I'm ready to own my first, real tank. But first, some questions?

K

Kaitlyn

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Sep 20, 2017
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Hi friends!

I recently decided I wanted to run a real tank. Growing up, I always got the goldfish from carnival games, just to take them home and stick them in a small bowl (I swear, those bowls must be less than a gallon?!), some glow in the dark gravel and a bright pink, fake plant.

Well, not anymore.

I'm ready to own a beautiful tank with lots of live plants, live food, amazing, healthy bacteria. The works!

Currently, what I have up and running is as such:

A Top Fin 10 Gallon Starter Kit (I'M A BROKE COLLEGE STUDENT, OK?)
  • Heater
  • 10 gallon tank long
  • thermometer
  • filter (I dunno, It's something called a top fin power whisper filter? Not sure if maybe i just need to replace it or not- seems to do good so far)
  • Net
  • Small water sample test tube
  • Sand? I think? It's a little bit of a course substrate.
  • Fake plants (I can always switch out to real plants)
  • A couple real plants of which i don't recall the names
  • Some fake rocks that provide hidey holes
  • A fake log looking thing thats like a small tunnel to hide in
  • LED lights
Freshwater Start Smart Complete (already used)

Top Fin Tap Water Dechlorinator (Mixed with water prior to putting in the tank)

So, I've been cycling my tank for a little while now. Diatom is all over the sand! The last time I went and got my water tested (Which was Monday of this week), my results were:
  • Ammonium: 2
  • Nitrite: .25
  • Ph: 7.6

Now for the questions I have and the help I'm really looking for..

First off, what in the world do I put in my tank? I like fish that are active, hyper, and maybe brighter or lighter colored so they stand out easier in the tank. I love how german blue rams look but know keeping them in a ten gallon would not make them very happy, so understandably, those are out. I love the hyperness of tiger barbs (the small ones that only grow to like an inch, inch and a half?), but will feel bad if i have to keep 6 of them in my small 10 gallon..

I'm willing to put in the work to take care of my fish! If I have to do water changes weekly, fine! Only eats live food? Fine! Honestly, the more care I have to give it, the better. I feel fairly prepared.

I do find pea puffers extremely, extremely interesting, but am not sure how many i could really house in a 10 gallon, if any at all. I've heard mixed reviews on them, different opinions and answers.

I would love to have a community tank, but feel as though maybe a 10 gallon is too small.. Oh well.

Realistically, how many fish (nano fish in particular, I don't want anything bigger than MAYBE 2 inches, inch and a half) could I have in a 10 gallon tank?

Thanks to everyone who answers. And if you don't have an answer, that's fine too. Maybe this post is helping you, too (:
 
Welcome to the world of "real" fish keeping! Congrats on how far you have already gotten!

I have never used start smart but it is my understanding that this is a instant cycle product so if used properly you should not have any ammonia or nitrites, but you do so the tank is clearly not cycled yet. What are your nitrates? How long have you been dosing the start smart? Have you been adding an ammonia source (ammonia or food)? Please do not any any livestock until your ammonia and nitrites read 0 and you have some nitrates. Where/how are you testing the water?

I don't know a lot about dwarf puffers but I (if I was new to the hobby) would not keep more than 1 in a 10g, which I would not find satisfying. You could do 2 but I wouldn't without a divider.

You are right, a 10g community tank is a hard thing to achieve and maintain.

My favorite choices for a 10g are..

Multi group - Neolamprologus multifasciatus, These are shell dweller cichlids that breed in a colony behavior with each generation helping to rear the next. Fascinating little guys who like harder more alkaline water (which you have the alkaline part going already). In a 10g tank you would need to thin the colony regularly though (they sell well at least). This tank would be comprised mostly of sand and LOTS of shells like wall to wall shells but you can have some plants in there too but not rooted plants. Things like moss, anubias, java fern etc are good.

Dwarf shrimp tank - A 10g is a perfect shrimp tank size and shrimp are actually very entertaining! They are easy to breed also which is always a plus and again they like your more alkaline water. They come in a variety of colors to choose from like red, blue, yellow, orange, just don't mix colors. You can add snails too!

Tiniest fish and dwarf shrimp - Chili Rasboras are minute at under .75" so they are fairly safe with shrimplets but not 100%. You could get like 8 chilis and a bunch of shrimpies.

Single male Betta - 1 Betta+10g planted tank = happy Betta. You can add other things too depending on your Bettas personality (some are just outright jerks and won't allow anything in their tank, others could care less) nerite and mystery snails or shrimp are common additions. Again a divider would allow 2 Bettas.

African dwarf frogs - If you like frogs this is a clear winner! You could have 4-5 of them in a 10g. They appreciate plants and alkaline water is A-ok.

* Just about everything I listed requires a VERY mature tank and with a small 10g the more mature the better. To help pass the time play with plants, it's a win-win. :)

Typically anything else small enough for a 10g can't be kept in what I consider adequate groups or are too active.
 
myswtsins said:
I have never used start smart but it is my understanding that this is a instant cycle product so if used properly you should not have any ammonia or nitrites, but you do so the tank is clearly not cycled yet. What are your nitrates? How long have you been dosing the start smart? Have you been adding an ammonia source (ammonia or food)? Please do not any any livestock until your ammonia and nitrites read 0 and you have some nitrates. Where/how are you testing the water?
Click to expand...

