Thinking of setting up a Ten gallon tank.

[Souperman]

Ok that's what I thought. I just thought that I would be able raise my water hardness over time with something to make it more suitable for them if they where suited for a tank of that size. Has anyone ever had experience with neon green rasboras? Do they show up okay in a planted tank? Right now I am thinking about them and ember tetras. Also is there anything I would be able to stock invertebrate or fish to eat food off the bottom because I know in my other tank anything that gets past my neons just becomes cory food because they don't eat off the bottom.

 

[Byron]

Ok that's what I thought. I just thought that I would be able raise my water hardness over time with something to make it more suitable for them if they where suited for a tank of that size. Has anyone ever had experience with neon green rasboras? Do they show up okay in a planted tank? Right now I am thinking about them and ember tetras. Also is there anything I would be able to stock invertebrate or fish to eat food off the bottom because I know in my other tank anything that gets past my neons just becomes cory food because they don't eat off the bottom.

Snails are ideal for eating food, plus not overfeeding. There is never any floating food reaching the bottom in my tanks because the fish get it all before it can. The small snails will not harm plants. Pond or bladder (very soft water will limit these but I have some none the less) or the excellent Malaysian Livebearing Snail which cares nothing about water parameters, burrows throughout the substrate. You can seen dozens, probably a few hundred, of these in the photo I posted earlier in this thread.

 

[Souperman]

I have been trying to work on overfeeding will be interesting with this tank because of my first tank I have to feed a little extra to make sure the corys get some. Thinking I will try to keep the food low and see how it goes.

 

[Byron]

I have been trying to work on overfeeding will be interesting with this tank because of my first tank I have to feed a little extra to make sure the corys get some. Thinking I will try to keep the food low and see how it goes.

Just mentioning something from this...cories need special sinking food, they will not manage with flake that happens to drift down. The sinking tablets, pellets and disks are good for cories. Some upper fish will grab at the sinking food as it sinks down, but usually not to any detriment.

 

[Souperman]

Thanks for the info. I was feeding pellets more often before I rehomed my blue ram. I will start back up again knowing that they need them. Also with doing this new tank as a species only tank how many fish should I order in?

 

[Byron]

Thanks for the info. I was feeding pellets more often before I rehomed my blue ram. I will start back up again knowing that they need them. Also with doing this new tank as a species only tank how many fish should I order in?

That depends on what species you intend. These will be very small fish, and shoaling, so a good number. I can suggest more exactly when I know the species under consideration.

The sinking foods are specially formulated for bottom fish so they are better nutrition. I use a mix of three different types so the diet is balanced and it avoids any fish that might not "prefer" one or the other. The shrimp pellets are basic. Also a veggie-based disk like Omega One's Veggie Rounds, which gives some meat but also important green foods. The Nutrafin tabs with earthworm are particular favourites of my cories.

 

[Souperman]

Okay I think I will end up going with ember tetras as I think that neon green rasboras will blend in to much. I think the pellets I have are new life spectrum chiclid formula and tropical sinking pellets also by the same brand. I can pick up wafers or anything if those are not complete enough for them.

 

[Byron]

Okay I think I will end up going with ember tetras as I think that neon green rasboras will blend in to much. I think the pellets I have are new life spectrum chiclid formula and tropical sinking pellets also by the same brand. I can pick up wafers or anything if those are not complete enough for them.

In a 10g with Ember Tetras, I would suggest anywhere from minimum 8 to 10 or so. You could have a group of one of the "dwarf" cory species, 9-10 of those. Or something else later may occur to you.

I don't know what exactly is in the NLS cichlid food. I use their basic flake, they are a good brand, no vegetable meals but pure food. For cories it might be best to stay with sinking foods designed for them. I also use the pellets but the upper fish do get them quite easily. I also found that not all fish like pellets, even after trying a whole container over a period of weeks, some fish still barely touch it.

 

[Souperman]

I will keep a eye out for some cory food then while rotating my two types of pellets. Also are the Pygmy corys the ones that school mid water?

 

[Byron]

I will keep a eye out for some cory food then while rotating my two types of pellets. Also are the Pygmy corys the ones that school mid water?

There are three "dwarf" cories, Corydoras pygmaeus, C. hastatus and C. habrosus. All three will spend time off the bottom; C. hastatus is especially fond of doing this, and can often be seen swimming along in groups with upper characins like tetras.

 

[Souperman]

Doing a tank with Pygmy corys is tempting I am just unsure about doing a tank that needs to have floating vegetation as that is something I have not played around with yet.

 

[Souperman]

I think I am going to end up going with ember tetras. If anyone thinks of anything else do let me know though because I won't be able to do much for a few days with Irma's proximity to me.

Update: I have been doing some research and I have found out about a fish that may work called a scarlet badis. Can anyone give me any more info on badis?

 

[Essjay]

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/dario-dario/

The thing that has always put me off these fish is their need for live food. And the fact that when I've seen them in shops they've all been males.

 

[Souperman]

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/dario-dario/
The thing that has always put me off these fish is their need for live food. And the fact that when I've seen them in shops they've all been males.

The more I read into to them the more I figured that out. Has anyone had experience with Apistogramma borelli? According to seriously fish a pair would be ok with my 10 gallon. Three striped apistos look like they would also work according to seriously fish.

 

[Byron]

The more I read into to them the more I figured that out. Has anyone had experience with Apistogramma borelli? According to seriously fish a pair would be ok with my 10 gallon. Three striped apistos look like they would also work according to seriously fish.

Before getting to the Apistogramma, I second essjay on the Dario dario. I have had this species twice, and I got them weaned onto frozen food but not dried. And a diet of solely frozen bloodworms is not healthy for fish.

I consider a 10g as pretty small confines for dwarf ciichlids. A bonded pair could work as SF suggests, but there is more to this. Dwarf cichlids are not a good fish for less experienced aquarists. Cichlids are often considered to be tough fish, but that is very far from the truth. I have spawned several species over the years, and found all of them to be sensitive and delicate when it comes to water, other fish, and foods.