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I have a 12 gallon tank already up and running, with only a tiny little pleco in it. Anyone have any ideas for kool fish to put in it, is it possible to breed anything in that small of an aquarium. Its one of those eclipse tanks, dont know if that really matters or not.

Well, first off, what kind of pleco do you have? Knowing that let's us figure out how much room you have left.

I've got the same tank, actually. The issue is that because it has the same footprint as a ten gallon, the surface area is the same, so you can't really stock much more in it than you'd put in a ten.

What are you looking for in this tank? Any specific colors? Are you looking for movement? Do you have any fish you'd LIKE to put in there or any favorites?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I believe its just an ordinary pleco, im not sure about the scientific name. That is not a problem hough there is plenty of tank space for him when he gets too big for that tank, for now hes only a little over an inch. I really dont have any favorites, I just want a new experience, something that will be interesting to have you know what i mean?

Also is there any fish i can attempt at breeding in there besides guppies, and the other easy ones? I love the challenge of trying to get a successfull spawn.

Okay... well common plecos can get to be like 18" long, just so you know. Fullgrown, they're best off in a huge tank or a pond. And they poop... a LOT.

Hmm. Fish that are easy to breed... well, the obvious choice are livebearers: guppies, mollies, platties, endlers, etc. Actually, a really nice choice for that tank would be endlers... they're VERY colorful, small, active. Mollies are too big for the tank, platties might work... not sure.

You can try other fish, but how successful you would be in breeding them would be up to you and your fish.

How about going to your fish store and seeing what they have. Write down the ones that interest you and come back with your list. That helps, so we know what is available to you.

Last edited by Kitten at 12-Apr-2005 22:28

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

They do not have to be easy to breed just capable of doing so in that size of aquarium, im dedicated to my fish and patient.

Platys are nice fish in a 12g. But once they breed you have to find homes for the 14 babies they had....just like me..

Endlers are cool, but it is really hard to find females, so there is probably no chance of breeding them. Same thing would happen as with guppies, as they are love bearers....over stocked tanks.:%)

You could try breeding tetras in a school of like 6 or something. Maybe bettas

Not really that many things you can breed in such a small tank.

Sparkling gouramis would be fine to breed but the babies are really hard to raise, you could keep about 6-10 in there, that is 3-5 pairs!

That would be really cool!

Sparkling gouramis are really pretty and they only get to about 2.5 cm or 1".

They are really shy but become a really sparkly bluish colour when they are happy.

They also get a really blue eye if the water quality is good! I love mine!

You could do shelldwellers or a pair of rams.

Sparkling gouramis sound nice. They hafta do the whole bubblenest thing right? Have you ever had any success breeding them?

Yes, they build a bubblenest. I have not yet tried to breed them as I only have 1. (I previously had a pair of them but I lost one to dropsy.) They are not in a species tank though, just in my 10 gallon with a few platys. They are really cute though. They like high temperature like around 27 degrees. I think htey like Ph around neutral, not sure about GH though, I keep them in around 8-10 and they seem pretty happy.

Shelldwellers & Rams are very interesting. Killifish is another option, they have beautiful colours.


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