What should I stock my 10g with?

CaitxSith

CaitxSith

A little too obsessed with neons.
Sep 30, 2006
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The pond with some Triops
NOTE: This is just planning. I didn't even set up my tank yet!

Wow, it's been a while. I decided to go back to fishkeeping, but I lost my 20g tank. I have my 2nd tank (yay for buying more than one for no apparent reason! :grinyes:) which is 10g. I want what I wanted before - some sort of algae control (I'm thinking Olive Nerita snail... or maybe Japanese Trapdoor), Neon tetras (gave up on Black neons...), and a... dang, I'm losing my fishkeeping sense! It was one fish that sticks out from others. Last time, I used my betta.

Summary:
Algae control (I think 10g is too small for ottos, so I'm thinking snail)
Neon tetra
whatever the "one special fish" is called

I was thinking 1 snail, 10 neons, and 1 betta, but I don't want to overpopulate.

I'm planning on adding Flourite (black sand) as substrate (would 2" from bottom do?), Anachris/Cabomba for background plants, Java fern for mid-ground, and micro sword for foreground. Also, I'm planning on getting a 7" mopani driftwood as centerpiece (also, I love the brown-ish discoloring and the helpful slight pH lowering).

...feels good to post back at the Newbie Forums... :D
 
Between your fish and deco don't think the fish are going to be able to swim arround much. Maybe shorten the driftwood size a bit and a few less tetras. Good luck.
 
Have you considered algae-eating shrimp?
 
I think you should ditch the neons and betta and go with some cool smaller fish like ember tetras or celestial pearl danios. Neons have been seeming to get less and less hardy and much more difficult to get good stock. You could also get something like pygmy cories or skip them and get a nice group of shrimp as well as the nerite.
 
msjinkzd said:
I think you should ditch the neons and betta and go with some cool smaller fish like ember tetras or celestial pearl danios. Neons have been seeming to get less and less hardy and much more difficult to get good stock. You could also get something like pygmy cories or skip them and get a nice group of shrimp as well as the nerite.
Click to expand...


:iagree:

A 10G is tough to stock and even tougher to make "pop". Some rarer critters could do that.
 
Lots of rarer and interesting tiny fish and shrimp would work. But nothing wrong with Neons or better yet Cardinals. They may be common but they are beautiful and popular for a reason. I agree however that it seems harder to find good neons and cardinals these days.
 
I don't think your original idea would be overstocked.Just make sure you overfilter,and do weekly water changes with a gravel vac.One problem I had keeping them together was that the Betta needed to be hand fed to insure it was getting enough to eat.The Tetras are a lot quicker than a Betta.When I had the 2 together,I think getting enough food was the biggest issue for the Betta.And as far as the Otos go,I keep a pair in 2 different 10 gallons,and they do a great job with the algae,and I have no issues with them.I did however add them after the tanks had been set up for at least 4 months,so maybe that had something to do with them not having health issues.I know they are supposed to be kept in schools,but mine seem to do just fine as pairs.I have had them for about 8 months now.
One of my 10 gallons has 1 dwarf gourami,6 neon tetra,6 glowlight tetra,2 cory cats,2 otos,and one mystery snail.I put the Betta that had been in this tank in a 5 gallon,and got the gourami.This seems to work much better.The tank is very overfilterd,and I do 2 water changes with gravel vacs a week.
But since you are new to keeping fish,maybe you should try the betta,and a smaller school of tetra,like 5,plus the snail.
 
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