10g

[cheeseluva]

Okay I have been researcching a lot and I finally got a 10g tank!

I have 3 plants in it which incvlude
Mondo Grass
some swordtail plant
some red plant

I forgot the name to the red one sorry. But I don't know what to get. I weant to get soem cool fish for this but I don't know. Any suggestions? I think I might get a dwarf puffer.

I also want a bottom feeder.

 

[sumthin fishy]

red ludwiga?

You could do mabey 1 male and 2 female DPs and a few ottos for bottom feeders. DPs can be territorial and agressive relative to thier size. While it is possible to have then with ither tankmates, it is not advisable to the novice aquarist, especially without alternate housing plans if things go bad. Your feeding will not consist of flake. Algae tablets for the ottos, and bloodworms for the DPs. Live plants can introduce snails into your tank, which the puffers actually needs to help keep thier beak-like mouths from overgrowing. If your plants do not have snails, they can usually be gotten free from most petstores. Keep your nitrates in check to controll the snails population, as they will breed in relation to the ammoutn of food available to them. On the other side of the scale, you will need to ensure there is enough food to allow thier population to remain stable for the puffers to feed on. That sounds like a lot but its not as hard as it sounds.

You will need plenty of cover for the puffers. While they are very interesting to observe, the tank will not be as active as one with more social tropical fish.

 

[nerdyguy83]

For a total newbie I would reccommend livebearers of some sort. You could do probably 4 or 5 black mollies in a 10g; those are always fun. The cheapest way to go would be platies as you can usually find several different color varieties for .99 each. Make sure you know the difference between males and females (tubular anal fin vs. triangular) so you can get all of one kind if you don't want fry (all females would probably be better than all males).

I would caution against otos in a 10g for a beginner. They won't outgrow the tank, but any bottom feeder is a lot of work. A new tank won't have a good algae coat for a while, and otos can be picky eaters (many won't touch wafers). There aren't really any other bottom feeders that I can reccommend for a 10g because of size limitations. If you want something to eat algae, get snails, and be prepared to buy algae wafers to feed them until you can grow a good amount of algae in the tank.

 

[jm1212]

yea i would go with some livebearers, like platys... and the come in almost every color imaginable lol (naturally, without dyeing)
i think that the red plant could possibly be red ludwiga

 

[cheeseluva]

Yes it was red ludwinga

 

[cheeseluva]

I think I might buy a lobster but I'm not sure if I should. Also I thought a tiger barb would be good but I learned they were agressive?

Any suggestions? Should I use a Co2 injection?

 

[jm1212]

yes they are, but you can minimize aggression the more you have. most people reccomend keeping them in groups of 6 or more

 

[cheeseluva]

Would 6 tiger barbs be good in my 10g?

 

[joylynn]

Tiger barbs would not be good and 6 is a small school of them to have by themselves (with 6 and some other hardy fish in a bigger tank it is ok). I had a school of 9 in a 35 G and am still having aggression problems even amongst themselves (they are now up to 14 to try and decrease the aggression and picking on individuals). Tiger barbs are great fish but 10G is not a tank to keep them in.

 

[cheeseluva]

Okay thanks joly. I think I might get some guppies and some loaches.