Ideas for the 6.6

Although I currently find myself enamored with my good old 55-gallon, with its new lighting and canister and my wee striped ones, I have other things on the horizon. For example, this.

It's a Petco exclusive. It's a wee little bowfront tank with a 24-inch footprint. Because of its footprint, a tiny tank becomes a workable tank. Of course, in terms of water chemistry and parameters it's a nightmare to maintain a tiny tank. One little oops is a huge oops when you've only got 6.6 gallons. But in terms of visuals, it's a dream. People on YouTube post videos of this tank and non-believers chime in about how it simply must be a 55 bowfront. But it's not. It's wee and it's all mine, for the sale price of $36 + free shipping. Hah!

I know it's going to go on the kitchen counter, on the side with the new cabinets. My useless toaster can haul ass because it's only toasting one side of the bread. That's just unacceptable. But I digress.

I have options with this tank. A surprising number of options. I fully intend to stock this tank with live plants. I'm not turning back now. So I have to start my decisions there. While I'm cycling the tank I can plant. Though I've been warned against sand by the Wet Pet guy, I may charge forward anyway, having always wanted a sand tank. (Corys!) In particular, if I stick with plants which grow on logs and rocks, I don't even have to worry about roots, though plenty of folks get their plants to grow in the sand. Anubias, java ferns, java moss. My other choice is to go with the fluorite/eco-complete plant-growing substrate I have in the big tank.

Just today I came across this idea.

A betta sorority! I never knew one could house females together with relatively few aggression problems. And it's a lovely tank in terms of planting. The idea of dwarf hair grass really grabs me too.

I could stock this tank a million different ways. My thoughts include my desire for a school of cardinals/neons. 8 neons, 3 dwarf corys, cherry shrimp. If I upgrade the filter, I have a little wiggle room. I've also considered glow lights (glo lights?), and microfish like the tiny rasboras. I don't think I'm into microfish, though. Ultimately I'm here more for the fish than for the aquascaping.