10 gallon tank

[Joseph1391]

Hey.. I changed my mind im not going to get a saltwater tank.. To much money and to much work for it! I will just get a 10 gallon freshwater tank. I need help though on deciding on what kind of fish I should get.. Does anyone have any ideas? I know I am going to get a male betta fish. What else? Should I get driftwood? Should I get sand or rock? So can someone please help?? Thank you!

Here is the list I need help with on deciding on what to do!

1. What kind of fish should I get with a male betta?
2. Should I get a long peice of driftwood?
3. Should I get a real plant?
4. Sand or rock?? Im thinking sand.. But what color?

 

[kyle3]

If i were you i'd get a school of pygmy or dwarf corys-4 or 5. . .maybe 6

and use white or black sand as the corys will absolutly flourish with a sand substrate!

and put some java moss in there, and if you like java fern and an anubias or low light crypt.

that would be a beautiful set-up

oh! cherry or amano shrimp would be fun too lets say. . .5 of them

 

[justintoxicated]

I doubt it will matter much with a beta.

However I hear live plants sometimes have a hard time with sand because it can become compacted. if your going to do a live plants get flourite and rise it really well (alot of work rinsing).

I love the live plants.

But theres alot to learn when it comes to plants, light nutrients etc.

Driftwood might lower your pH, wether or not that is significant will depend on your fish and creatures. Couldbe good or bad really.

 

[kyle3]

when properly done plants do great in sand. there's an article about it at www.plantedtank.net in thier article section.

plus all of the plants i suggested aren't planted in the substrate (lest the crypt)

oh yeah i forgot to say i love driftwood and your fishys will too

 

[Joseph1391]

what is pH?

 

[kyle3]

scroll down to chapter one it explains Ph- it might be a good idea for you to read the whole thing really- it's very informative and useful for aquarium keeping

water chemistry

for your purposes the tanins from the driftwood should not lower the Ph enough for you to be concerned most fish readily adapt to Ph as long as it is consistent and not changing all the time

 

[justintoxicated]

scroll down to chapter one it explains Ph- it might be a good idea for you to read the whole thing really- it's very informative and useful for aquarium keeping

water chemistry

for your purposes the tanins from the driftwood should not lower the Ph enough for you to be concerned most fish readily adapt to Ph as long as it is consistent and not changing all the time

Yea, my C02 lowers my PH, fish don't seem to mind, although my snails might be a little pissed. But my concern is that tap water at my house has a high PH about 7.5 and with a PH of 6.2 due to co2 driftwood etc, every time I do a water change I felt I was subjecting my fish to stress. Although even after I got teh PH back up to 7 it still changes when I do a water change.

Thanks for the link to that article, i found where the author says he thinks sand mixed with flourite works better than flourite alone, but I could not find anything that said sand was a good substrate by itself for most plants.

My Crypts grow in all 3 of my tanks althoughit grows differently, stuff is multiplying like crazy in one of them.

 

[kyle3]

as far as the article including florite- any tank you plan to have a number of rooted plants that need nutrients from the substrate you're going to have to have a more complex substrate

some people use laterite, clay, peat, eco complete, flourite, the list is long- some of these can be used by themselves- but it is common practice to use these nutritional substrates under fine gravel or sand.

if you aren't planting anything in the substrate(as the plants i suggested) these susbstrates would serve no purpose in your tank and be an unnecissary expense.

i hope that helps. . .
cheers

 

[Galaxie]

Hey.. I changed my mind im not going to get a saltwater tank.. To much money and to much work for it! I will just get a 10 gallon freshwater tank. I need help though on deciding on what kind of fish I should get.. Does anyone have any ideas? I know I am going to get a male betta fish. What else? Should I get driftwood? Should I get sand or rock? So can someone please help?? Thank you!

Here is the list I need help with on deciding on what to do!

1. What kind of fish should I get with a male betta?
2. Should I get a long peice of driftwood?
3. Should I get a real plant?
4. Sand or rock?? Im thinking sand.. But what color?

1. A couple corys sounds good
2-4. These sound like personal preferences. If you want to try them, go for it.

 

[Lauren]

A planted tank is a lot of fun to enjoy, there is a higher sense of pride over a well planted tank, IMO. And dark subtrate makes fish look brighter. I'd go with a dark gravel, especially if you are doing plants. There are some good gravels out there made for planted tanks as well. I struggled finding any swimming fish mates for a betta in a 10 gallon, I finally gave up, moved him to a 5 gallon, and focused on a tetra community tank. I've heard that white clouds might work? I don't know, betas pretty much have a gurdge against anything that swims.