Fish Recommendations?

[David_F]

I just set up a 10 gallon aquarium last Friday in preparation for some fish and was hoping I could get some recommendations on what to start with. It's been years since I kept any fish so I'm basically a beginner with them. Something easy to keep alive would be great. I'm using regular tap water but I'm not sure what the Ph and hardness (it's pretty hard though) of the water are....I've got it written down somewhere but will have to find the paper or test the water. The filter is a Whisper 20 power filter, which I was told was the bare minimum I should use with a 10 gallon, so I'm thinking a small group of small fish would be best? Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[moricollins]

Well, after it cycles (search on google for fishless cycling)... I would recommend:

A group of:
Neon Tetras (say 10 or so)
OR
White Cloud Mountain Minnows (that's what we call them in canada anyways) about 5-6.

Either of these groups will give you some nice activity to watch (nothing beats watching a school of fish).

 

[wicked]

A 10 gal doesn't give you a whole lot of options but my recommendations would be:

A small group of neons (4-8) for color and activity, a pair of some kind of cory catfish (cute busy little bottom dwellers) and maybe some kind of colorful tetra.

Or A pair of angelfish and some cory catfish or pictus. Angels get large and spend time in the middle of the tank,but can be very aggressive so something that stays on the bottom would be about all you could put in with them.

Of course there is always fan tail goldfish. Colorful, active and you don't need a heater.

Good luck, lots to choose from.

 

[mindlessvw]

i know it sounds fruity but i love my guppies...they aren't exactly high maintenance but they are fun and breed pretty well

 

[Alissa]

I've been a fish geek way longer than I have been a tarantula geek.

A school of guppies is classic and nice, not corny. They are popular for a reason I think a planted tank full of guppies is beautiful.

I would check out http://www.plantgeek.net/ to get some info on good plants for the aquarium and try to make as much of a naturalistic aquarium as possible. 10 gallons isn't big, but you can make it really awesome.


I would stick to smaller species just so you can have more fish/more movement. Some that I keep that are small and I really like are pygmy cory cats, sparkling gouramis, otocinclus catfish, and any of the killifish species. This website: http://www.liveaquaria.com/

has decent pictures of fish and pretty accurate care information (aside from all the tank size stuff, killifish can live successfully in a 2 gallon tank and they recommend way more than that). Also check out the amano shrimp, singapore shrimp, and cherry red shrimp. If you stick to smaller fish they will be much braver and show a ton of personality. (and they are produce much less waste than fish do.)



Here are some good general knowledge aquarium sites that are worth looking at too. Some of the chemistry stuff really confused me at first but its pretty basic.

http://faq.thekrib.com/
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/

As far as water chemistry goes, if your water is a little hard don't mess around with pH buffers and things like that. It is better for water to be at a stable pH thats a little high than one that swings around wildly. If your water is really hard, I'd stay away from soft water fish like tetras and work with livebearers like guppies and mollies that thrive in higher pH water.

Just treat your water with a chlorine/chloramine remover. I wouldn't even use charcoal in the filter, I don't in any of my tanks. I don't think its worth the expense. It inhibits the growth of nitrogen consuming bacteria and loses its effectiveness after a few weeks. Just add fish slowly, test the ammonia/nitrates/nitrites regularly and do lots of water changes. Simple is easier and more fun in the long run, your tank should take care of itself, not be a constant battle. My tanks been up and running for so long it's requires almost less maintenance than a tarantula

 

[Beardo]

If it were me, I would do a Kribensis Cichlids and a few Rummy-Nose Tetras.

 

[Thoth]

My own ten gallon is planted has two dwarf gouramis (one flame, one blue). 3 Serpae (aska red minor) tetras (I used them to cycle my tank). 4 glow-lite tetras and 3 neon tetras (the only fish to die on me, they are not very hardy) an otocinclus cat fish (to help keep down algae) and an African dwarf frog (not the clawed frog aka Xenopus laevis). The glowlites and neons school together and give cool color contrast between the two.

I've tried various inverts in the tank, bamboo shrimp and red claw crabs without much success. they'll live for a few months even molt then up and die for no real reason.

