Hi Dorothee.
When I prepared my first three tanks for Betta and (later) Paros (only 10 litres each due to lack of space in our flat) some months ago, I had to make the following decision: noisy + energy consuming air filter/internal filter – or no filtration at all.
I decided to try the latter way and after about six months now with successfully breeding B. tussyae and P. nagyi I can say that operating even smallest tanks without filtration can work really fine – as long as you
- do very regular water changes
- keep the number of (adult) fish per tank very low
- try to feed living food only, as this wont decay straight away
– In the very beginning I changed about 10 per cent in each of the three small tanks per day. But as soon as the Betta built there first bubble nests I reduced this to 25-30 per cent once or twice a week. And before a longer time of absence I replace 50-75 per cent with fresh r/o water.
– For me, 1.1 adults plus small offspring seems okay.
– I guess, I feed close to 95 per cent living food – plus frozen rotatoria and black mosquito larvae when necessary.
I don’t know whether this could be an approach for you, too. But with a 54 litre tank at hand you could give it a try. 🙂
Kind regards,
Michael