Scarlet Badis - lazy/poor man's feeding solution

[richardcunliffe]

Following my hijack of Ben Cox's thread I thought I'd start a new one on two areas:

1. Would a single male be ok, or should I aim for a including 1 or more females also? Would they behave with the three honey Gouramis I have in the tank (60x40x40, also 17 cardinals, 6 otos and shrimp, fairly heavy stocking hence hoping for a single)
2. Has anyone got a true ecosystem going to the point that you don't have to provide live food for a scarlet badis (/other predator)? What is the chance that the shrimp population alone will provide enough food?

 

[castle]

Give this a read: Biotope in my study, a low-tech natural aquarium - tuncalik.com - Natural Aquariums and Sustainable Life

I think your tank is too small to provide enough natural food for them. As for grouping, I think they’re better in a small group. A self regulating aquarium is possible but not straight forward, ideally you’d have more micro invertebrates in the tank, and they’re not exactly easy.