New To Fish Keeping

Puffers in general should not be kept with other fish. They have a mouth shaped like a beak for getting into snails and they can do serious damage to other fish.
Figure 8's can live in freshwater but do better in water with a small amount of salt added. Even if tankmates could cope with the puffers, the salt wouldn't be good for most freshwater fish. If you wanted tro risk it, you'd need a tank at least 30 inches (75cm) long and 70 litres volume. In freshwater you could try very fast swimming characins, rasboras and barbs - fast swimming so the puffer couldn't catch them.
The problem is feeding puffers. They need things with shells (snails, crabs' legs, unshelled prawns) to keep their beaks ground down. If the beak is allowed to grow too long it causes the fish all sorts of problems.

Puffers are generally not recommended for beginners with the problems of tankmate selection and feeding them correctly. Personally, I would start with 'ordinary' tropical fish then once I got some experience, set up a species-only tank for puffers.

What makes you say you can't have shrimp? As long as you're careful and get some good advice from the lovely people here I don't think it's too much of a stretch! Or is it because of your current fish?

Resa, a suggestion for you. Once your tank is set up and running smoothly, you could set up another 20 to 25 litre tank and get a dwarf puffer. Just one  So you know which puffer I'm talking about, the latin name is Cariontetraodon travancoricus. This puffer is a freshwater species and they like tanks with lots of plants and twisted roots and branches. The downside is they still need food like snails as they don't do well with dried food, and there's the problem with their beaks.


If you did decide to do this, you could set the tank up easily by stealing some mature filter media from the tank you are currently setting up.

If you don't intend having any fish-eating shrimps, look at cherry shrimp and amano (japonica) shrimps. Just in case they are called something completely different in France, these are the ones I mean:
amanos - http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/japonica-shrimp.html
cherries - http://ukshrimp.co.uk/neocaridina-species-profiles/cherry-shrimp-neocaradina-heteropoda-var-red

They do like to be in groups so I would get at least three of the same species. The good news is that they add very little to the tank's bioload. The main downside is that they need very good water conditions so don't get any until you are sure your filter is completely cycled, and be very careful about adding fish medication as some contain copper which can kill shrimps. And be very careful with live plants as they can be treated with something to kill snails, which also kills shrimps. Chucklett on here had a problem with this a couple of years ago.


There is a condition called MTS, which stands for multiple tank syndrome. It is characterised by the desire of a fishkeeper to have more and more tanks. Unfortunately, there is no known cure 


And I'm afraid I can't help with Josh Holloway 

OK ... I'll help you then....

Betta owners can be quie vehement on the subject of tanks. Most of the websites seem to be American so use tank sizes in gallons. The smallest recommended is usually 3 galls, which is 11.25 litres, though 5 galls is more usual (18.75 litres). Mine is in a 25 litre tank. My current betta is a short finned one (plakat) and he was in my 50 litre with female endlers and pygmy corydoras when I first got him. Then two things happened - my halfmoon betta in the 25 litre died of old age, and the plakat grew a lump. Because I was afraid it could be infectious, he was moved into the 25 litre in isolation. I've still not worked out what the lump is.
I wouldn't worry about a very tall tank unless it is shaped more like a vase (no forward swimming space) because you can put in a plant with large flat leaves that reach near the surface for the betta to rest on. The plant could be real or synthetic, though with bettas get silk not plastic as rough edges can cut their fins. Bettas like 'interesting' tanks so plants, caves etc for them to swim through are always a good idea.
Some of the 'designer' tanks that are the right size for a betta (eg Fluval Chi) are open topped and bettas can jump. With this type of tank a lid is advised, even just a sheet of perspex.

Biorbs are a love it/hate it tank. Very few people are 'neutral'. They can be good tanks if you are prepared to work within their limitations. Only small, slower swimming fish; no bottom dwellers; should be kept understocked; live plants can be a problem.
Because of the shape, there is no long length for large fast swimming fish to use.
The bottom is very small so less living space per bottom dweller and the rocks, which are part of the fitration system, are rough. Most bottom dwellers have barbels which get damaged by rough substrates.
Because the amount of water exposed to air is small compared to a rectangular tank of the same volume, less gas exchange can take place, therefore less oxygen in the water, therefore they can't hold as many fish as a rectangular tank.
The main biofilter in biorbs is the rocks on the bottom. Live plants can be damaged when planted in substrate with water moving though it like this. You can still have live plants, eg java fern or anubias tied to wood or other decor.