The StartSmart: Yeah, on the bottle it says it's supposed to "instantly" cycle in a day, but the people at LFS told me that its just good bacteria to help my tank go through the process of cycling a little bit faster. I didn't expect it to cycle in a day, i feel that's just a little bit of a bold claim for this tiny little 2 ounce bottle lol.

The start smart I've been dosing since, hmm, whenever I got my tank up and running. Maybe about 2 weeks ago now? A week and a half?

No nitrates yet, I believe. No ammonia has been added, besides i mean, I've been putting pellets or flakes in occasionally.

I take a water sample to LFS, they do water tests for free. Not the strip kind, the liquid kind. They write down all my stats for me to keep track of where I am in the process thus far!
 
I'd recommend you get your own liquid test kit.
 
I'll second the above suggestions. 10's are great, but they're honestly more work than a bigger tank, so stocking lightly is a very good choice. Some additional options would be celestial pearl danios--they're slightly bigger than chili rasboras, but you could have 8-9 with no problem. They are very busy fish, but also shy, so need lots of hiding places. there are a variety of small rasbora options--sparrow, phoenix, etc, all have similar appearances and are small, so it would be mostly based on what's available in your area or what you can get shipped. A school of pygmy cories would do well--they tend to be more mid-water swimmers, very active, not shy. Any of these would be fine with shrimp. Some will snack on the shrimplets, but so long as you provide hiding places, the adults will survive and be fine. be To that end, another option would to get a shrimp colony well established and add a micropredator, like a badis badis or scarlet badis. They're awesome little fish, HUGELY predatory one inch fish. Great fun to watch them hunt.
 
Just here to agree with what has been said.
I kept a dwarf puffer in a ten gallon for about 2 years after getting him from a friend that had him for 2 years before that. He was really interactive and the tank was just him, a bunch of live plants and bladder/ramshorn snails for him to munch on. It was a really interesting tank for me while I was in college doing my undergrad as it took very little care and little Mr Puff Puff was always investigating me at food time. But many of my friends found it very boring. When he passed, I assume of old age, I replaced him with a betta. Both good options for a ten gallon if you want a lot of live plants.

My ex and I used to have a 10 gallon full of just cherry shrimp, which I loved and was really interesting to watch. We eventually added a couple male guppies to it as well, to keep the population down a little bit.

I'll add that for a ten gallon you could also do a small group of male endlers.

Things I wouldn't do that are often recommended for ten gallon tanks at pet stores, especially at PetSmart where it sounds like you got your kit from, are:

Danios
Ottos
Black skirt tetras (or any of the deep bodied tetras)
Dwarf gouramis
Platies
Mollies
Things that size, all of these say 10 gallon minimum on their tags and are not suitable.
 
Tifftastic said:
I'll add that for a ten gallon you could also do a small group of male endlers.

Things I wouldn't do that are often recommended for ten gallon tanks at pet stores, especially at PetSmart where it sounds like you got your kit from, are:

Danios
Ottos
Black skirt tetras (or any of the deep bodied tetras)
Dwarf gouramis
Platies
Mollies
Things that size, all of these say 10 gallon minimum on their tags and are not suitable.
Click to expand...

Endlers have some really pretty colors. What kind of behavior do they display? Do they like to hide? Do they school? I'll admit, I haven't done much looking into them so, I don't know much about them!

Pearl Danios would be a no go then? I see lots of people recommending them for a ten gallon.. Same thing with Platties. Also, neon tetras would work, correct? Or no?

Luckily, I'm getting my fish from a different fish store, a specialty fish store. I got my tank at pet smart because it was cheaper, but all my fish and knowledge and such comes from this specialty store. They carry lots of different species so, they've got a wide variety to choose from!
 
Endlers are not schoolers. Don't think they are big hiders but I've never kept them.

Celestial pearl danios are OK for a 10g, they are not as active as other danios (who are very active). I'd avoid neons for a 10, they are a schooling fish and a 10 is not conducive to schoolers but other do neons in 10s, just not my preference. I vote no platys in a 10.
 
Danios are very active fast swimmers at times. 20 inches isn't enough room & they're likely jumpers too, especially in a too small tank. They will hunt shrimp.

Neons are an ok choice, many of the dwarf or nano fish would be better especially with shrimp. I love dwarf corys. There are a few dwarf rainbows & rasboras that can work. Maybe clown killifish or a honey gourami or even a M & F pair. Even small barbs like octozonas or 6 striped are likely too big for a 10.

I kept dwarf spotted rasboras with cherry shrimp & the shy fish were pretty much the same size & color as the shrimp, a disappointing combo. Ember tetras are also similar to cherry shrimp. The blue shrimp are pretty & pricey but depending on where you live you might be able to sell some too...unless you get fish that will eat some.

Do live plants, they're so much more rewarding than fake! OK, I belong to a plant club, lol
 
Keep in mind that 'celestial pearl danios' fall under different size restrictions than the other danios, like the zebra/tiger/leopard/pearl etc.Those danios get to be 2 inches, CPD hit an inch. Big difference.
 
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