New 10 gal

T

TJT

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Jan 16, 2005
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Just got a 10 gallon tank...one my girlfriend wasnt using. Pretty sure its the wal mart 'deluxe' kit with heater, filter, etc. She gave me some of her baby guppies and some platys (total of 6 fish). I would like to add some other fish...I was thinking something a little larger to draw more attention but I want to make sure not to overstock my tank or get something that wont get along well or just be hard to take care of.
I plan on giving it a little time for the biological cycle to get established. After that I would like to add an algae eater or something along those lines. My dad told me I should look for an upside-down catfish. My girlfriend wanted to get me a female betta, try to breed it with her male. I think angelfish look nice too.
Ive read some people talking about the filters on the larger wal mart tanks, is there anything I should do with mine?
Also bought some of those hybrid aponogeton bulbs and put 2 of those in there..nd the bottom is lined with river rocks that she gave me along with the tank.
sorry for such a long post with so many questions but I figured what better way than to ask. I really want to do it right.
 
First you'll ned to test your water for amonia, and nitrite, and nitrate if you can. They should be in acceptable levels as designated by the kit you use.

Ten gallons is not really a huge tank. Guppies breed and have babies dozens at a time. My suggestion is to have a fish that will keep this under control. Unless you want tons of fry. If you plan to breed Bettas you should only breed show type, as the regular types are a dime a dozen. Breeding bettas is a huge undertaking. Individual cups for 300 or so fry........and space to keep them.

I suggest one nice dwarf gourami for your ten gallon. Also great for population control ;)

Angelfish get to big for ten gallon, also, you might want to use another filter with your tank as the small filter you get with this kit is no usually sufficient.
You can try 2 of them. Or a submersible filter or even a sponge filter with the filter you have.
 
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Yeah I think she was just wanting to do it for fun but now that you mention it, that doesnt sound much fun :)
What about mollies? I saw some of those and found them to be attractive. What exactly will the dwarf gourami do for population control, and I see that it eats algae. Would it not be wise to mix this with one (or a couple) dwarf suckermouth fish, or even upside-down catfish as i said? I find those fish interesting...
Thanks for the tips...Im really looking for any general information I might have overlooked as well.
 
Mollies are better suited to a bigger tank, such as 20g and over.

I would suggest 2 dwarf cichlids like blue rams or apistogrammas or kribensis cichlid. They have caught my eye recently :) And are well suited to a 10g, getting about 3 inches max as adult. I think they'd even be ok with guppy (but might eat lil babies).

I don't know if they are compatible with betta however, but I think its probably ok. Betta and gourami is a no no however, they come from the same family and might fight.

As a bottom dweller you can get a small pleco as the clown pleco or ancistrus
(bushynose, butt ugly but cute) I recommend the bushynose as he loves algae. The clown pleco is more lazy and waits for food. They get to about 4 inches long.
http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/fresh/cichlid/kribensis.php
Hope this helps.
 
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Ok when I was at wal mart I saw the dwarf gourami and bought 1, not sure if he will make it because the fish guy was gone and some cashiers tried to get fish for a few of us who were waiting..
I also got a female betta, is it true that the females are not fighters as the males are?
I think I might be confusing myself...
 
Females can be iffy and can often be as aggressive as males. usually mixing gouamis and bettas is not a good choice, especially in smaller tanks. See if you can find a new hoem for one of them, perhaps your girlfriends tank can house one.

Make sure to do weekly water changes of 50% in such a small tank with a larger population. And I would avoid anymore fish until you are sure the tank is capable of handling more. Look into getting some live plants such as java fern. they will help keep the water cleaner.
 
I am holding off now on more fish, just hoping the ones I have will make it through this starting time. After 24 hours together the gourami and betta seem to be OK, however they both like the same spot in the tank and when the betta goes to the top the gourami usually grabs it and she looks at it kind of funny when she gets back. I will keep an eye on them for sure and if there looks like problems I will ask her mom to take one. She has 1 kissing gourami, a few guppies and some platys. My girlfriend just has small bowls with a male and a female betta in them.
I have planted 2 of those bulbs you get from wal mart will those do the trick as well?
Would it be wise to get a gallon or so of water from her mom's tank to help with the bacteria i need and such?
 
Old tank water is just old water. See if you can grab either a handful of gravel, borrow a decoration or get a piece of old filter material. Those will have the bacteria you want. But until tehn daily water changes will help keep any toxic substances low enoguh to not harm the fish.

If the bulbs grow the plants will help a lot, and hiding spots will hopefully keep the gourami and betta from fighting too much.
 
Nice choice with the gourami, they are very colorful. Just make sure that your girlfriends mom tank doesn't have any diseases or water problems if you chose to use her water. Good Luck :)
 
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