I Was Given A 10L Tank

I have just been given a 10L tank, I was thinking of using it for tropical fish, does anyone have any advice for me as from research I have found this is a very small tank and so could have issues.

So far i know that: it will need daily attention which I am willing to give it, and that I can have a max of 10cm of total fish.

Equipment wise: it is a Marina 10L tank with filter and light (I am planning to get a heater for it).

Starting it: I am planning to have it setup for at least a few weeks without fish as I want to lesson the risk when I add them.

Eventual aims: I want to have real plants and if possible a Siamese Fighting Fish as they just look awesome.

In an ideal world I would have at least a 50L tank but I can't afford it and this what I have been given, but I plan to upgrade in a couple of years time.

Any advice would be appreciated.

What other fish would you suggest as a good starting point?

More like a cube, really isn't a tank I would of chosen but a friend had it and gave it to me and I can't afford anything bigger right now and would really like to make use of it.

I don't have it yet as I have to pick it up, but from what it looked like and some research on the manufacurers website this what I believe it is:

http://ca-en.hagen.com/Aquatic/Aquariums/Starter-Kits-Plastic--Goldfish-/12885

Though for some reason I had thought it was more than 10L but this is the biggest they manufacture.

Beginning to think that, and is it just me or is selling a tank with fish a really bad idea, as you can't transport a 75L tank full can you.

If I went for a bigger tank say 50L, would I be able to keep a small community in it such as a Siamese Fighting Fish (Male), maybe 4 other small fish and maybe a couple of shrimp or snails, with plants.

Of course introducing them after preparing the tank using the fishless cycle and over a long period to let the tank settle in.

Went round my mates house and looked at the tank to see exactly what it is, turns out it is a 21L version that isn't on the manufacturers website, but with the same filter by the look of it.

Size: (W) 43.2cm x (H) 47cm x (D) 34cm

Is there a big change in what I can have in a tank this size.

I would change the media in the filter to something better.

I was hoping I might be able to fit a couple of other small fish in there as well, but if I can't I might just run with the 1 fighter and then in the future, when I can afford it, get another tank to build as a community tank.

I just came across a 112L Juwel tank with all the equipment needed for just £15 so far on Ebay, now if that doesn't go up above 30ish I may get it.

For substrate, fighters aren't fussy. You could use gravel, sand or even pebbles.
You need a cave but that can be made from anything. It's just to give him somewhere to hide if he feels the need. You can buy plastic ornaments that have hollows or make your own from pieces of slate or even a tettacotta plantpot - that's what is in my fighter's tank. I cut about a third off the side of a pot so it lies flat on its side on the bottom of the tank. Make sure that any decor does not have a hole just the right size for a fighter to get stuck in, because they will! Terracotta plantpots have a hole on the bottom, I siliconed a bit of plastic mesh over it to stop him trying to go through it.
Plants can be real or silk, but not plastic. They like to rest on broad leaves near the surface to save them lugging those big fins round all the time. And near the surface as they need to gulp air. I have silk plants and also a real plant called java fern attached to the plantpot.
Fighters like swimming through things, so at least one cave and several plants and other decor.

Fighter's have delicate fins; they are easily torn. All decor should be checked for rough bits and sharp edges - that's why you shouldn't use plastic plants as they have sharp edges. Your user name suggests you are male? Do you know a woman who would let you have an old pair of tights - or even better, come shopping with you? Do the tights test - run an old pair over an ornament and if it snags, it could damage a fighter's fins. Small rough bits can be sanded smooth.

Fighters are better fed on specialist food rather than general fish food. I have Hikari betta pellets (betta being the other name for fighters). Dried food should be presoaked in a bit of tank water as fighters are pigs when it comes to food, they stuff it all in as fast as they can and dry food can swell up inside them. They do beg for food. Don't give in! They can over-eat and get fat which is not good for them. Mine gets 3 pellets in the morning and 3 in the evening. Live food can be fed once a week as a treat instead of pellets - frozen live food is easiest to manage as you don't need much for one fish and you can cut a bit off a frozen cube to thaw out. Most shops sell blister packs in the freezer - fighters like bloodworm and brine shrimp. Mine won't eat daphnia though. And feed a pea once a week. Save one from your meal, pop the inside out of the skin and chop it up. If you get that bigger tank, the fish you buy for that will love pea as well.


Fighters have personality. Don't be fooled by the ones in the shop. They are either squashed into a tiny cup where they can't move, or they are in with other fish, usually unsuitable fish and the fighter is up in one corner trying to hide from them. When they are in a nice 20 to 25 litre tank on their own, their personalities really come out.
When you buy, look for one that is alert. Put your finger on the tank and move it from side to side - he should follow your finger with his eyes if not his whole body. Avoid fish that have damaged fins, cloudy eyes, bent spines, swollen abdomen or covered in white spots.



As you can probably tell by now, I like fighters  I prefer plakats (short tailed fighters) but they are hard to come by. My current one is a bright blue delta tail. I bought him as a blue and white marble (blotches of both colours) but as I expected, as he matured the white go less and less till he's now all blue. Just to warn you that marble pattern fighters do change colour. I have a thread with pics of some of my fighters here

That sounds fine. Fighters can get into smallish caves as they are very 'bendy' fish. They can bend themselves into a U, enabling them to manoeuvre in smallish spaces. They have to be able to wrap their bodies round the female when breeding.