Is that what you have, a biorb? If you do, I'll tell you something else about the filter 

The 'safe' tankmates for bettas are mainly drab coloured fish, which puts a lot of people off keeping them with other fish. Things like corydoras (whichever species will fit in a given tank, for a 60 litre you are looking at one of the dwarf species), otocinclus - but these fish aren't without problems - and other grey fish. Unless the betta is extremely aggressive, endlers are a possiblity. The males are brightly coloured but small with no trailing fins to trigger a betta's 'attack the other betta' reaction as guppies often do. People have also had success keeping bettas with harlequin rasboras. For a 60 litre, I would see if you could find smaller relatives of the harlequin. They have so many common names it's easier to give you the latin names - Trigonostigma espei and Trigonostigma hengeli. With slightly smaller fish you can fit more fish in the tank 

Fish to avoid include all gouramis (related to bettas and usually fight), brightly coloured fish escpecially with long trailing fins (bettas mistake them for other male bettas), female bettas (a lot of shops will tell you this is OK but the result is usually one or other getting killed) and fish that have a reputation for nipping fins (they just can't help nipping long trailing fins).


Don't worry about Rafe's bubble nest. You'll need to be doing frequent water changes and it'll be impossible to save it. With gouramis, which also have bubble nests, it is common to destroy them in community tanks to stop the gouramis breeding as they can turn quite nasty in defence of eggs and/or fry and they cope with that.


I have a small filter in my betta's tank, but I can't recommend it as they've stopped making it. It's perfect for bettas as you can turn the flow right down. If you can't find something like that, another option is a sponge filter powered by an air pump, the kind of thing often used in fry tanks. The only downside is that air pumps can be noisier than internal filters, though there are ways to damp down the noise.

They'd be fine with a gentle flow. And most community fish like well planted tanks.

Google Corydoras pygmaeus, C hastatus and C habrosus for dwarf cories. Habrosus is in the database on here as salt and pepper cory, not to be confused with the much larger peppered cory  Cories are shoaling fish so you'd need six of the same species. What do you have on the bottom of the tank? Bottom dwellers like cories need sand or smooth gravel as sharp gravel can cut their mouths.

Otocinclus aren't recommended for new tanks. They are very picky about their food so you need to have grown a fair bit of algae before getting any. They are also prone to dying soon after purchase. It's down to the way they are treated - they are usually wild caught, and a lot die during capture. They are then kept in and shipped in algae free containers so they are starving by the time they reach the shop. Once otos reach a certain stage of starvation they can't start eating again. If you do get otos once your tank is a few months old, wait till the batch has been in the shop at least a couple of weeks (so the weak ones have already died) and choose the specimens with fat little bellies. Like cories, otos are shoaling fish so you'd need at least 6 of them, if you think the tank could grow enough algae for them all.

Good for resisting the fish  I like moss balls too, I had some for years till they finally went funny from inside out. Hopefully the plant experts will be able to say what I did wrong so you'll know how to avoid it.


The fish on your list:
Guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Yes they can be delicate. They are very pretty fish always in demand, and breeders are creating more colourful versions all the time by selective breeding. This, and the conditions a lot of farms keep them in, has resulted in fish with weaker immune systems. If you could manage to find some local who has bred them and is trying to get rid of fry, they'd be healthier. Is there a French equivalent of the website aquarist classifieds?
Try them if you wish, but be prepared for them to just drop dead for no apparent reason. You can have all males, if you got females as well the fry would take the tank over in no time at all. Make sure you know how to tell the difference as a lot of shop workers have no idea (in the UK at least)
Or try endlers livebearers - smaller, less showy tails but hardier. Poecilia wingei.

Colisa lalia, the dwarf gourami. I'm afraid this is another iffy fish. They are very prone to infections and to the incurable dwarf gourami iridovirus (DGIV) A lot of these fish imported from the Far East are already infected with DGIV. A couple of pointers if you decide to get these. Make sure there are no sick looking gouramis in the tank; if there are, don't get any. A lot of shops sell only males as the females are plain silver, with perhaps the hint of stripes. Don't get 2 males for a 60 litre. Either 1 male or 1 male 2 females (as the males can get quite nasty if they want to breed)
Or get honey gouramis instead. I'm biased though, I like honey gouramis  Latin name Trichogaster chuna


Corydoras. Nice fish, one of the most unaggressive fish you'll ever find. There are lots of species, but a lot of them grow quite big, too big for a 60 litre unless you want to use all your stocking allowance on just them. Look for Corydoras pygmaeus (pygmy cory), C. habrosus (salt and pepper cory, different species from the larger peppered cory), C. hastatus and C. panda, the panda cory. The panda cory is the biggest of the four.
Cories need to be kept in a shoal, preferably six or more. Females are fatter than males, but it is not easy to tell in a shop as you need to view them from above to see it. However, the sex ratio is not important and with half a dozen you should have at least one of each sex.
Cories like sand or smooth gravel; sharp gravel can cut their barbels allowing infections to get in.
You've probably already researched them so know that they are not vegetarians. A lot of people think cories = catfish = vegetarians but they are omnivores. Feed them sinking tablets.

Cherry shrimps - fine

Angelfish are too big for a 60 litre. they grow very tall, and not only do they need space to swim in, they also need at least 18 inches of water depth.

Your pH is a bit high for CPDs, but you might be OK with Danio tinwini.


What do you mean by sludge gulper?

Also, still torn on whether to put Rafie (my betta) in the 60 litre or not?