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I am now in college but back in high school I had 4 tanks in my room (a 20 gallon freshwater, a 10 gallon with shelldwellers, a 2 gallon for my betta and a 10 gallon saltwater tank). Sadly, I had to break down all the tanks and donate the big tanks and my fish to my high school and friends.

Now, being in college I'm feeling withdrawal from fish keeping. I would love to bring my salt water tank to school but I live 12 hours from home and also probably don't have the time to give it proper upkeep. I can teach my roommates how to feed and maybe do a water change or two if I go out of town but I can't trust them to a saltwater tank . So I am thinking about purchasing the 6 gallon eclipse tank. I cannot have anything bigger than 10 and I like that its so compact.

What would be your stocking recommendations? I would love to plant the tank and have some cardinals (or another type of schooling fish), could I also fit a centerpiece fish?

i would say that the swimming space would be too small for cardinals. If you keep a lot of area open for swimming and planting with small low growing species. You will probably need to upgrade the lighting to fit the plants' needs but it should be too bad if you keep it in a window. my aunt has one of these way over stocked and it is still trucking along quite well. just keep up on the cleaning and you should be ok!

-Brandon



\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

If you are allowed a 10 then get the 10 as this will give you a few more options to play with. That size you could easily have a M Betta and the few friends and not much else.

You will also want some thing fool proof if it is going to be left to others for feeding etc. I would make 110% sure they could do it well before you invested in a tank.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Hi. I've a ten full of cards and they fare very well. OK its not full but there's eight of them in there plus a trio of ottos, which I very rarely see. I've also had the six elipse and everything I ever put into it perished. If you can have a ten then by all means have a ten.

I like the eclipse 6 because it weights a lot less and will be easier to transport in case I am somewhere else for the summer.

If the 6 is whats going to work best for you in this case, then I would really suggest staying minimal. Not only are you already dealing with a small amount of water, but you might also be looking at having someone else sit for you if you're away for the weekend.

My suggestion, stick with a betta. Plant it up with some low light java fern, and maybe get a nice big snail or a shrimp for the bottom (if the betta permits it and doesn't beat it up). Sure it's not going to have lots of fish, but you really don't want to risk overstocking considering how much small tanks can swing. I wouldn't do it myself that's for sure. Considering everythign else that goes on in that time of our lives I'd keep it simple!


^_^

It is true that the smaller the volume of water, the more the parameters can and will spike. If a six is what you're set on then I agree with Babel. A betta will fill up that little tank nicely and be able to withstand the stresses that will occur as the parameters change.