10 gallon stocking suggestions

entropy311

entropy311

AC Members
Nov 23, 2006
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I recently purchased a 10 gallon tank, and I was cycling it with 2 male guppies. Unfortunately, my girlfriend bought me a betta yesterday, even though I told her that I couldn't get any more fish for at least a couple of weeks.

So now I have 2 male guppies and a betta. So far they seem to get along pretty well...I haven't seen any chasing or fin-nipping going on in the tank so far. Since I got the betta I've been performing daily 15-20% water changes to keep ammonia/nitrite levels down.

So when the tank finally cycles, what other fish can I put in, and how many? I'm torn between white clouds, cardinal tetras, and black tetras; I know there's only room for one school. According to the surface area formula I can fit in approximately 10-12 of them, but I've been reading much lower figures on this board.
 
Hi and welcome to Aquaria Central!

Because your two guppies and your betta are top to middle levels of the aquarium, I would go for something that stays at the bottom level like Pygmy Cories. You could get four of them. They grow to about an inch and are very peaceful. You could also add one African Dwarf Frog which also live mostly at the bottom level.

Cory Lover
 
do you have a liquid test kit?

10-12 would be too many for your size of tank considering that it already has a betta and two guppies.

black skirts can be nippy if there isnt enough room and enough in the group, so you should go with cardinal tetras, and get a school of 6 of them once your tank is done cycling.
 
Cory_Lover: Pygmy corys, huh? Interesting. I saw some corys and they looked really active/interesting, but I wrote them off because I figured they were too big for a 10 gallon. I might look into those after all.

JM: I have a liquid test kit for nitrite/nitrate, but for ammonia I have a color-coded meter that hangs on the side of the tank. It's a Mardel Live Ammonia monitor.
 
entropy311 said:
Cory_Lover: Pygmy corys, huh? Interesting. I saw some corys and they looked really active/interesting, but I wrote them off because I figured they were too big for a 10 gallon. I might look into those after all.
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Hi,

Most species of Cories get too big for 10 gallon tanks, but Pygmies, Dwarfs, and Pandas do fine in 10 gallons. Type there names in at google and you can get much more info on them and pics of them.

Cory Lover
 
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Okay...I was looking at the corys and decided against them. I don't think my epoxy-covered substrate is suitable for them.

So, to go with the 2 male guppies and male betta, I'd most likely go with 6 cardinal tetras.

One additional question: I wanted to get a ghost shrimp or two; I heard that they were good at picking up excess food and generally keeping the tank clean, in addition to being entertaining to watch. Would this be manageable, or am I pretty much at my limit with the fish I've chosen?
 
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