Aquatic Heater - 100W Deltatherm Heater: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies


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## blackbat67

anyone?


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## Ony

Dont see anything wrong with it but I prefer the silicon type myself.


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## Cheyneib Kohni

blackbat67 said:


> does this heater look OK?
> 
> Interpet Aquatic Heater - 100W Deltatherm Heater: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies


Looks ok to me. I use the Hagen E series, Fluval E50 W Aquarium heater With LCD Display 60 l | eBay E50 would do 60W, prefer having the advanced LCD display and also know none of your fish will get burned to as its cased.


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