Great post.. Thats has alot of info and useful information.. thanks

think this might need bumping back up

Mods do you mind me asking why this hasn't been pinned? Does it need more information or does it need to be set up a bit differently? Or is it just not a desireable pinned topic?

unfortunately, this post is not beneficial to me as none of the fish here are at any of my lfs's

Could we have more common species?

Many of the fish mentioned are available in quite a number of shops around me - but then again London is a big city. It's impossible to know what your lfs will stock, so it's best you take pen and paper and make a list of all the fish "they" say will remain small. Then go home and do your own research

and remember just because an lfs doesn't have a certain fish in stock doesn't mean they can't order one.

They like to stick with traditional fish as no one buys other types.

They have:

Guppies
Neons
Glowlight tetras
Goldfinch tetras
WCMM's
Corys
Cherry Barbs
Dwarf Gouramis

pretty much it for relatively small fish!

excellent article sylvia!

has anyone mentioned this one in the 'pin me' thread?

Absolutely - I put it there almost the minute Sylvia posted it. But doesn't seem like anything is happening

I suppose we shall just have to keep bumping it, then.

When I had a 10g, I kept a single betta in it and 3 african dwarf frogs, along with several shrimps. It's not a tank for everyone, most people prefer a really really active tank, but I enjoyed it because I think ADFs are all that and a bag of chips, and I also have a fondness for bettas. I also kept 1 betta, 3 ADFs and 1 otocinculous in there with success, as well. Of course, it's all dependant on how aggressive the betta is.

what about the platy howcome they werent mentioned, thats like #1 combo

Here are some pics of my sparkling gourami's when I first got them, which might help people because the research I did showed that they are a little drab looking until they are happily established in a good tank.



And although not the best pic, some of the coloring is starting to come out


And 1 of the sparkling peeking out


My male (I think) honey gourami


The (what I think) male regularly gets the dark coloring underneath...whereas the other one is just as colorful but doesn't get the dark coloring underneath.

The reason I didn't include any of the 'common' species is because, actualy, they aern't realy suitable - things like neons, for example, are better suited to a larger tank where they have room to school in a large group and swim around. Besides which, in my defence, a lot of the fish i mentioned are quite common - honey goruamies, sparklers, harlequins (though admittedly they were added later) etc.

With platies, I agree that they are often an option - but they are not actualy ideal for a 10 (or under) tank - for one they have a tendency to breed but, also, they are quite actvie and females grow to 2". Males, on the other hand, often bicker and chase any females around. They aer lvoely fish, of course, but this was mroe about very small (1" or so) fish that are very well suited to the smaller tanks

BTW, yes, that honey is a male kimmers And I'll edit my post again to include some of the extra pics as soon as I get the chance.

Oh and sorry to sort of 're-awaken' this thread I feel kind of uncomfortable doing so because it was pretty much dead lol but I felt I had to reply and eventualy edit my post anyway.

This post has been edited by sylvia: Jun 18 2006, 11:47 PM

I'm still hoping for a pin on this one. Have any mods weighed in on this thread yet?

Heres A pic of My Male Red morph honey before he went into breeding colours that you are welcome to use.

female dwarf gourami

Male dwarf gourami

male again

some more pics (and a bump hehehe) PIN ME PIN ME

Wow, great topic & great advice... Wish I had come across this when I first started out fishkeeping last year.

Unfortunately I went down the route of trusting my lfs (stupid I now know!!) But I've got a 15G tank and some of the options in this thread would have been mush more suitable for me!

I'm now off to investigate the shell dwelling cichlid idea as it sounds very interesting... A tank makeover may be needed!!

Great thread guys, and this is my first post.


My common goldfish recently passed on , he was 12 years old.


I've been in two minds to stick with coldwater or try tropical.



I thought i had my heart set on getting a couple of fancy goldfish, but this may have changed my mind.

I have a 12-13 gallon tank - and the fish that have been mentioned here look gorgeous.


I've got a lot to think about - but i have lots of time, i've completely cleaned my tank out and rescaping it and fishless cycling it at the moment so will be a while before i make my decision, plenty of time to research

sorry for the newbie question,

what temperature would be ideal for these type of fish?