opinions on stocking a first tank

[timm]

I am in the process of setting up my first tank. It is a 10 gal. I am currently doing a fishless cycle, and am turning my mind to the question of what to put it in when it is ready. I was at the local fish store and found some tetras that I liked. they were called either blue/red black tetras or blue/red back tetras. I have not been able to find any information on these fish and how big they get. Anyone have any idea how many of them I could get for a 10 gal. if these are an appropriate fish for this size of tank, what else could I get to put in there with them? I was thinking something to keep the algea down, and maybe another fish or two. let me know that you suggest. thanks in advance

timm

[Lady Hobbs]

Altho tetra's are small fish, they like to school and need room to swim the length of the tank. Varities will seldom swim together so sometimes it's best to just get one species and have one big happy family.

My personal opinion is that a 10 gallon is too small. By the time you add decorations it's cut down even more. I would put neons or cardinals in this tank with some coreys for the bottom. A lot of cardinals or neons make a very pretty tank, especially if you have a plain background.

[Zerileous]

I have never heard of these tetras. Make sure they are not injected or dyed! That said there are many colorful varieties of tetra and many are suited to a 10 gallon. If they are the torpedo boddied tetras, your good to go, but if it has a more flat body, then they might need a bit more space.

You could fit 6 or 7 of the smaller variety in there, with room for some more stocking.

For algae, you best bet is amano shrimp (not ghost). Oto cats are good algae eaters, but they are hard to keep alive, and they need to school. This is problematic because one oto can easily keep a 10 gallon clean.

cory cats will eat some algae and are good scavengers, plus they are fun to watch.

you would want at least 3 of any of the above species (except the shrimp)

just keep researching and i'm sure you will find something you like!

ps. welcome to aquatic community!

[salman]

Tetra's dont get bigger then what you see them in the fish store. Even if they get bigger you wont notice a difference. I have a tetra tank, i only keep tetras inside but i think you can keep other tank mates in with it. But i like tetras alone and all kinds of tetras together. But, make sure your tank is fully cycled before you put in the tetras. 35/40 of my tetras died on the first week because the tank i put them in wasn't fully cycled. So make sure your tank is cycled.

[dev]

Tetra's dont get bigger then what you see them in the fish store. Even if they get bigger you wont notice a difference.

Not always true. My glowlights have grown huuuuge. Fat little buggers about 4 cm. I'm amazed they can still swim. They were half this size when I bought them.

I'll see if I can get a picture.

edit: here you go, just look at that big thing

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For my very first 10 gallon I would get a few livebearers like Guppy or Endlers. They are very active and breed easily, look fabulous and do a little tank maintenance for you aswell.

Other options are asian rasboras or a mini south american community with some tetras, ottos and corydoras (just like RobbieG is suggesting below), maybe even a small hypancistrus. This one will grow too large for your tank at some point, but they grow very slowly, and will give you a nice excuse to upgrade your tank at some point in the future.

I would even test the tap water you have. If the water is soft, the south american approach should make things easier for you. If it is hard, you might want to give extra consideration to some livebearers.

[RobbieG]

Oto cats are the best algae eaters for a 10 gallon (IMO)

For a 10 gallon tank (with a good filter and 50% weekly water changes) I would get 3 of those & 3 cory cats and either

6-8 neons or

4-5 of the larger tetras (diamonds or skirted tetras)

[dev]

I would put neons or cardinals in this tank with some coreys for the bottom.

I must point out that while neons will be quite happy in a small tank like this, cardinals depend more on the school (needs a bigger group) and need more room to swim. They should not be kept in anything less than a 15 gallon that is at least 20 inches long. Personally I would want something like a 25 gallon.

They also have an unusual demand (unusual for tetras anyway) for pH level and stability, and should be kept in water with a stable pH below 6.0.

This is why cardinals have a slightly higher difficulty rating than neons in the Baensch atlas.

They do make perfect friends for discus, however.

[Kuli_Loach]

Well, the issue of what to put in a 10 gallon. It is really your own personal interest in fish. Cory cats have already been mentioned and they do alot and are comical. Just remember, they like to be together in groups. There is neons and cardinals. Can't forget the female bettas but caution, they don't like alot of oxygen in the water like most fish, I lost alot of them until I found that out. I have a female betta that had lived for 4 years until I switched it to a new tank with the same other fish but had alot of oxygen being put in and she died in about 3 days. I have had Khuli Loaches in 10 gallons and they did fine but I wouldn't reccomend it. The golden rule is one inch of fish per gallon. Try to get a larger filter and you can break this a little. My 10 gallon right now is a hospital tank with a 40 gallon filter and a 20 gallon filter on it with 4 cory cats, 5 guppies, 1 bumble bee cat, and 1 silver dollar that is injured and is healing. Just think of yourself in the position. If you were the only one in a room then it wouldn't be to hot. After about 10 get into a room and moving around, it heats up and gets nasty with no air moving. It is the same with fish, if plenty of water is moving, then it is fine. Also remember, there is always someone else you don't like that is always at a party. Just remember that you always want to give fish as much room as possible. If you don't like someone, you don't want to be right next to them. I have seen 10 gallons with 2 angles, 2 silver dollars, a bala shark, and a beta in it before and was that way for years but them fish had to be unhappy and stressed out the wazzooooo.

