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Old June 28th, 2006, 12:46 PM
RVT092481 RVT092481 is offline
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Red face What to put in my tank?

Hello.
I'm not new to the animal field but new to the fish field! My husband decided that he wants to add a fish tank to our animal family. He bought a 10G tank. He really likes Neon Tetras.
My question is...he's going to get some neon tetras but I was wondering what other fish to go with them? Depending on who you talk to or where you look everything/everyone says different things. I know that all fish are different but I was wondering in general what kinds of fish people have had success putting with Neon Tetras.
We like bright fish (ie Moly's) but also don't want to spend a fortune on fish until we can get things settled and know that we can take care of them!
Thanks in advance for any/all help!
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Old June 29th, 2006, 01:00 AM
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Sneaky Sneaky is offline
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Hi there,
Welcome to the fish keeping hobby!
Allow me to provide info a couple basics many beginners
dont know about, so as to avoid a troublesome beginning for you.

When you first get a new tank, when you set it up and add livestock,
the tank will go through what is called the Nitrogen Cycle.
As the fish pee and poop in the tank, ammonia will build up.
Ammonia is lethal to fish. However, soon after ammonia builds up in
the tank a type of bacteria called Nitrosomonas builds up to turn
that harmful Ammonia into less harmful NitrItes. Ammonia starts to disappear
off your test kit and NitrItes rise to near lethal levels. Then, another type of Nitrosomonas bacteria builds and eats the NitrItes, resulting in the end product NitrAtes, a relatively harmless chemical that feeds live plants.

The cycling period takes approximately 21-60 days, depending on how many water changes you do, how often, and how much bioload (the amount of waste and size of fish in the tank) that are present.

Neon Tetras, while beautiful, are fragile and will not survive the cycling process. There are however fish that will.
You should ask your local fish store, if you can return fish in trade, after your tank has cycled. Tell them you would like to purchase 6 zebra danios,
to cycle your tank, and would like to return any living danios after the cycle back to the store for either credit, or trade for Neons.

Zebra Danios are about the toughest, hardiest fish there is. They will usually survive a cycle, without any problems, where many other fish would die.

Now, you need to get test kits for Ammonia, NitrItes and NitrAtes,
or a master test kit that includes these. Dont buy the dip stick ones, they are faulty, dont read right, and need to be replaced monthly as the reagent starts to detiorate upon exposure to air. Stick with the liquid drip tests. They will last you years and be reliable too.
This will help you measure the levels in your tank.
Once your ammonia has disappeared to 0 and your NitrItes have dropped to zero, and NitrAtes have risen, your tank has cycled and is ready for your stock.

During the cycling period, when ammonia reach 2.0 ppm, you will need to do a small water change. You generally should try to do water changes only every 2 weeks while cycling, if you can. But if the ammonia gets high do a 25% (of the tank volume) water change.
Always replace water with Dechlorinated, Same temperature water.
A great Dechlorinator is Prime. Its the cheapest in the long run and superior beyond all others. 1 capful treats 50 gallons of water. It removes Chlorine, Chloramine, heavy metals, and detoxifies Ammonia and NitrItes. It is great to use during the cycle , every few days to keep the ammonia less toxic to help the fish through.

Now, once your tank is cycled, you can add your fish.
Definitely 10g has room for some neons and some other fish.
The general rule of thumb for stocking fish is 1 inch of adult fish,
per gallon of space.
Neon tetras are schooling fish, so should be kept in groups of 5-6 of more.
As neons are about 1 inch at maturity, if you got 5 neons, that would be 5 inches of adult fish, allowing you approx 5-7 inches remaining to work with.
There are many fish that are suitable with neons. I suggest a contrasting tetra or similar, perhaps the nice yellow Lemon Tetra, or the pinky with white gold and red White Cloud mountain minnow, or perhaps the slightly larger cousin of the neon, the Black neon, which is black and sports a sharp white stripe.

You could do two schools of 6 small 1 inch fish each in your tank, if you are willing to do 35% water changes with gravel vaccuum of 50% of the substrate every 7-10 days, or every 10-14 days if you have a fair amount of Live Plants.
If you do not have live plants, stick to the schedule of every 7-10 days.
Never remove too much water or vaccuum 100% of the gravel, as that will harm the nitrosomonas bacteria that live in your gravel, and may cause your tank to go through a mini cycle.

