Bottom Dwellers for a 10 Gallon

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Wateveryousay

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Jan 19, 2008
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Austin, Texas
I was looking for some interesting bottom dwellers for a 10 gallon, something interesting to watch.

Current stock is:
3 Neon Tetras
4 Harlequin Rasboras
1 Dwarf gourami
BN Pleco
 

joel.uejio

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Jun 1, 2009
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Joel
I would tend to agree with jpappy....What are your nitrate levels like? That's normally a good indication of your stocking level...e.g.....

If nitrates rise only about 5 ppm every 2 weeks --> understocked
If nitrates rise 10 ppm every 2 days --> overstocked
If nitrates rise 10 ppm every week --> probably just about right

(just my opinion on this...)
 

sorberj

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Sep 14, 2009
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Jerad
Don't take this too hard, but I have to agree with the other posters. I put your stocking into AqAdvisor and this is what came up for your current stocking:

Personally, I'd consider an upgrade to a 20 gal. You can get them pretty inexpensively on Craigslist, just be willing to wait for a deal.

Note: Bristlenose Pleco needs driftwood.
Warning: Bristlenose Pleco is not recommended for your tank - it may eventually outgrow your tank space, potentially reaching up to 4 inches.

Warning: At least 5 x Harlequin Rasbora are recommended in a group.
Warning: At least 5 x Neon Tetra are recommended in a group.

Recommended temperature range: 25 - 25 C. [SIZE=-1][Display in Farenheit][/SIZE]
Recommended pH range: 6 - 7.6.
Recommended hardness range: 5 - 15 dH.


Recommended water change schedule: 38% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 116%.
 

ESOXLUCIOUSS

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Nov 19, 2005
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Never mind pal.......Its a reallygood excuse to get a bigger tank, u could have a look on other sites, there are always aqua stuff going cheap.. best of luck
 

SilasMortimer

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Jan 19, 2010
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In order to safely overstock any tank, you need two things: over-filtration and a lot of plants. Both of those things will help take care of nitrates and the extra waste. However, schooling fish need as wide an open space to swim back and forth as possible. Because they school, the attempt to follow each other will become confused if they have to turn around too quickly, which in turn causes stress that will make your fish sick and unhappy. If you aquascape well, you can set it up so both requirements are made.

However, as the others have said, those schooling fish really need at least six per school to feel comfortable. The plants will provide a space to hide which will reduce stress some, but mainly for the gourami and the pleco - the schooling fish, unless scared into hiding, are more interested in swimming. The problem is that if you have six fish in both schools, space becomes a huge stress trigger. I can guarantee that your rasboras will be harassing the hell out of your neons. In turn, your gourami will be upset at the commotion and that's something you definitely don't want.

My suggestion? Sell your rasboras and your pleco back to the store if you don't have another tank for them. They'll probably give you store credit if the fish are healthy enough, which you can use toward getting three more neons. I suggest the neons over the rasboras because those neons will remain smaller, which will be necessary if you need bottom dwellers. For bottom dwellers, a few small cories would be perfect. My favorite is the peppered cory, or Corydoras paleatus. They're inexpensive, beautiful and active. You'd need at least three and wouldn't want any more than that, so I'd say three is the magic number. On the other hand, you might consider otocinclus. They're very small cats that are algae eating machines (in fact, be prepared to supplement their diet with algae wafers - they are obligate herbivores). They're more often found on the glass sides of the tank or on a plant or decoration, but you'll see them on the substrate, too, especially if there's a yummy algae wafer for them to swarm on. Three would be the magic number for them, too. Pygmy cories are small enough that you could get five, but most likely your gourami would eat them.

However, maybe you'd rather not deal with a planted tank. You might still be able to handle the gourami, six neons and a few cories if you add another filter (like an internal or the Tom Mini Rapids canister filter - I have one of those and love it), and do bigger water changes. And you might want to consider two or three shrimp to help keep things clean. Clams are natural filters, but you'd only want one, because if you wound up with a male and a female and they mated, their larvae attach themselves to the insides of a fish's gills.

Anyway, that's my advice.
 

Rjb3

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May 17, 2009
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Get five or six C. pygmaeus and toss them in there. Keep up on your water changes and have fun.

I breed fish and at any given time I might have 300 angel fish in a ten gallon. To the casual observer, I may be over stocked. I do 25% water changes morning and night. When they are almost pea size, they need a bigger tank. Then they go into a fifty-five. Still over stocked, but I've got forty tanks already. I do lots of water changes.

I have sixty BN plecos growing out in a twenty long. Over stocked, perhaps. My point is water changes make the tank safe and healthy for the fish. The fish, with few exceptions, don't know if they're in a ten or a hundred gallon. Put ten fish each in two ten gallons. Change the water twice a week in one and once every three months in the other and see what happens. Keep up on your water changes and have fun.
 

SilasMortimer

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Jan 19, 2010
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Rjb3 - Breeding is a different story, though, no? I mean, unless someone keeps a small betta tank with no filter, it's unlikely that they would choose to do daily (or more) water changes, right? Besides that, your fish are only going to be crowded for so long. They're juvenile for the most part and then you sell them, right? Part of the problem with overstocking is not just the bioload, but added stress to the fish, as well. As you could see above, I'm not wholly against overstocking (I have a 29 gallon that people would be shocked to see, lol), but it needs to be done carefully.
 
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