[SkarloeysMom]

I've had my 10g community up and running for several months now. Here's what I'd put in a 10g now if I had an empty tank with really good filtration.

5 harlequin rasboras
3 panda corys (small and so fun to watch)
3 otos (not as hardy as corys)

I did not like guppies much because of the mess they make and the females I had ate too much. I'm over white clouds. Zebra Danios are zippy and hardy but I probably won't get more unless I get a bigger tank and can have other fish too. And I will totally skip the neon and cardinal tetras because I've heard they are so delicate.

[RobbieG]

I always forget the harlequins they are beautiful fish too. They stay small (perfect for a small tank) and look great together.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

With my 6g, 6 neons and a single bristlenose were put in.
But, an oto cat is a good substitute (probably a better one) or a couple of the corydoras who will stay around 1.5-2 inches.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

Alternately, maybe 3 -4 platies and a couple of corys or oto cats for a 10g.

[RobbieG]

trouble with 3-4 platies is getting them to stay 3-4 platies:ezpi_wink1:

[troy]

You could have a dwarf cichlid with a few corys.

[Kuli_Loach]

Yea but I don't recommend a chichlid in anything but a 20 or bigger.

[MeganL3985]

I love my neons, I have some in my 5 gallon. They seem happy :)

[Nick_Pavlovski]

trouble with 3-4 platies is getting them to stay 3-4 platies:ezpi_wink1:

Too true!

Mine used to give birth at night - I was always asleep - so it was hard to collect all the babies before mum or dad starting snacking on them...

[dev]

Yea but I don't recommend a chichlid in anything but a 20 or bigger.

Apistogrammas are used to small spaces, so you could perhaps have a single male in a 10 gallon with some corydoras. I reccomend at least 15-20 gallon for a male with two females, but thats mostly for territory reasons.

[zqia014]

There really aren't that many choices for a 10 galleon tank, I would suggest the following combination for a planted community setup. (Not too densely planted otherwise there will be no room for the fish to swim)

- 5 or 6 neon tetras, 2-3 corys
- 5 or 6 neon tetras, 1-2 baby bristlenose catfish
- 5 or 6 neon tetras, a few shrimp

I would go with the first option, make sure your tank is cycled before adding any fish, ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0, nitrate as low as possible.

Very important to cycle it first I made the mistake of adding fish too fast and restarted my cycle, lucky I took fast action and it looks like I'll get away with it without losing any fish, still have a long way to go with the proper cycling though right now my ammonia leve is decreasing but still no sign of nitrite yet.

[dev]

nitrate as low as possible.

I believe a tank is better off with at least 5-10 ppm nitrates, especially if it is planted. It helps prevent blue-green algea (cyanobacteria) and gives the plants something to feed off.

[zqia014]

Yeah of course I think a nitrate of 0ppm is hard to achieve anyway?

[dev]

Yeah of course I think a nitrate of 0ppm is hard to achieve anyway?

Some people find it hard to keep the nitrates down, while others find that their level is always near 0. I suppose this depends on water changes, biological load, planting, quality of tap water and so on.

I'm currently adding CaNO3 in two of my fully planted tanks to keep the level at >10 ppm. With 30% water changes per week, the amount of food i'm tossing in just doesn't provide enough nitrogen.

Anyway, I just didn't want timm to think he had to change water until the nitrate concentration was near 0 :)

[Wallyfish]

Theres still plenty of options for a 10gal even if its small. Heres a couple small fish off the top of my head.

(any 2 combinations)
5 neon tetra, 5 harlequin rasbora, 5 glofish, 5 white clouds, 5 glow light tetra, 5 panda cory, 5 otocinclus, 5 leopard danios, 5 lemon tetra, 5 flame tetra, 5 male guppy.

If I were to redo a 10 gallon I would go with 5 lemons and 5 flames because I never had those fish. The contrast of the yellows and the reds would be interesting.

[timm]

thanks for the replies everyone. While I wait for the tank to finish cycling, I will spend some time looking up all these fish and seeing what catches my eye. I will probably post what combination I am going with before I go out and buy the fish just to make sure the combination works.

[MeganL3985]

But, make sure your tank is fully cycled before you put in the tetras. 35/40 of my tetras died on the first week because the tank i put them in wasn't fully cycled. So make sure your tank is cycled.

Really?? I had 2 platy's and 4 neons when I started my tank (which was not cycled cause I didn't know about cycling), my platy's died but all my neon's lived. My tank is still not finished cycling and no problems with my neons.

[timm]

ok.. went to the LFS today and looked at some of the fish. I found some fish I liked but want to make sure there is nothing wrong with this combination. I dont think there is anything wrong with it from what you have all said but just want to make sure:

4-5 Neon or lemon tetras,
2-3 Guppys
eventually a corydora or two or something to take care of algea

[MeganL3985]

Check out the post with compatibility charts. Its awesome :) btw, if you haven't seen it yet, its in the Tank Setup section, its a red colored sticky.

Oh and I think your combo sounds okay :)

[thizzviet]

u should have a centerpiece fish likee a dwarf gouramis

[Zerileous]

sounds good timm, but make sure the guppies are all male or your 2-3 guppies could turn into 20-30 of them! They breed like wildfire. Also, if you get a female, she could be pregnant already (without you being able to tell), so my recomendation would be to just stick with males. Many people dislike guppies, but I think they are a very nice fish to have in a smaller tank.