HELP!!! WHAT TO DO WITH A 10 GALLON AQUARIUM

Somadis120 · New member Joined: 15 Oct 2005 Posts: 1

I have been spending the last 2 hours research for ideas for my 10 gallon tank. But every sites I go to, people are saying that most fishes will not do well in a 10 gallon. Does anyone here owned a 10 gallon? If so please give me some advice on what kind of fish I should get and what kind of plants I should get. I would love to have live plant on my tank but I fear that it will out grow my small tank.

Also if you have picture of your tank please show it to me so I can get some ideas.

All comments are appriciated Smile

sakura.seppun · Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 3:14 pm Post subject:

I have a male betta and 3 platy fry, they are half grown, in a ten gallon with a jar and about 4 plants. Then a bubble wall in the back fills it out. I think it looks nice, and its very colorful with the orange platies and my uber purple/red Betta.

No pictures, just an idea. 10 gallons are really difficult to maintain, and its very tempting to get a lot of fish, but its just not possible.

Smaller tetras do well. Cory cats. Ghost Shrimp. You could probably have a fire bellied newt, I have 2 in my 20 gallon, if the rest of the fish were a small bioload.

t_chelle16 · Moderator Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 3437

Neons, black neons, and glolite tetras are okay in a 10 gallon as are african dwarf frogs, guppies, swordtails, apple snails (some species will eat live plants, though), otos, the smaller species of cories (I like pygmy cories because they only get 1"), dwarf gouramis, or a betta.

Of the smaller species of community type fish, I would avoid anything that gets bigger than 2". And for most of them you can use 1" of adult fish/gallon as a starting point. But you have to keep in mind that tetras prefer groups of preferrably 6 (most cases not really possible in a 10 gallon) but 4 would work and cories should be kept in groups of 3. You also have to keep aggression in mind, such as not keeping 2 male bettas, or a male & female, or a betta & a gourami, or 2 male gouramis, or bettas with fin nippers, etc.

There are some smaller cichlid species that could be kept in a 10 gallon, but they're not quite as forgivving as most of the community type fish so I woudn't really recommend them for beginners.

As for plants, I've had a lot of luck with wendtii and aponogetons (needs to be trimmed quite often, though). Java moss, java fern, and anubias nana are also fairly easy to care for plants. But keep in mind that if you want live plants, you'll likely have to get different lighting since standard 10 gallon lights don't normally put out enough light. I'd aim for at least 20 watts of fluorescent light, but preferrably 30.

Here's a couple pics of my 10 gallon at various times when I had it set up (recently tore it down and moved everything to a 20).

-Chelle

Mice · Member Joined: 16 Jul 2005 Posts: 76

i have 3 goldfish Orandas. They are really cool when they reach like a year or so they will grow big wart like things on their heads they are called a Wen. While you are reading this u are probably about to hit back to the forum because i gave a nasty nasty description but personally i think they are awesome.

Here's a picture of my tank nothing special..

Mice · Member Joined: 16 Jul 2005 Posts: 76

sorry its so big thats how my it came out. tell me what you think about it. thanks.

Aqueous · Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:54 pm Post subject:

Nice tank but it's way overstocked. Goldfish are messy and will need about 20 gallosn each. Oranda's can also get over 10".

tyler_medeiros · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 329 Location: Canada

here is my 10 gallon tank. There are 4 platies in it.
http://tylerandamanda.50megs.com/10G.JPG