Another option to stocking, could be to go with some neon tetras,
and then choose a centerpeice fish, a small, colorful fish, that can be kept individually, and usually has a fair amount of personality.
A male betta (siamese fighting fish), or a Dwarf Gourami, Or a Paradise Fish,
all come to mind. All are bout 2.5 inches at maturity, peaceful so long as kept with no others of their kind, and do well in a smaller tank. Beckfords/Dwarf Pencilfish are very interesting, and can be kept in pairs or trios. Could definitely be a centerpeice fish. There is also the Blue German and Bolivian Rams, smaller cichlids that can be kept alone in a small tank. The blue is more colorful, but the bolivian more hardy. They grow to 3 and 4 inches respectively.

Or, maybe you like catfish. If so, the Corydoras group of catfishes include many varieties that are smaller, and suitable for a 10g tank.
Cory cats are schoolers as well, so of course you would want to keep a group of 5-6 with your group of 5-6 neons.
Several of these are very large fish, over 3 inches and even 4. Avoid these particular few :
Albino or Bronze
Pepper /Paleatus
Metae/Bandit '
Emerald Green /Brochis Splendens
They are the largest of the cory family and reach 3 or more inches, and need at least 20g of space. The emerald green is not really a cory, and grows to about 6 inches.

Pretty much every other cory catfish is small enough for a group of 5-6 in a 10g with some neons.
Some are particular small, such as the Pygmy Cory or the Hasbrosus Cory,
both coming in at 1.5 inches or less. They are super cute!

Also, there a 2 different types of Loaches, which are kinda like catfish, that would work in a 10g tank. One is the Dwarf Chain Loach, species Botia Sidthimunki, which grow to about 1.5 inches.
The other is the Kuhli loach, an orange and black striped fella that looks almost like an eel. They are about 4 inches long, but very thin, so would count them as only about 2 inches of bioload each. Loaches are Shoaling fish, slightly different that schoolers, preferring some members of their own kind, with 3 individuals being the generally lowest accepted number for keeping together.

There are also many other ideas, like, Guppies, Platies, many tetras, many rasboras, killifish, mosquitofish, etc etc.

Also, there are non-fish critters, such as Shrimp, African Dwarf Frogs,
and even crayfish(but these eat fish so care must be taken that they are not mixed with slow, less intelligent fish like guppies).

Mollies of all species are too large to fit in a 10g tank. Most mollies reach 3-4 inches, and some as much as 6. Mollies are also much more difficult to keep than their cousins the Guppies, Endlers, and Platies.

Also, in case you were rolling the idea of goldfish around anywhere, dont.
No goldfish are small enough to fit in a 10g tank, goldfish require specific setups, with 30G being the minimum for 1 individual.

I hope this is enough to get your started.

Remember, the fish you are choosing are tropical, and will need a heater.
Most will also do best in a neutral PH , between 6.8-7.2 being best.

Filtration is also important, and, if i didnt mention above, never change a filter cartridge when doing a water change, just rinse in used tank water and pop back in. Only replace when absolutely needed, when filter speed is impaired or tank looks dirty.

Also, dont overfeed your fish. The size of their eye is the size of their stomach. Feed accordingly, only what the fish can eat in 3-5 minutes time,
and also siphon off any uneaten food.

Also, try to vary foods a little, say a regular flake, a veggie flake, a shrimp pellet, some frozen bloodworms. This will help your fish grow strong healthy and beautiful.

Please dont hesitate if you have more questions, and heres a link to a description of the Nitrogen Cycle you may find useful.
Good Luck!

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

And a link to a pair of actual Fish only Forums, which you also may find useful:

http://www.fishprofiles.com
http://www.petfish.net
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  #3  
Old June 29th, 2006, 11:22 AM
RVT092481 RVT092481 is offline
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Wowzers!