My aquarium is moderately planted with a banana plant, java fern and three other plants I'm not sure of (they were the bulb pack you can find at any petstore).

Also I do bi-weekly partial water changes and everything seems to be relatively stabile.

 

[David_F]

Thanks for the info everyone. With all the info available online I was beginning to get a bit lost. Your suggestions give me something to zero in on. I'll check them all out.

Well, after it cycles (search on google for fishless cycling)...

I'm using a product called Stability, which was recommended by the owner of the local fish shop. Do you think this will be sufficient or should I start "feeding" the tank as well?

Thanks.

 

[Thoth]

It will help speed up the cycling process by establishing the initial population of bacteria but its not a substitute for proper cycling whether you go the fishless route or the more traditional method.

 

[Alissa]

I gotta agree with Thoth, I try to keep as many products out of the aquarium as possible. If you want to fishless cycle with ammonia or fish food, thats good, but for me the best method possible is to start with a well planted tank, introduce fish slowly and regularly test your water so you know what's going on. No chemical product is a substitute for regular water changes and cycling your tank properly in the first place. I'm sure other people have used these products and liked them, but I like to keep things simple.

 

[David_F]

Thanks, Thoth and Alissa. I'll probably get a fish or two in the next week to start cycling. I think that'd be better than me playing around with ammonia.

 

[moricollins]

Fishless cycling is easy :wall: much better than torturing the cycler fish.

 

[Socrates]

If it were me, I would do a Kribensis Cichlids and a few Rummy-Nose Tetras.

:worship: :worship: :clap: :clap:
That's exactly what I would recommend.

Superb choice.

When I had my fish tanks I completely fell in love with my Kribs. They're hardy, great eaters, and absolutely gorgeous, especially if you keep a boy and a girl together. They breed super easy, too, and make awesome parents.

---
Wendy
---

 

[The Juice]

Be sure to post pics when you get everything all setup, I've been thinking about setting up an aquarium & getting a few cichlids.

 

[Thoth]

Fishless cycling is easy :wall: much better than torturing the cycler fish.

The only issue, well for me anyway, that prevented me from doing it; was I had an impossible time finding just plain ammonia. All I could find in stores was sudsy ammonia (which had detergent) or lemon scent or pine scented or some other form of ammonia that wasn't suitable for cycling. Otherwise its is quicker than traditional cycling.

Besides ammonia, I've heard of using piece of raw shrimp or just adding fish food.

In any case, if you can get a handful of gravel or used filter or even some water from a well established aquarium and adding it to your own will seed you tank with the necessary bateria speeding things up.

 

[moricollins]

Thoth, good point about seeding it with the filter wool/fibre from another pre-cycled tank.

I use fish food to cycle (in combination with seeded fibre in the filter) when i start new tanks (has beeen a looong time)

Mori

 

[Ewok]

I would have to agree with using plants to cycle the tank. If you wanted to go for the low light route Anubias are a nice choice, they are really durable but are slow growers. As for fish,some dwaf africans , like shell dwellers would be a nice choice too in ten gal.

Also if you wanted to do a species tank, dwarf freshwater puffers would be cool. I used to have some,they were so cool!
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puf-trav.htm

 

[David_F]

Thanks again, everyone.

I really like the Kribensis cichlids. Might look more at those but I'm afraid they'd be a bit big when fully grown. Anywho, still looking around and I'm working on cycling the tank now (yes, Mori, I'm doing it fishless. ;P ).

Thanks.

 

[Alissa]

I don't think a pair of kribs would be too big for your tank when full grown. And they are so full of personality you won't feel like you're missing out on anything by not having a ton of fish in your tank.

 

[tarsier]

kribs would be fine in a ten gallon.

if you like cichilds, there are lots of dwarf cichlids like rams or those in the genus apistogramma. apistogramma agassizi is quite nice. these are also less aggressive than kribs.

corydora catfish are also my favorites and you can have a few in a ten gallon tank.

a school of tetras (neon, glowlight and cardinals are my choices) would be ok too.