Ideas for a 54l.

[Captain Pelvis]

hi fingers crossed my mum will be getting me a 54l tank from aldi tommorow. at 38 quid its too cheap to not get, i fancy it as a catfish tank however i cant decided on what to get. I was thinking peppered corys but i do love odder cats, i have some hara jerdoni in a 35l tank and i plan to add 2 more to their ranks. but is there species similar to say the banjo cat or prehistoric monster fish available for a tank of this size? however all ideas are welcome.

thanks

[MatsP]

That certainly sounds like a good price for the tank.

Deciding on fish is an important decision, and one that no one else can do for you - just like choosing which clothes you should wear, you have to make your own mind up with what fish you keep - after all, you will be the one looking after them.

Banjo cats do grow a little bit big for a 54 liter tank, in my opinion. It won't be HORRIBLY wrong, but it's far from ideal. The Hara and such things are a good idea.

"Prehistoric monster fish" isn't a particularly well-defined term to me - and in general, I find that term to apply to some of the carnivorous "hiding predators", which are generally not a good idea for a community tank - you'd be keeping a fish that is invisible and on it's own (aside from perhaps some fry from another tank as "food").

Corys are fine in a 54 liter tank, and it's then mostly a case of "which ones do you like the look of, and how willl they go with the rest of your fish" - for example, a warm tank at 28'C will not be the right place to put C. paleatus or C. panda, whilst a cooler 22'C tank is wrong for C. sterbai.

--
Mats

[Jools]

I'd recommend freshwater butterfly fish for your tank (which are small but attractive, really interesting to keep and a bit on the prehistoric side) and then could can go nuts with smaller catfishes for the rest of the tank. Banjo cats are great, but remember you will rarely see them move and feed.

I'd decide on whether you would like one show catfish or a group of catfishes that would go together and then come back to us.

BTW, what dimensions is the 54l? I'm terrible at suggesting fish if I don't know the size as opposed to volume.

Jools

[Richard B]

hi fingers crossed my mum will be getting me a 54l tank from aldi tommorow.

I've seen the pic in the aldi pamphlet - i don't think the gravel in the pic is included but if it does i'd give it a miss and go with some thing a bit more natural, particularly sand for the sort of fish we've been talking about (pic shows white & blue man-made gravel - tank dimensions not stated)