Thank you very much for all the information...it was a little over whelming though (not complaining!)
I understand the ammonia cycle and everything like that but they didn't tell me that I'd need a tough fish. My husband went out and bought 5 Neon Tetras and one Female Beta (they told him that the females are less aggressive and best in a community tank).
Well, that was Tuesday night and by this am, all the Tetras are dead. But hearing what you said, it makes sense! We're going to bring them back to the store tonight and now in reading your post, I'm not going to get new Neons!
This is what we have:
10G tank, plastic plants, hiding things/swim through things, three different kinds of food (Nutrafin Max foods: Earthworm flakes with bits of freeze dried tubifex worms, colour enhancing flake food and spirulina algae flake food). We have three different chemicals that we add to the water. AquaPlus (tap water conditioner), Cycle (reduces fish loss, Nitrifier) and Waste Control (rapid reduction of organic waste). The only fish in there is Betta Bertha. We also have a syphon hose to clean the tank and gravel. Forgot to add that we also have a filter, heater and thermometer.
So now my questions are:
Is this ok or do we need more stuff to keep the tank healthy? Big Betta Bertha is doing fine, eating lots, colour looks good, bright, swimming around normally.
We want easy fish to take care of as this is new to both of us (and not very expensive would be good too).
So what fish should I add, what order and when? I know you said in your post but honestly it overwhelmed me.
We're going back to the pet store tonight to return the dead ones and hopefully get new fishies if I can get the information (since what they told me is obviously wrong!)
Thank you so much for everything...I really do appreciate it!

Last edited by RVT092481; June 29th, 2006 at 01:39 PM.
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Old June 29th, 2006, 02:39 PM
RVT092481 RVT092481 is offline
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I read your reply a little more throughly and now I'm understanding the majority of it (I am a blonde after all! )
I'm going to ask about the zebra danios when we go back to night but I was also wondering that since we have one female betta in there already, can I use betta's to cycle the tank? If not, will she get along with the danios? IF not what do I do with her? I have a very little tank when I had a male betta long ago (no filter, heater, thermometer, nothing fancy - just small tank, rocks and a little plastic plant). Do the females need all the other stuff or are they treated the same as males?
Thanks soooo much for all your help! Hopefully I'll hear from you before I go to the store tonight!
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Old June 29th, 2006, 03:06 PM
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phoenix phoenix is offline
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Location: Peterborough, Ontario
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Hi
Sorry your neons died. Where are you buying your fish?

If I were you, I'd get a credit from the store and wait a bit. Let the tank cycle with the betta since she's already in there.

If you wanted a danio, might be ok... not a long finned one- just the regular zebra- they'll survive the cycle but the thing to remember is, then you're stuck with him and he takes up valuable inches in the 10G (unless you want him)... means less fish you want in the future unless your fish store lets you trade him in.

Look up "fishless cycling" on google, there are tons of sites/instructions. You could put Bertha in a bowl for a while and do a fishless cycle using pure ammonia or fish food- much less cruel to the fish. Get a test kit and keep testing your water parameters... you want to see an ammonia spike, followed by ammonia dropping and nitrite spiking, followed by ammonia and nitrite at 0 and nitrate going up. Then you know the tank has cycled, and you can safely add fish.

Neons aren't hardy. If you do get them again, make sure you acclimatize them in the fish store bag- float the bag in your tank for 20 min or so to get the temperature evened out, then open the bag and take out some water (down the sink) and add some tank water to the bag... repeat every 5 min or so for 2-3 times... then catch the fish in a net and place in your tank. Don't put the fish store water in your tank.

There is so much to know about fish... I started with a 10g, got a 15g a few months ago, and today I bought a 46g. Watch out, it's addictive!!

Good luck
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Old June 29th, 2006, 04:11 PM
RVT092481 RVT092481 is offline
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Thanks.
With the help from here I can understand why they died though. I was worried that Bertha was picking on them but they all looked fine (other than not being alive). The last one that died was swimming sideways for a while and would get swept away easily with the filter flow. She'd like herd him towards the food and keep him away from the plants (so he wouldn't get caught in them) and stop him from hitting the sides. They would all swim together like she was their big mamma.
I did the whole acclimatizing thing with the fish.
We'll probably do the starter fish cycling since we already have a fish in there. I can't see her being too happy about going into a much smaller tank without as much neat stuff. Will she get along with and danios though? Or should I get a couple more Bettas?
Thanks so much again. This has been really helpful! Like I said, I know small animals and some exotics, but not fish!
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