10 Gallon Stocking Advice

[Dejitaru_Davis]

I've been lurking the forums for a while now...haven't done much posting. If you guys would be so kind, I'd like some aquarium advice. When I was young my family had an aquarium; I loved it. But time passed, the numbers dwindled, and eventually the last fish died. The aquarium...well, it wasn't boxed up, because it was used to keep toads or lizards. Mostly herps. ‘Kept reptiles and amphibians through most of my pre-teen and teen years.

Right now I have a small ‘aquarium’ (it’s gotta be in the 1 gallon range, if that, so I’ll use the term lightly) housing some nice clumps of java moss and a couple ghost shrimp. I do water changes regularly. I obviously can’t keep anything substantial in that.

I’d like to get a 10 gallon cycling so I could actually keep some fish….and I’ll resituate the ghosties into there when it’s ready. I’ve got a fair amount of Java Moss growing, and plan to purchase more plants for the 10g once I get it going. Sorry for the wall-o-text, tl;dr version: help me stock a planted, ghost-shrimp-safe 10g.

I originally was thinking I’d put a few guppies in there. I’ve heard mixed numbers on how many guppies a 10 galloon can safely handle.

I also looked at kuhli’s because I’ve had a soft spot for them for a long time. But I’ve read varied numbers on tank size requirements and I know they like to be kept in groups. I don’t know that I want to end up with a tank dedicated to three squirrely loaches, if that’s all it can handle.

I also considered putting a mystery snail in there, because I think they look pretty cool, but I don’t wanna hog up a lot of viable tank space on a snail.

I don’t know, I have trouble calculating bioload and whatnot and would just like some advice. I’m open to lots of suggestions, obviously I don’t have any impulse purchases on hand or anyone who desperately needs to be re-homed. Thanks in advance!

[icecubez189]

Kuhli's might be a little packed in a 10 gallon, especially if you get a small group of them. i'm not 100% sure because i've never actually owned them.

guppies might breed a little bit, but i know people who keep them in 10 gallons without too much of a problem. maybe a group of 4 or 5. Endler's livebearers are a great choice as well if you can find them.

Snails and shrimp make a great combination. Amano shrimp or red cherry shrimp are good choices. I used to keep apple and mystery snails and I really liked them.

a single male betta fish makes for a nice presentation, with some otos or snails, but most likely, it will try to eat the ghost shrimps.

tetras are also another option, like your popular neons or cardinals. i keep black phantom's and i think they are absolutely beautiful.

[Nue]

Im with Icey on the Shrimps, like Cherry Shrimp. They are fairly easy to keep, and they love java moss.

[SMinNC]

Would a larger tank be an option?

I thought I'd mention it, incase it would/could be.

Either a 30g / 36" long. Or a 29g / 30" long but taller. Make for some nice tanks. For not much more in cost.

If you have the room for a bigger tank. It will be worth it to look into.

And if you have plenty of room. That craigs list thing, has alot of deals on 55g+ tanks, that people just plain gotta get rid of. So really, again depending on space. You could get a used 55 for the same or less cost of a 29. And if your real lucky, less than a new 10g.

[Dejitaru_Davis]

Thanks for all the responses so quickly.

As far as guppies, I would probably try to get all males. If breeding is an issue, we have turtles that would, more than likely, eat them.

I'd considered just making it a shrimp tank, so I've considered cherry shrimp, but I kinda thought it might be nice to have something swimming around. But I'll keep the option in mind.

And I realize the 10 gallon is small. I would really like to go for something larger (oh, I've gazed longly over Craigslist many times), but price isn't the restraining issue. I want this to be something I'll be able to bring back to school with me. The residence halls...for some reason...have a policy that tanks can't be bigger than 10 gallons.

[icecubez189]

my college has the same policy, but believe me, if your going to be moving it back and forth during the breaks, you won't want it to be too big!

my amano shrimps were pretty lively and would hop from plant to plant. they swam up to the surface during feeding and would actually compete with the other fish for flakes. when you would sink an algae wafer to the bottom, it's like an all out gang war between the six of them. i would say they are pretty interesting.

[jooranda]

hiya well i gotta 15 gallon tank an i have nice leopard danios in mine with a few amano shrimp and leopards are so colourfull and great to watch also wot about white clouds they cool fish to and very hardy

[Dejitaru_Davis]

my college has the same policy, but believe me, if your going to be moving it back and forth during the breaks, you won't want it to be too big!

my amano shrimps were pretty lively and would hop from plant to plant. they swam up to the surface during feeding and would actually compete with the other fish for flakes. when you would sink an algae wafer to the bottom, it's like an all out gang war between the six of them. i would say they are pretty interesting.

Believe me, I've carried enough crap up the stairs to know what a pain it can be. Part of why I have such a dinky setup right now. I only have to bring them in and out twice (Mmve in, move out, and at either end of my winter break), though, so I wasn't terribly conscerned with size...obviously I can't do a 55 gallon or anything of that sort (there wouldn't be room in my dorm) but I didn't think a 20 or 30 G would be that big of a deal.

My ghosts are actually pretty active, particularly at feeding time. I've watched them tug-of-war over pieces of vegetable I drop in. Partially why I'd considered just doing a shrimp tank. I just wasn't sure that it would feel like a main attraction :P more like when I used to have a tank full'a crickets to gut load.

[SMinNC]

...The residence halls...for some reason...have a policy that tanks can't be bigger than 10 gallons.

I had a feeling that was going to come up. :huh: