#1
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10g tank questions
Hi, I've been reading through the posts here in the fish section, and have received some tips. But, here are my specifics...
I have a 10 G tank with gravel and 2 large rocks in it (that's it...) and water obviously... I have had a goldfish in it for 7 years (Stephen, RIP )... he passed away 2 weeks ago. It has florescent lighting (which I rarely have on)...and an Aquaclear 150 filter with foam, carbon filter and ammonia filter packets in it. I am interested in restocking the tank, with small schools. I've added a heater today and am starting to bring up the temperature. The water has been going through the filter continuously, I never turned it off. So, what I'd like to do is buy a couple of plants that don't require a large amount of light (I have some algae growth) and some fish that would be suitable to the tank size. After reading here, I went to Animalia and had a look at what was available: cory cats (pepper, I couldn't find any panda) platys (cute little orange guys that followed my fingers around) tetras (emperor, neon) gouramis (these seemed big, lots of different kinds) danios (lots of different kinds; the zebras were cute) swordtails Any ideas or recommendations? Most were sold at 3/whatever price. |
#2
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Hi there,
ok, the general rule of thumb for stocking a tank is 1 inch per gallon. So In a 10g tank thats around 10 inches of adult fish. Heres what you like: cory cats (pepper, I couldn't find any panda) platys (cute little orange guys that followed my fingers around) tetras (emperor, neon) gouramis (these seemed big, lots of different kinds) danios (lots of different kinds; the zebras were cute) swordtails Ok, Pepper Corys grow to 3.5 inches and are one of the largest cory catfish. They need to be kept in schools of 5-6 or more. Definitely too large for a 10g tank. Suitable corys would be : panda, hasbrosus, pygmy Platys are hardy little livebearing fish. They give birth to live young every 25 days approx, up to 150 fry at a time! You would want to keep all males or all females. They are easily identified by gender. You could keep 5 male platys or 4 females in your tank if you wanted all platys. Tetras - you could keep some tetras in that tank. I would suggest only 1 large school, like 5- 6 emperors or 10 neons. They are schooling fish. Neons grow to about 1 inch, emperors two. They should be kept in groups of 5-6 or more. Gouramis - several types of gouramis would suit your tank. These are the dwarf gourami, thick lip gourami, honey gourami, flame gourami and paradise fish. You would want to keep only 1 in your tank. You could get a dwarf gourami as a centerpeice fish, and then could add 6 neons or 5 emperors, or a trio of platys. A Dwarf gourami or similar, would eat most fry born, so it wouldnt matter what gender platys you got. Danios - you could keep a school of 6 zebra danios in your tank. They are active, so thatd be about you could keep, or maybe with a snail or two or a couple small shrimp. Swordtails grow to over 4 inches and are unsuitable for tanks under 20 gallons. I hope this has given you some ideas of what you can fit! Any of these suggestions would of course require a once weekly to every 10th day water change and gravel vaccuum of 35%. |
#3
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yay, the person I was hoping to answer!!
you've helped a lot, thank you! do i need to do anything to cycle or detox the tank from the previous occupant? I assume that the good bacteria is still up and running, and the tank is fairly clean. |
#4
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Hi there,
how long has it been since the fish was last in it? The bacteria wont stay alive forever with no source of food for it (ammonia). IF the fish was still there within the past week, you should be good to just go ahead and add a few fish at a time. You would want to add just a couple fish at a time, so say you chose to do 1 Dwarf Gourami or Similar (3 inches) 7 neons (7 inches) Add 4 neons, wait 10 days, then add the gourami and the other 3 neons. That way you dont have a big spike. Biospira works for cycling, Hagens Cycle doesnt. Stresszyme also can help with mini cycles. EDIT: Sorry - I see you goldfish passed away about 2 weeks ago. You tank probably has some good bacteria remaining, but may go through a mini cycle. Maybe test the water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, and see how its doing. If your still getting good levels of nitrates, you should be ok. Stresszyme or Biospira would definitely assist in a mini cycle. For plants, if you have low light, try cryptocornes, wisteria, water sprite, vallisneria americana, onion plant, giant hygrophilia, java fern, java moss, or anubias species of plants. THey all do very well under low light. Last edited by Sneaky; May 21st, 2006 at 09:57 PM. |
#5
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Well, I went out today and bought plants and some fish... I bought wisteria, corkscrew, java fern and a cryptocorne. And then, 3 lemon tetras and 3 red phantom tetras. They seem to be doing very well. Here's a picture, but HECK... how do you take a picture of the tank? Maybe it is better in the daytime without the flash!
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#6
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here's a blurry one. can't photo the fish!
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#7
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Hey Phoenix,
I highly would have recommended getting 5-6 of all one kind of tetra...they do really prefer to be in schools of 6 or more. Maybe you could add 2 more of each in the future. To take a photo of a tank: macro mode if you have it (flower or tulip button) tank lights on all room lights off best at night no flash Lookin pretty good ! |
#8
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Hi,
Oh well, I thought as long as they were all tetras they'd school together. apparently not. we all have to start somewhere! At the store today I asked which were easy keepers (of the tetras) and the guy pointed out these and I couldn't decide which to get. so i split the difference. I do see now in your first reply you told me this already, oops. i could add more later, but then I'd have to say goodbye to the gourami or betta idea, right? Too many fish inches? (btw, no panda cory cats in town. i checked everywhere)... thanks for the photog tips. |
#9
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Hi there,
well, I really have no idea what a "Red Phantom tetra" is. Maybe you could browse through fishprofiles.com characins section to see what they are. Phantom tetras only come in black and white unless they have been dyed. Maybe they are Serpae or Bleeding Heart Tetras? Heres a link to the section: http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles...spx?category=2 |
#10
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http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10tetra_redphantom.htm
There they are... interesting they are not on the other website. I guess there are so many varieties... They are schooling together this morning, btw. The lemons seem faster and more 'agressive' for food. |
#11
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Hi there,
Phew, glad you picked a nice small tetra. So lets see, currently you have 3 lemons ~1 inch at maturity, and 3 reds and 1.5 at maturity, or 7.5 inches total. My thoughts are with regular maintenance, you can sneak through a couple more inches. If you added 2 more lemons and 2 more serpaes, thatd be 12.5 inches. Not bad. I know that smaller tetras tend to need schools more than larger ones, so maybe add 2 more lemons, and keep the reds in a group of 3. They likely wont school together as much as if they were the same species. This would still leave you room for 1 small centerpeice fish, like a betta or gourami, or maybe a blue ram, or bolivian ram (ruby crown cichlid), or maybe a pair of pencilfish or dwarf rainbows or a couple ottos or the like. |
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