What type of fish is best for me?

[N1fighter]

I am cycling a 10 gallon tank and am experiencing my first ammonia spike. When ammonia gets to 0, nitrites to 0 (after it spikes), I will start to add fish a few at a time. However, I am not sure what fish are best for me.

It is a 10 gallon, freshwater tank, temperature will be 65-72ºF, and the water "hardness"
will be a bit on the high side. My municipal tap water is extremely hard and I am going to dilute it with deionized water (I work in a lab).

So, which types of fish would be good with the above parameters (low temperature, 10 gallon and slightly hard water?) I am not too interested in danios, however.

Thanks so much for the input!

[gm72]

Just remember to do a large water change before adding stock.

Your projected temp is too low. Most of us use temperatures of about 75-78 degrees.

With a 10 gallon maybe a school of neon tetras and a dwarf gourami as the centerpiece? There are hundreds of potential combinations.

[N1fighter]

I know its a little low....I just don't want to have a heater in the tank...yet. I could bulge with the heater but I am more concerned about the hardness. Do you know which fish can survive in hard(ish) water?

[KingFisher]

White cloud minnows would do well in those conditions. The temperature would be too cold for most other small fish species.

[gm72]

Agreed. Without a heater you are severely limited.

For hard water, some of the small shell-dwelling cichlids maybe but I don't know enough about them to help more than just the general suggestion.

[dizzydezzy]

Here are some candidates I can thing of off the top of my head...

- Clestial pearl danios. CPDs are tiny (just under an inch fully grown), prefer harder water, and do best at temperatures of 68-77, but can tolerate a bit lower (so should be OK in your tank). These were only discovered in 2007, so can be expensive and hard to get in some areas.

- White cloud mountain minnows - they are cold water, and while they technically "prefer" softer water, they are pretty hardy, and will get used to your hard water. They come in a few colour variations, and there is a long finned variety, and they tend to bee cheaper and more readily available than the CPDs.

- Guppies tend to do ok at a wide range of temperatures (68+ is recommended, but I've had them for years in about 65 and they bred like crazy and showed no signs of stress), and can tolerate pretty hard water. I would recomend only getting males though, unless you have lots of spare tanks for all the baby fish.

[TimGoldfish]

Just remember to do a large water change before adding stock.

Your projected temp is too low. Most of us use temperatures of about 75-78 degrees.

With a 10 gallon maybe a school of neon tetras and a dwarf gourami as the centerpiece? There are hundreds of potential combinations.

I agree with the temperature range. Have you thought of comet goldfish? Those are beautiful fish.

[KingFisher]

I agree with the temperature range. Have you thought of comet goldfish? Those are beautiful fish.

Comet goldfish do not belong in a 10 gallon tank.

[Goes to 11!]

- Guppies tend to do ok at a wide range of temperatures (68+ is recommended, but I've had them for years in about 65 and they bred like crazy and showed no signs of stress), and can tolerate pretty hard water. I would recomend only getting males though, unless you have lots of spare tanks for all the baby fish.

+1
I have had guppies breed at 72f & have no issues.

[MLBfan]

I suggest getting a heater, if it's the price then check Craigslist, your options will go up a bunch if you get one.